Is it normal for CPAP to blow air pressure intermittantly?

[winkin']

My CPAP , a newish remstar pro has been going up and down in pressure recently. Though it has a c flex function, that is turned off. I thought that c flex was supposed to adjust to the breather, in any case, not go at its own speed, forcing the breather to adjust to it.
I haven't felt refreshed in the morning. This is my 3rd try at cpap therapy and I'm determined to make this work.
When I took the machine back, wouldn't you know, it kept at the same pressure and stayed steady at 9. The only thing they could come up with was the fact that I was using an extension cord and that the electricity needed to be updated in this old farmhouse. Well, the landlord did update it and it is still doing it. (I did notice the machine had to run for awhile first which wasn't done when it was tested).
I'm almost embarrassed to keep pressing but the machine didn't do this at first and it seemed quieter. Also, I'm afraid that I'll get a used replacement machine and I like this new model.
Any suggestions?
Wendy
P.S. SO has heard the change in pressure as well, so I know I'm not imagining it

[greatunclebill]

as long as you thought power could be the problem, it still could be. the fact that they updated the interior wires has nothing to do with the power coming in. you could have bad lines or connections out on the poles beyond the walls of the house giving you "dirty power". i suggest getting and plugging in a cheap little voltmeter where you plug the cpap in and watch it for a while to see if the power spikes up or down (dirty power) or stays real steady like it should. you could turn the cpap on and watch to see what the volt meter does when the cpap flucuates. you also could probably ask the power company to come out and put their meter on the line. if you definitely rule out the power then you'll know it is the machine.

[timbalionguy]

What is the model of this machine. If this is an autoadjusting machine, this might be normal.

As far as an extension cord goes, CPAP machines don't usually use that much power. Any kind of extension cord of reasonable length should not cause problems. Try this: Plug both a small (60 watts or so) incandescent table lamp or similar into the same extension cord as your machine (use a power strip, etc.). When your machine starts to act up, lurn on the lamp, and see if the brightness is changing with the pressure. You should not see any brightness change. If you see anything more than the very slightest brightness change, then you may indeed have a power problem.

So if this is really a power problem, you have bigger things to worry about than your machine! Get your landlord to finish his wiring work!

[winkin']

Thank you for your insights. I'm not sure what a voltmeter is but I'll check it out tomorrow.
I'll also try the lamp test. The machine is small, a remstarpro with a humidifier that says system one. On the bottom of the machine, I see numbers under the bar code. On top under REMstar Pro it says REF 450P and at the bottom reads REV01 followed by a boxed 2.XX and the numbers 20101129 (date?) Under barcode : SN PO2392320 F349

[tetragon]

What duration is the pressure change? And what does SleepyHead show in a time frame when this happened? I know of a case where your machine will briefly change pressure in normal operation. That would be the pressure pulses it sends to guess at the state of your airway.

[greatunclebill]

I'm not sure what a voltmeter is

your wall power is a certain voltage like 110 or 240, wherever you are. it should be pretty constant. if its 110 then it shouldn't dip to 105 and up to 115 for instance. if it fluctuates too much it could cause your problem. a voltmeter or multimeter has prongs that go in a wall socket so you can watch the power and see if it goes up and down. you can see some samples to get the idea here: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_ ... =voltmeter

[winkin']

What duration is the pressure change? And what does SleepyHead show in a time frame when this happened? I know of a case where your machine will briefly change pressure in normal operation. That would be the pressure pulses it sends to guess at the state of your airway.

I will have to check. Not sure what sleepyhead is. Once it starts, it's pretty consistent.
(Must explain- I have 2 elderly animals that I'm nursing right now, which is why I haven't checked the machine yet. :**( )