Travel CPAP Experience, Plans, Batteries, Testing, Modification etc.

[Nezil]

I've been using my ResMed AirSense 10 Auto for about 2 months so far, and I've been really very happy with it. It's quiet, works well, and I'm able to use for the entire night without issue, and will be meeting compliance pretty easily. I think a lot of that is down to the fact that I started out at home with a DreamWear Nasal mask and this is supremely comfortable. I've since tried the ResMed N20 mask with my AirMini and the first night of use I woke up with the tubing wrapped round my neck 3 times! I guess this is something one might get used to in time, but as a first time user, the DreamWear mask has been great for me.

Having said that, I travel often for work, and my wife likes to take weekend breaks away as often as we can too. With that in mind, I had always intended to buy a travel CPAP machine, and decided to go for the ResMed AirMini because I'd been impressed with the quality of ResMed equipment, it's small size, and I was also interested in the potential of battery powering the device should the need arise. Like many users on this forum, I was put off by the fact that ResMed forces you to use their masks, but felt that I'd either have to get used to the N20, or find a way to use the DreamWear mask system once everything arrived.

So Black Friday / Cyber Monday rolled around and I picked up an AirMini (with N20) in the sales, as well as two battery packs with 24v DC output capability (OmniCharge 20+ & Omni Mobile 25,600), 24v DC cables for the AirSense 10 and the AirMini, and one of the AirMini to standard hose adapters (which hasn't yet arrived).

First things first, I tried the AirMini totally stock with the N20 mask. Everything works fine, but it is quite noisy compared to the AirSense 10. It's not the machine that's noisy, it's air turbulence that creates a noise anywhere it's expelled. With the N20 that's out of the HumidX holder, but as we'll see later, it is actually anywhere that air gets out. So on night 1, I found that I slept fine, but as I said earlier, I did wake up with the hose wrapped around my neck. I had to find a way to use the DreamWear mask system...

[booksfan]

I use the AirMini with the Bleep. I hacked the hose that came with it. It is now much quieter than stock and I am happy I can use my mask of choice.

[Nezil]

I’ve been waiting all day to have my post approved so that I could add to it and post some more. Looks like I missed it... so here is a follow up.

After the slightly rough night of sleep with the N20, I started investigating what could be done with stock AirMini tubing. The DreamWear masks come with a quick release, and finding a way to attach this is actually all that would be needed in order to use the DreamWear mask. Having said that, the AirMini is noisy enough that some people have used the QTube to reduce the sound.

So with that said, I wanted to try the following options:

• AirMini hose with HumidX to DreamWear
• AirMini hose without HumidX to DreamWear
• Slimline hose to DreamWear
• Slimline hose to DreamWear with QTube

AirMini hose with HumidX to DreamWear

This first option can be mocked up by simply pushing the N20 elbow attachment into the DreamWear quick release part:



Alternatively, you can remove the elbow section and find a way to bond the quick release directly to the flexible tube like this:



The problem with this option is that every breath in results in the AirMini registering a mask leak, and the unit simply can’t keep the pressure up. I believe this is caused by the fact that the HumidX unit being a vent as well as the DreamWear elbow and the DreamWear cushion itself... Too many vents!

I’ve ordered some spare DreamWear elbows and will try blocking the vents and see if that allows the use of the HumidX unit, though I’m not convinced it’s going to work being that far from the cushion that itself has a vent.

AirMini hose without HumidX to DreamWear

There are two locations where the DreamWear quick release can be attached to the AirMini hose. On the bayonet that the HumidX mounts to, or this can be pulled off leaving the sleeve at the end of the tubing:





As you can see, I went with the latter, and this is working well. Still a little noisy, but no mask leak detection issues and plenty of pressure.

One note here is that glueing to the tubing is far from easy. The material is probably polypropylene, which is known to be a non-stick surface and super glue just slides off it. I was able to bond the two parts together using Bondic, which is a UV setting plastic. This forms a physical bond and is holding up well.

I may try modifying a spare HumidX base to see if I can use the male end of the bayonet and therefore have a small adaptor that attaches to the stock AirMini hose rather than a modified hose itself.

Slimline hose to DreamWear with and without QTube

My AirMini standard hose adapter hasn’t yet arrived, but I have a slimline hose and QTube ready for when it does. The Slimline hose is quite a bit heavier than the AirMini hose, and having to carry the QTube, short tubing and slimline hose adds bulk to an elegant solution. If it truly is much quieter this way, then I may consider this option, but it’s going to have to be a big improvement to have me switch from option two.

[Pugsy]

Your first post was approved at 12:22 PM....3 minutes after you posted it.
You should have received a note about the approval shortly after it was approved.
I know that the note is part of the approval process but I don't know where it goes to....private email or the private message system here on the forum.
If you didn't get it you might check your email spam folder just in case it went to your email addy and got put in the spam folder by mistake.

[Nezil]

Thanks @Pugsy, I wasn't having a dig at you... I get so many emails that I may very well have missed it. I wasn't expecting to need approval so I stopped posting my first post expecting to be able to continue on with the second. It's my bad, not yours!

[Pugsy]

No problem.

I don't normally get the new account posts approved so quickly unless I just happen to be online.
When I am away from the computer it might take the better part of a day unless Carolyn happens to drop in and approve them.

We hated having to implement that restriction but we just had to because of the spam bots. I was waking up to thousands of spam bot crap posts and they were posting them faster than I could remove them. They always seemed to hit in the middle of the night.

Carry on.

