Aussie Hose - Finally Arrived

[DreamOn]

Sorry to hear that you're not feeling well. I had my first dream post-CPAP almost a month after beginning. Yes, it is very strange after not having them for years! I hope your next one is more pleasant. At least you got quite a few hours of sleep, even though it was intermittent.

I'll keep working with the heated hose, but I'm a little baffled at this point. I was hoping I could turn the humidifier up to at least 3.0 without getting rainout. It looks like I'm stuck at 2.0 - 2.5 for now. I don't have a 9-volt power supply in the house. I'm not sure what effect that would have on maximum humidity (may make the max humidity level without rainout even lower?), so not sure if I want to buy one at this point. That new S9 with built-in climate control is looking better and better!

[ozij]

Maybe someone here can help me....

As I mentioned earlier, I was able to turn my ResMed humidifier up to 1.5 with a thickly knitted hose cover only. That didn't feel like enough humidity, so I bought the Aussie heated hose, hoping I could raise it. I'm using the 12-volt power supply that it came with, and I'm only able to turn the humidifier up to 2.5 max without getting rainout. In fact, last night I had it at 2.5 and had water in my nasal pillows this morning. The end of the Aussie hose felt wet inside too, so I don't think it's just mask rainout.

It's the AEIOMED Headrest at lower pressures, DreamOn.
I needed:

• The Aussie Heated hose (with a 12 V brick)
• A hose cover -- I bought a snuggle hose an need it all winter on the heated hose
• And a cover for the narrow mask tube

[araminta]

I love mine and plug it in about 1/2 hr before bed-i have my room at 56-60 degrees and it is not to hot in the hose--humidifier set at 2 and about 1/5 water left in am-- when i first got it i had wrong plug --bought it at ace hardware--then i went to radio shack and got right one-what a difference--no more runny nose --very worth the money-- time is a definite to do next

What do you mean that when you first got it you had the "wrong plug"?
What was wrong with it?

[montana]

I thought you could not use a hose cover over Aussie hose?

[ozij]

"Could" is not the operative word here..... But thank you for asking that, you are right to bring that up. I don't remember the caveat being there when I recieved my hose (summer of 2005 ) -- though it may have been -- and I suppose my conditions are not typical of most US homes:

My appartment is very cold in the winter nights, central heating starts in the afternoon and is turned off at 21:00, (9PM); the CPAP is near an extremely cold stone floor, the hose is routed near a cold concrete wall. During the night, the room temp drops to 68 or less. Given those conditions,-- the hose without cover with the Headrest simply did not do its job. I've used my heated hose like that for 5 winters -- under those conditions.

Before I got fleece covers for the narrow Headrest tube, in the older style, super thin Headrest seals, I had to wrap insulation around the seals as well - I used a finger bandage, others (e.g. Blarg) used other material. The newer seals are thicker - have been like that for some years, so a narrow tube cover may be enough.


O.

[pdean44]

Looks like I will be back to experimenting with the aussie hose etc One thing i will try and do when i get home from my night shift is try the netti pot again but will be following it up with some kind of nasal decongestant.

[DreamOn]

It's the AEIOMED Headrest at lower pressures, DreamOn.
I needed:

• The Aussie Heated hose (with a 12 V brick)
• A hose cover -- I bought a snuggle hose an need it all winter on the heated hose
• And a cover for the narrow mask tube

Thanks ozij,

Actually, I'm using the Opus 360 nasal pillows right now. I do have a cover on the narrow mask tube for both the Headrest and Opus 360 masks. When it's chillier at night I even cover the Headrest pillows with several handkerchiefs. I don't have the Aussie heated hose covered because the instructions specifically said not to. Seems odd that I'd have to go to such lengths when the weather's really quite warm here right now. I'm really surprised that the heated hose alone didn't allow me to increase the humidity much.

Except for the first night I used it (when it made me very HOT!), I find the warmer humidified air pleasant, but I would definitely prefer more humidity. I'm not sure that I want to buy a hose cover for the heated hose at this point, and my knitted hose cover would be much too thick. Hmmm, I'll have to think about this.

[ozij]

I see what you mean, DreamOn.
With lower pressure, rainout is always worse. Try 2 instead of 2.5.... I hope things work out.

O.

[carbonman]

I thought you could not use a hose cover over Aussie hose?

I use a light fleece hose cover on my heated hose.
It works fine. A couple of times, I have made the bed and
covered the hose and left it on all day, no problems

My bed room is usually about 62-66F at night.
I run the HH on 2.
I have never had rainout since I got the heated hose.
60% of my heat is from wood so the house is dry.

I think the track record for these heated hoses is pretty good.
They are a very durable piece of equipment.

[DreamOn]

pdean44, I sometimes use Simply Saline nasal mist, which helps when congestion isn't too bad. You won't get the rebound effect that you can get with some nasal decongestants.


Last night I again used the HH with the humidifier set at 2.0 with zero rainout. 2.5 seems to be where I start to get it.

Especially with the heat of the hose, I would prefer to have the humidifier set at least at 2.5 or 3.0. With the humidifier set at 2.0, the heated air makes my throat a bit dry. I just started trying to troubleshoot this with SleepZone. They're very helpful! They said that the S8 humidifier can be a little difficult to work with.

I'm going to experiment for a while and see what happens. SleepZone recommended not using a hose cover because it would may make the tube retain more heat and may make the air hotter. The air is already warm enough. Like I said, it makes my throat a bit dry with the HH and humidifier set to 2.0.

My CPAP machine is slightly lower than pillow height. I'm somewhat limited in how I can set up the equipment. I have the hose going down about 9 inches when it exits the humidifier and then it comes up and is suspended overhead by my Hozer hose stand. I may try a few different configurations -- maybe have the hose go lower after exiting the humidifier before coming up.

I've thought about getting the Fisher & Paykel HC150 humidifier (with ambient temperature control), but I'm not sure that would make any difference. I've been mulling over purchase of an S9 AutoSet, with climate control, so I don't want to spend any more money right now trying to get this to work.

pdean44, I do realize that our room conditions probably differ, but I'd be interested to know at what level you start to get rainout with your heated hose, especially since we use the same humidifier.

Thanks so much for your help, everyone! I'll let you know if I figure out a way to turn up the humidifier above 2.0 without getting rainout.

[billbolton]

I thought you could not use a hose cover over Aussie hose?

Mine was supplied with a cover already fitted!

Cheers,

Bill

[physicsbob]

I hope the Aussie hose works for you. I have a reptile heater on mine and it has eliminated rainout for me. But because I too go to bed at different times I hooked it to a GE wall timer that I put in a receptacle box. It has four push buttons for 1,2,4, and 8 hours. It works great for me.

[Bonnie]

Montana wrote"

Also I miss using my snuggly hose cover. It says in instructions not to use one not sure why. Also you can't put under the cover.

I've had the same Aussie hose for almost 5 years. I use it year round. I have had a hose cover on it from day one and sleep with it under the covers. Unless something has changed with the design I can attest to the fact that these things haven't hurt mine. You'd think the instructions would at least tell you the consequences if you do these things.

[bdp522]

Got my heated hose Sept 06. E-mailed sleepzone and was told it was ok to use a hose cover. Have had a hose cover on my heated hose ever since with no problems at all. It did come with an attached cover, but I wanted one that could come off and be laundered regularly. Not long ago I replaced my home made cover with a really nice one from PadACheek, LOVE IT!!!

Brenda