Ruined my Aircurve 10 Vauto? HELP!

[Turntex]

I went to my hunting lease Friday and took my machine with me. There is a really crappy camp cabin that I normally do not stay in when bringing my family but since it was just me a bud there to build a hunting blind, we made do. There is an old open front propane heater in the camp house that has been used every year for many years with no problems for other people. It got a little smoking in there when we lit it, then cleared out before we went to sleep. When I got up the next morning and took my mask off, I noticed that the padacheek mask liner was black residue all over where it was in direct contact with my face (where it was leaking I guess). I looked at the filter and it was black as well.

Got home from last night and cleaned everything well and replaced the filter and the mask liner. When I went to bed, everything seemed fine. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I could not get enough air. Checked to make sure the machine was on and indeed it was but the pressure was very low. I use minimum 15/19 with a ps of 4 and max of 25. It was no where near that. When I would try to breath in, I could feel the mask pull against my face. There is air coming out but not nearly what it normally is. Tried turning the machine off and back on to no avail.

Any suggestions? Do you think I damaged the machine or just coincidence? I do not have insurance and paid for it all myself out of pocket. Any ideas on how this will go down? Wondering if I will have to buy a new machine. This one is only 29 days old. Also, being a Sunday and the fact my DME is not open, I guess that means I am stuck for a terrible night sleep with no CPAP? Been faithful every night for every hour of sleep using my machine for 29 days now!

Any help you can provide woudl be appreciated!

[Mark55]

Sounds like you're lucky to be alive, as it seems you had some heavy sooting from that heater taking place during the night. Soot accompanies combustion gases which can be deadly as you almost certainly know.

Your machine is probably coated internally, and most likely ruined. All I can suggest is to go back to default factory settings and try to input your personal settings again, and give it another shot.

I have to wonder how much soot you got in your lungs considering the machine was sucking in enough to show up at the edges of your mask!

[Pugsy]

Build yourself a homemade manometer to verify pressure output.
See forum member Wulfman's post in this thread for links for how to build your own manometer.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=116797&st=0&sk=t&sd ... +manometer

[DreamStalker]

As Pugsy says ... if your handy, you can build your own mamometer and test your machine's pressure.
Building Your Own Water Manometer

Or you can buy one for about $30 if you don't want to be bothered with engineering your own.
Fisher and Paykel HC224 Water Column Manometer

[Turntex]

It is so far off I don't even need to bother with the homemade manometer! The display was showing that it was putting out 21 ipap and normally, when I wake up in the morning, I unplug the hose from the mask and then turn off the machine. I know what the pressure is normally when I do that and this morning, it was WAY less. I waited to turn it off so I could look and see the displayed pressure and it showed it was putting out 19 but I would guess it was only 5 or 6.

[squid13]

If you elect to have it repaired you could use ACBio at http://acbio.com/cpap-repair/. He is a member of this forum, his forum name is accurate. I've used them and they are very reasonable.

[DreamStalker]

That's a real bummer Turntex.

I have an old legacy tank REMstar BiPAP Auto with Bi-Flex up in the closet that I keep as a back up to my back up machine. Not as fancy as your machine but it pushed out the air last time I checked.

You're welcome to borrow it free of charge while you get yours fixed if you need ... just send me a PM to work out shipping logistics.

[Mogy]

I don't think you damaged it but you would have to void the warranty to get inside to clean.
I would just clean it up as best I could and take it back saying it is faulty. Act innocent, do not mention the hunting incident.
You need a cheap backup to take on your trips.

[Turntex]

I don't think you damaged it but you would have to void the warranty to get inside to clean.
I would just clean it up as best I could and take it back saying it is faulty. Act innocent, do not mention the hunting incident.
You need a cheap backup to take on your trips.

I can't operate that way. I will take it back to my DME who is AWESOME. I will tell them what happened. If they want to send it back to Resmed and act innocent while giving me a warranty replacement, that is on them. However, if they do not want to do that, it is my mistake and my problem 100%. I will not pass the buck to someone else and continue to support the decline of this great country with this kind of bull.

[Turntex]

If you elect to have it repaired you could use ACBio at http://acbio.com/cpap-repair/. He is a member of this forum, his forum name is accurate. I've used them and they are very reasonable.

Thank you for the offer Squid. I will go to my DME tomorrow and see what they can help with. They may have a loaner. If not, I will probably just buy a new one as much as that will hurt. I do not want to miss another night's sleep and then possibly fall into a rut of not using the machine.

[Goofproof]

No XPAP will keep you alive if your heating system isn't safe and vented. You got lucky! Jim

P.S. I respect your ideals, same as mine...

[squid13]

If you do buy a new one you could always see how much it would cost to have it repaired and use as a backup, you should always have a backup machine.

[chunkyfrog]

Has anybody ever actually READ A WARRANTY?
Most are a list of loopholes allowing the manufacturers to WEASEL out of standing behind their products.
Even the most legitimate situations are often disallowed.
Follow your conscience, if you choose--but do not forget that if anything dishonest happens,
THEY ALREADY BEAT YOU TO IT.

[Turntex]

No XPAP will keep you alive if your heating system isn't safe and vented. You got lucky! Jim

P.S. I respect your ideals, same as mine...

I hear you! We have used that heater many times in the past. The good (bad) thing is the hunting cabin is a real piece of crap and has so many air leaks, we are constantly dealing with mice, rat snakes, etc. Heck, it has styrofoam sheet insulation nailed to the bottom of the joists for the ceiling. Right over my bead a piece was missing and I could feel a cold draft of air flowing right on my face! Needless to say, this is the last year that cabin will be use. We talked to the landowner Saturday about allowing us to set up a new camp with better accommodations, probably travel trailers or something. I can certainly say I will not be using that heater again if I stay there in the future!

[Goofproof]

No XPAP will keep you alive if your heating system isn't safe and vented. You got lucky! Jim

P.S. I respect your ideals, same as mine...

I hear you! We have used that heater many times in the past. The good (bad) thing is the hunting cabin is a real piece of crap and has so many air leaks, we are constantly dealing with mice, rat snakes, etc. Heck, it has styrofoam sheet insulation nailed to the bottom of the joists for the ceiling. Right over my bead a piece was missing and I could feel a cold draft of air flowing right on my face! Needless to say, this is the last year that cabin will be use. We talked to the landowner Saturday about allowing us to set up a new camp with better accommodations, probably travel trailers or something. I can certainly say I will not be using that heater again if I stay there in the future!

You are lucky it wasn't five star, the holes for vents kept you alive. Propane burns clean if it can get enough air mixed with it, odd's are varmints blocked the air vent to the burner, or built a nest in the heater. The bad thing about burning Propane unvented or any fuel, CO and CO2 both can kill not even waking you up. The same holes that lets out your heat helped keep you alive. When I was young and dumb, we just made a fire and bagged it. Woke up a few mornings covered it snow. Still had fun. Jim