Respironics smartcards - different types?

pls · Post by **pls** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:42 am

I'm finaly sleeping happly with my new M Auto A-Flex, but it was a trip to get there.

For a short period, I had an M Auto C-Flex machine loaner. When my A-Flex came in, I returned the C-Flex but tried to transfer the data card from the C-Flex to the A-Flex.

The A-Flex didn't recognize that it had a card.

Does anyone know if the cards themselves are different for the two machines or if each machine formats the card differently when a new card is first inserted?

If I buy a new card from cpap.com, will it work with my new A-Flex?

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:51 am

I've read where there possibly may be differences between the "Pre-M" and the M Series, but have not heard of the situation you've described. All of the (blue) Respironics cards are the same, but the machines possibly write somewhat different data to the cards, depending on the technology and firmware in the machines. If you get some from CPAP.COM, they should work.
I frequently switch my card between my Legacy machines with no problems....but they are the Pre-M Series machines.

Den

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 8:01 am

I wonder if the card has to be erased when switching from one machine to another?

Catnapper · Post by **Catnapper** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 8:40 am

Could it be that you need the newer version of software for the newer machine?

I think that the A-flex machines use a version 1.8x where the earlier M machines used 1.6x of Encore Pro. If you are using the Viewer, I have no suggestions.

jsmythe · Post by **jsmythe** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 8:01 pm

This is a great question. I have also wondered if I got another machine, could I use the same card in it and not lose my information...

wabmorgan · Post by **wabmorgan** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 12:32 am

M-series Auto with A-flex does require Encore 1.8.

You can not switch card between the classic and M-series.

The only way is to erase the date from the old card. You can erase the data in Encore 1.8.

You can not buy encore 1.8 anymore, and I do not know if Encore Viewer will erase a card.

You can get Encore 1.8 IF you know where to look.

Metal-Fatigue · Post by **Metal-Fatigue** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 10:44 am

I have both an Auto M with C-flex and and Auto M with A-flex. They obviously use the same blue smart card, but I can not take the card out of one machine and use it in the other. When I have tried, the machine beeps and give a error message. If I reformat the card using Encore Pro 1.8, I can put the card in either machine. Once data is written to a card it can not be used in the other machine. So there must be a machine specific definition written to the card.

Wonder if the same card could be used in two different machines of the same type?

Scott

wabmorgan · Post by **wabmorgan** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 12:06 pm

I doubt you could.

The card is written to by the CPAP but rather than being cpap specific, it is probably PATIENT specific.

So, once data is written by the machine, it can't be used in another machine, even if both machines are the same, till the data is wiped from it.

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 2:23 pm

If it were PATIENT specific, there should be no problem moving it from one machine to the other - just like you guys are trying to do, one patient two machine. So it looks like it is machine specific.

O.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 3:53 pm

I can only go by my experience on my "Tank" (Legacy) model PAP machines, and like I said, I can switch between the Pro 2 and Auto machines (however the Autos are set for single pressure) without a hitch. If this would hold true for the M Series, I would think that at least you should be able to move the card to "like" machines......Auto w/C-Flex to Auto w/Cflex and Pro to Pro. Sounds like the Auto w/A-Flex might be a different animal, though. On the Legacy machines, it does write the machine model (and I think the serial number) to the card.....and when you change it to a different machine, it re-writes the new info to the card.

Den

wabmorgan · Post by **wabmorgan** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 8:56 pm

Just for the heck of it... I took the smart card from the new M-series A-flex and moved it to the REMstar Auto with C-flex.

You can do that... no problem. However, doign the reves with card from the C-flex machine.... it would not let you move it to the A-flex machine.

So....

Wulfman wrote: Sounds like the Auto w/A-Flex might be a different animal, though.

lking · Post by **lking** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:02 pm

wabmorgan wrote:Just for the heck of it... I took the smart card from the new M-series A-flex and moved it to the REMstar Auto with C-flex.

You can do that... no problem. However, doign the reves with card from the C-flex machine.... it would not let you move it to the A-flex machine.

The formatting may be machine specific. A card may just need to be reformatted to the new machine.

wabmorgan · Post by **wabmorgan** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:14 pm

Playing around with it more.... and eraseing the card.... and writting a new Rx to the machine via the smart card(Oh my... not supose to do that)... so it seems the probem is not the type of machine but that the card may be tied to a specific ID