Most Important Back-up Item?

[Madalot]

I have backup masks and hoses -- two masks and two hoses. I have two sets of filters, but I rotate them. When I clean them (for the vent and oxygen concentrator), they don't dry fast enough to put them back into the machines, so I need the two sets so I can rotate them. I can get extra filters from my DME whenever I want them -- he frequently just gives them to me.

I wish I could have a back up machine, but that's not possible with the equipment I'm using. I've considered trying to purchase a used bi-pap machine just in case or for traveling, but I know I don't get the best therapy with it and I'm not sure it's worth wasting the money.

[cobra4x4]

I guess it all depends on your lifestyle & if you have pets and their age.

Number 1 item here is the hose as we have cats & a kitten, plus we have 4 dogs (good thing they are older). Second on my list is a backup machine which I can take travelling, camping or just use in the livingroom while watching TV.

Why would anyone want to drag around their main bedroom system and possibly damage it during transit (Its an accident waiting to happen). My bedroom system stays put that way there is no way it should fail under normal usage.

Next item would be an identical mask to what currently works for you then finally another type of mask (only because I use pillows) in case I need a full face or nasal mask.

[carbonman]

Does that include tubes, cables, and a spare chain?

.....well a topic for another discussion....but....

extra wheels, tires hang on the wall,
chains and cassette in the drawer,
tubes and C02 cartridges on the shelf.

[BleepingBeauty]

I'm coming up on three years of therapy. At this point, I've accumulated backups of everything (machine, humidifier, mask, hose, filters). I even acquired a battery and inverter to use during power outages.

IMO, the machine is the single most important piece of backup equipment to have on-hand. As others have stated, a problem with a mask or hose can be managed temporarily with duct tape or glue until a replacement can be acquired. If a humidifier goes kaput, one can still use it in passover mode. But without the machine, you can't get therapy at all.

My sleep doc won't prescribe an ASV for me, notwithstanding the great therapy I get with it. So if my ASV required repair, the DME would loan me the same kind of machine they gave me almost three years ago - an M Series Plus. (That would be akin to driving a Yugo while the Maserati is in the shop. Although either one will get me from Point A to Point B, the ride will be vastly different.)

Since the ability to breathe is what we're talking about, it was important to me to find a backup ASV. I've purchased both machines OOP, and I say CraigsList rules!

[LoQ]

I'm sort of betwixt and between the argument of whether the machine or mask is more important.

On the one hand, any machine will do for me, because I'm on a straight setting. However, I wouldn't sleep well without the humidifier, so I need that, too.

On the other hand, I only have one mask that will really do the job. I have other masks, but I know that only the one I use now works without causing other problems. That's why when my mask broke recently, I opted to repair it with some tape rather than use the back-up mask.


Interestingly, a new mask like the one I'm using is more expensive than the back-up machine I bought. I keep watching cpapauction for a chance to buy another mask. I did buy a couple of extra parts, including a few spares of the part that broke--it's a weak point in the design, and a few other parts that look like they would be easy to break or lose, and they were cheap. I found a cushion on cpapauction.com for $12, so I snatched that up.


Using my back-up machine recently has suggested to me that my main (newer, fewer hours) machine may need to be calibrated. I'm feeling better at the same setting on my tired old S7 machine than I ever did on the S8. So right now, my S8 is the back-up. If I had to use it as the main machine, I'd either have it calibrated or I would increase the pressure setting on it. At 4 cm ramp, my mask totally collapses when I take a breath on the S8 and then POPS back out when I exhale. On the S7 at 4 cm, there is only a slight change in the cushion from inhale to exhale. Hmmm......

[WilsonVilleUSA]

I'm sort of betwixt and between the argument of whether the machine or mask is more important...

... I only have one mask that will really do the job. I have other masks, but I know that only the one I use now works without causing other problems. That's why when my mask broke recently, I opted to repair it with some tape rather than use the back-up mask...

That was my point. While I can understand a particular mask being the most important piece of equipment, I don't see it as the most important piece to have a back up of. I can't imagine anything happening to a mask that could not at least temporarily be fixed with duct tape or glue while waiting for a replacement. On the other hand, if the machine goes tits up unless you are an electronic tech or some sort, you likely won't be able to do any temporary work around until a new machine arrives.

[Wulfman]

The stories of people dragging/knocking their machines off the nightstand (or whatever they have them sitting on) are legion in these pages.......some of them still work and some of them don't.......makes me wonder how many more of them that happens to out in the rest of the XPAP world.
In any case, without a spare machine, it'll be a looooong night (or more of them till they get it fixed or a replacement).


Den

[Hose_Head]

I sometimes worry about what happens if a single piece of my equipment breaks and I can't get therapy because of that. When I first started the piece I worried about the most was the hose. I finally acquired a second hose just in case.

What is your most important back-up item? Ideally we'd all have a completely redundant system plus battery power. But I'm just curious what people think is their most important back-up item.

I broke a piece on my mask several weeks ago. Fortunately, I was able to mostly hold the mask together with tape until the replacement piece came, but it drove home the need to at least think about each part and what would I do if......?

I recently bought a very cheap used S7 machine at a good price. It's nice to know that I have a back-up machine. It's got a lot of hours and it's obviously an older machine, but hey, it still delivers therapy. So I'm trying to acquire the various cogs in the system in case something fails.

What in your experience is most likely to fail?

You've really asked two different questions here.

