HELP! MY NEW AUSSIE HEATED HOSE DOESN'T WORK.

[vesselpessel]

I live on the coast of California and suffer severe rainout. I had been fairly successful in minimizing the problem by sleeping with my old regular hose under the covers. Lately the rainout has returned (perhaps because of the colder weather) I ordered an Aussie Heated Hose. The first night I felt a few sprinkles. Oh well, I thought, nothing's perfect. The second night I awoke at 4 in the morning with water in my nose and running down my cheeks. I called CPAP USA where I purchased the hose and the gentlement couldn't have been nicer. He sent me a second hose. Same thing happened. To see whether the heated hose was working, as per the gentlemen's instructions, I put it into a plastic bag, secured it, turned the machine on and let it run for 15 mins. Afterward, I checked and the air in the bag was warm indicating that the heated hose was working. I cannot for the life of me figure out why the hose won't manage the rainout while it's hooked up to the machine. My humidifier is set at 3 and the ambient temp in my house at night is 57 degrees - rarely does it get colder. i would be grateful for any suggestions on how to possibly remedy this problem.

[herefishy]

Since heated air is more humid than cool, you shouldn't need your humidifier to be at 3, try it a little lower. Or is that humid air is warmer than cool? Anyway, something to try

[TerryB]

The hose is working but it has limits. When you turn on the humidifier, you heat the air and water to make the air humid. When that air cools back down it can't hold the water any longer. You have to choose to raise the temperature in the room or lower the humidity in the air. Warm the room or lower the humidifier setting until the air stays above the dew temperature.

TerryB

[packer]

I needed to put a polar fleece cover over
my aussie hose

I also put cover over short hose going to face mask

I run aflex humidifier at 3- house is 60 degrees at night-

rain isnt a problem [ I use aura/twilight which has
terrible rain problem

maybe try a homemade cover- tape a couple of old socks or something like that to see if it helps

packer

[ozij]

What packer said.

O.

[Snoredog]

The humidifier job is to add moisture to the air, the higher you turn it up the more moisture it adds to the air, it does NOT warm the air exiting the machine. Add too much moisture to the air and you will get rainout.

The heated hose's job is to pre-warm the incoming air as it leaves the machine.

While the options are many for resolving this, moving to a dryer climate with lower humidity, building a fire in your room to warm it etc., the logical thing to do is:

Turn the friggin humidifer down!!! don't blame it on the hose!

[GumbyCT]

Turning the humidifier down (or room temp up) while keeping the heated hose ON until the rainout problem goes away are the easiest of your options. Tho you may still get some rainout with some masks or uncovered areas near the mask.

It really is trial & error until you get it right.

Good Luck,
GumbyCT

[Bonnie]

I agree with everyone else, your humidification seems to high. Try putting the hose under the bed covers for a half hour to get the feel of the warmth it does generate. I do this every night and if I forget the hose doesn't feel warm although it does eliminate rainout. The hose will be toasty warm when you crawl in and hose up.

Also I did post a while ago about the wrong way and right way to plug in the hose if you use the older "connection plug". There is a connector piece that attches to the cord that plugs into the wall and if it's backwards plugging it into the heated hose will cause it not to heat, and I was told could do damage to the hose. Once I got the correct way I marked it so when I do accidently unplug it wrong I can put it back without trial and error.

Good luck and keep trying to find what humidifier setting works for you.works for you.

[vesselpessel]

Thank you all for your replies and suggestions. I'll fiddle around till I get it right.

[Sleepy Dog Lover]

What kind of mask are you using? Some masks are more prone to rainout than others. The Aura has a known problem with that. It is my favorite mask, but the rainout is a problem. How much hose do you have exposed to the room air going from the heated hose to your mask? That may be your problem.

[Snooze_Blues]

Which mask are you using?