[Nezil]

I got home tonight to find that some of the other parts I ordered have been delivered. Still no AirMini to regular adapter, that's coming tomorrow, but tonight I got another full N20 setup pack (no mask, but includes the tubing, 2 HumidX cartridges, HumidX holder and N20 elbow. I also received a couple of DreamWear quick release elbows.

Once I had all of that kit, I popped the elbow off of the top half of one of my HumidX holders, and bonded one of the quick releases to the end of the flexible pipe:



This gives me a fitting that will allow me to use the HumidX with a DreamWear nasal mask. As I mentioned yesterday though, I found that DreamWear elbow vent was causing too much venting and causing the AirMini to report a mask leak. I therefore also modified one of my spare DreamWear elbows by blocking the holes, again, using Bondic. I marked this elbow bright red to remind me to be sure it's only used with the HumidX and not without:



With the other half of the HumidX holder, I cut the bayonet mounting off and attached it directly to another DreamWear quick release. Again using Bondic to fill the gaps around the fitting:





This gives me a fitting that can be used with the standard, unmodified, lightweight AirMini tubing, a better solution than I posted yesterday which results in a custom tube. I can now carry a single tube that provides me fittings for DreamWear with and without HumidX, and the N20 with HumidX.

Just for fun, I did test the DreamWear full face with the HumidX and blocked elbow vent, and up to about 9cm H20 pressure it appears to work, but above this any deep breaths in registered as a mask leak. I think this is because full face masks need to have one way in-breath vents because both your nose and mouth are covered. As soon as these open, the pressure drops registering a leak. The HumidX works in a similar way so that when you breath in, some of your air comes through the HumidX and not from the CPAP machine, pulling moisture with it as it does so. This is why so many people think it makes a lot of noise, there is a lot of air flow through the HumidX and its holder.

[CPapQueenie]

I never understood the point of the travel CPAP?? They're slightly smaller yes. But airlines count a cpap as a medical device , which can be carried in addition to carry-ons. I guess if your traveling alot it makes sense..

[Nezil]

I do travel a fair bit, but the other benefits are weight and power consumption. As I'm about to post, I've been preparing for a battery powered solution and testing portable battery packs with that in mind.

[billbolton]

They're slightly smaller yes.

They're significantly smaller.

But airlines count a cpap as a medical device

Not all airlines, everywhere.

[Holden4th]

My back up (and travel) machine is a Resmed S9 bilevel. If you leave the humidifier in your checked luggage, the machine is not too much bigger than any of the travel machines. I know because I did a comparison. Airlines won't let you use a humdifier while flying for obvious reasons so why take it on board the plane.

The S9 fits comfortably in my travel backpack along with the mask and power brick. I simply put all of it in a ziplock plastic bag so I can remove it all in one go if asked to at security. I spent two months traveling around the UK this year and had no issues.

[Nezil]

It's true, the S9 is a pretty nice size. The AirSense 10 series isn't quite as small, even if you remove the humidifier and fit the blanking plate. That is an interesting option though... I should probably do some tests on power consumption with the AirSense 10 and compare it to the AirMini. The airflow from the AirSense 10 is so much quieter than the AirMini, and that is frustrating.

[billbolton]

the machine is not too much bigger than any of the travel machines.

The S9 is actually over double the volume of an Airmini.

[palerider]

the machine is not too much bigger than any of the travel machines.

The S9 is actually over double the volume of an Airmini.

According to cpap.com, it's over three times the volume of the airmini. not even counting power supplies.

[Nezil]

I have some updates...

I’ve tried sleeping with my AirMini a couple of times now, and found it to be a pretty similar experience to the AirSense 10 in terms of pressure feeling etc. The major issue I’ve had with the AirMini though is noise. One evening when I was going to try the AirMini, my wife complained and I had to switch back to the AirSense 10 because it’s just so much quieter.

I think I’d mentioned in a previous post that I had ordered a regular 22mm outlet adapter for the AirMini, but annoyingly this ended up not getting shipped by the eBay seller I ordered from, and they instead shipped a 22mm to 15mm adapter that I think is for use with an ozone cleaning system and the AirMini hose.

While I was waiting for the 22mm outlet adapter to arrive, I started taking a closer look at the spare AirMini hose that I had from my earlier experiments. I found that the hose itself can be popped out of the connector quite easily, so I ended up bonding another Philips DreamWear elbow quick release parts onto it making my own adapter:



I’m actually happier with this adapter because I know the part that mates with the AirMini is ResMed and definitely isn’t going to do any harm to the seal on the unit.

This allows me to use the Qtube that I’d bought previously, and the incorrectly sent adapter from eBay allows me to connect the stock AirMini tubing to the outlet of the Qtube...

The results are fantastic. The sound is reduced dramatically by the Qtube, and it’s now very similar to the AirSense 10. There are still some very quiet high pitched sounds from the AirMini, but nothing that would keep someone from sleeping.

So without further ado, here is my travel kit:



Clockwise from the top right:

• Totally standard AirMini hose (nice and flexible and lightweight; much better than the ResMed slimline hose)
• Omni Mobile 25,600 battery pack with AirMini cable
• Qtube & 8” slimline hose
• 22mm outlet to 15mm adapter
• AirMini hose to DreamWear quick release
• AirMini to 22mm adapter
• DreamWear elbow with vents blocked (for use only with the HumidX system)
• HumidX enclosure modified with DreamWear quick release fitting
• AirMini in travel case
• DreamWear Nasal mask
• AirMini AC PSU

So this system allows me to use the AirMini totally standard with an N20 mask and fittings (not shown, but I have them), the AirMini with the DreamWear mask system with and without the Qtube, with and without HumidX, all with the flexibility and light weight of the AirMini tubing.