What's the most important thing to backup? The real answer here is that all parts are equally important. Like a chain, the cpap system is only as good as it's weakest link. Even the smallest, seemingly strongest and simplest part, if broken, can prevent all of the other parts from doing their job of getting air to you while you sleep.

What's most likely to fail? I don't know. In over two years on cpap, I've never had a failure. My guess would be that it's likely to be the hose, or maybe the mask. But that's just a guess.

Why worry about which is the weakest link in the chain? Have a redundant system on hand. That way, you're prepared for anything but power failure. Power failure can be backed-up, too.

[WearyOne]

I didn't really answer this correctly in my first response. My backup mask is not only a different type of mask but also extras of the one I use all the time (headgear and shell), plus I keep old seals and pillows that I don't use any longer. They're not torn or anything, but just don't seal all the well anymore. But they would work long enough to get a new seal and pillows (especially as quickly as cpap.com sends them ). Also, my husband had a tear in his Quattro seal and wore it that way with decent success until he was able to get another one.

As someone else mentioned, you could probably fix a mask temporarily if you didn't have a another mask, but it's kinda hard to fix the machine itself if it completely stopped working. I believe the machine is the most important things to have a backup for, but it's also usually the most expensive. The expense is what's causing me not to have a backup. Even a hundred bucks right now for a machine would be unaffordable for me. And forget being able to have backup power, although I wish I did.

Hoses can be taped, black foam filters are washed, and you could do with a humidifier and the white filter (don't know if all machines have the white filter that's not mandatory).

What's most likely to fail? Have no clue. In 3-1/2 years on therapy, none of my masks have actually broken, but obviously the seals get to the point where they don't seal as well (as least mine do), so I need to purchase or trade for new ones every couple of months. The machine, humidifier, and heated hose are all working fine.

[plr66]

For me, this is a fairly simple decision.
A hose can be repaired with duct tape.
A mask & cushion or nasal pillows can usually be fixed temporarily to limp along if necessary.
But without a machine, you're SOL.
So I have always had a backup machine, humidifier, and actually several extra masks (due to so many experiments with finding the right one).
I live & travel in areas where power can be dicey, so integrated battery was next on my list.
The other stuff is cosmetic or can wait.

[echo]

All good replies! This can be a difficult question, because it depends on the context. In my opinion, the most important component to be backed up is the machine, but...

When I was a newbie the first thing I backed up was the mask, because financially that was the easiest, so I purchased a 2nd complete mask. Then I kept an eye out on cpapauction for good deals and in time bought a 2nd machine. Next was a 2nd humidifier tank/chamber only, and thereafter a full humidifier heating unit. All the expensive components were purchased between year 1 and year 3 after starting therapy. Within the first year, I acquired some backup hoses and silicone seals for the mask. I always have extra filters lying around. A few months ago I also finally got a battery system from cpap.com as well as a spare standard power adapter (my current one doesn't want to work sometimes, and I got rid of the one that came with the the backup machine because it was a bit dodgy and not at all to spec).

So at the moment I have one setup in the bedroom and another full setup including HH and all cables, extension cords, mask, etc, ready to go (only took 3 years, all purchased out of pocket). I will start using this as my travel unit so that I don't have to take my bedside setup apart. I even have a (cheapo) backup/travel hose management system consisting of bungee cords and hair clips .

In nearly 3 years, I haven't had any problems with my machine.... but like I said the power adapter's starting to go. What good is a machine without power?

[LoQ]

I think that if a clip broke, it would be pretty darn hard to temporarily fix unless you were willing to superglue something into the clip socket, and most people don't really want to permanently alter their best mask.

I guess from my perspective, when I was new to all of this, I felt like the machine, being new, was the least likely thing to have a problem with. I felt like some part of the mask breaking was a much bigger risk, and it could happen, easily, to a brand new mask. I haven't seen a single mask that I couldn't find something on it that's easy to break, rendering it inoperable. That means that just dropping the mask on a hard floor has the potential to make it not work.

So as a beginner, I always felt most vulnerable with the mask or the hose.

As time has gone on and my machine has piled up some hours, I've begun to feel vulnerable there, too, and I have a second machine now.


In my mind the question is not really which is the most necessary to therapy as much as which item do you feel like is the weakest link of the chain of things that have to be there in order for therapy to occur? For me it's the mask or the hose.

I originally had a breeze nasal mask which quickly developed a hole in the hose that is part of the mask, and I never really could fix it with tape. You say you can fix a hose with duct tape. I think that's not really right. You need to have a hole in a hose and try to fix it to understand, perhaps, but your tape needs to be able to make contact with the edges all around the hole, and with those ridges in the hoses, that's pretty darn hard without leaving a gap somewhere that air can escape from.

[nobody]

It's all important. If the machine doesn't work because of this part or that part then it's just as useless as any other part...uh yeah

[LoQ]

It's all important. If the machine doesn't work because of this part or that part then it's just as useless as any other part...uh yeah

But do you think all of the parts are equally likely to fail? If I were trying to make an important trip and wanted some redundancy for my car, I would be more likely to take an extra battery with me than an extra intake manifold. Sure, both are necessary, but the battery seems like the weaker link.

[rosiefrosie]

When I first started cpap therapy I had 1 machine, 1 hose ( well 2 hoses if you count the long and short hose ), 1 mask and a couple of filters. Now almost 5 years later I have a drawers full of masks, hoses, filters, and even another machine. You tend to collect things after a while. To me the most important back up item would be the machine.

rosie