I use a Respironics ComfortLite2 mask and after acquiring a heated hose and covering my mask air circuit with fleece, I still experienced rain-out, which really surprised me. Inspecting the hose revealed zero moisture inside. All the rain-out was occurring in the mask area.

I remedied this by heating the mask, too (see: link in my sig for DIY Repti Heat Cable hose and mask heater).

Here's the link where I learned about the DIY Repti Heat Cable solution:

viewtopic.php?t=27579

You probably don't want to "start over" with your heated hose solution since you already have the Aussie Heated Hose, but it might be interesting to try heating just your mask with a Repti Heat Cable if all else fails.

Generally, I'd also recommend raising the temp in your room (it's pretty cold in there by my standards, I keep my room at around 61 - 63) and also lowering your humidifier setting.

[vesselpessel]

I use a Mirage Swift II with nasal pillows. My "heated hose" lies on top of my comforter. I was told by the person who sold me the hose that putting another cover on top of the hose could possibly damage it. The rainout I experienced was both in the hose AND the mask. Thanks for the suggestion about the Repti Cable but how could you insert the cable in the mask and bypass the hose? I live in an area where the temp varies betwee 60 - 80 degrees year round. We keep our thermostat at 68. Having the temp drop to 57 at night is unusual and only happens in the winter months. I'm hoping turning down the humidifier will help the rainout problem.

[Snooze_Blues]

Thanks for the suggestion about the Repti Cable but how could you insert the cable in the mask and bypass the hose?

First, if putting the Aussie Hose under the covers may cause damage, the person that mentioned he put another fleece cover over his to prevent rain-out is in worse shape. Of course, such disclaimers are often for CYA purposes, so as always, YMMV.

Looking at the Mirage I see a fairly long (I'd guess 16" or so) tube that is likely allowing condensation before the humid air inside reaches the pillow holder.

DISCLAIMER: I could be a dangerous idiot and if you do anything I mention, you could be a dangerous idiot, too.

Proposed Repti Heat Cable fix ("Your mission, should you decide to accept it..."):

Since your Aussie Heated Hose has a fleece cover, Attach the Repti Heated Cable onto the outside of the Aussie Heated Hose with Velcro strips.

WARNING: Most of the heat from the Repti Heated Cable should dissipate into the room, although there might be a hot spot where there's contact between the two, so that's something you'll need to consider carefully or monitor closely if you decide to go ahead.

Continue running the Repti Heated Cable along the length of the Mirage hose down to the nose-piece using more Velcro strips.

Cover the Mirage hose and the Repti Heated Cable with some fleece using more Velcro strips.

If you still get rain-out, you could loosen the Velcro strips and pull the Repti Heated Cable forward to also include the Mirage mask part below your nose that holds the pillows, perhaps attaching the Repti Heated Cable to the strap on the opposite side, or some other method if it seems like it would work better, to allow heat directly onto the part below your nose.

(Authoritative narrator's voice) "Should you be caught or killed, the Secretary (and Snooze) will disavow all knowledge of your actions. Good Luck."

[packer]

dont know if its safe
dont know if you are "supposed to"

just know that I have had polar fleece cover over aussie hose for months
and for me it has worked fine

havent heated the short smaller hose on Aura/twilight- but do
have it covered in ploar fleece

keep bedroom at 60 - aflex on 3- no rain- and the
aura LIKES to rain

packer

[Bonnie]

I don't recall ever reading any posts or hearing anyone state that the heated hose should not be placed under the covers. For 2 1/2 years with a fleece cover over the heated hose and a small fleece cover over the hose for the Swift II (made by pad a cheek) and I have had no problems. The light "sweatshirt" material that is permanently attached to the Aussie hose posses problems for washing. With the removable fleece cover I can wash as needed. Also from day one the hose has been under my comforter with no problems. My bedroom temp. is about 60 and I have not experienced rain out since using this set up. I would think with using the heated hose with just a fleece cover and a lower humidity setting you should be able to eliminate rainout.
Good luck in getting a set up that works for you.