Remstar Pro error 23 Fix - UPDATE

groggybob · Post by **groggybob** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:05 am

Hello everyone, after amassing nearly 3,00 hours on my remstar I quit using it and have had no problems sleeping for nearly 18 months. Alas, I have recently returned to my pre-CPAP state and decided to restart therapy. Upon dragging out my remstar I kept getting an error 23 and being sans insurance was very worried about getting it fixed out of pocket. After searching and reading posts here to no avail, I decided that I was either going to fix it or suffer. Amazingly I was able to fix it and here’s how.

It appears that this code pertains to the card reader. I first tried cleaning the card by rubbing the gold contact area lightly with a pen eraser, a trick I have used before when dealing with electrical contacts, i.e. cell phone charger. The code persisted so I took a can of compressed air and blew out the card slot thinking that the card reader was dirty. Voila, the machine fired up flawlessly without any error codes. What a relief. Hope this helps anyone caught in the same situation as myself.

Bob

Colorado Jan · Post by **Colorado Jan** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:39 am

Well, that's a great tip for fixing your machine.

But GroggyBob! You quit your CPAP for 18 months just because you FELT better? Did I understand that correctly? No sleep study? Very scary thing to do. Did you forget that untreated OSA..even MILD OSA...can lead to heart attack and stroke? Without a sleep study, how did you know that in fact you had ZERO OSA?

It is certainly possible, of course, that a person can maybe lose a great deal of weight and no longer have the OSA diagnosis....I'm just getting after you for playing doctor on yourself. Sleep apnea is kind of a dangerous thing to play around with and we want you to live a nice long healthy life.....

So take care of yourself, GroggyBob!

Jan in Colo.

groggybob · Post by **groggybob** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 10:29 am

"Did you forget that untreated OSA..even MILD OSA...can lead to heart attack and stroke?"

Jan,
You sound like my other half. I am one of the unusual few sleep apnea sufferers. I am 6 foot tall and only weigh 148 pounds, the doctors at the sleep lab were convinced I didn't have sleep apnea until after seeing the results of my study. I greatly appreciate your concern and needling. Just a stubborn old farm boy that has realized that it would be nice to live long enough to play with my grandchildren.

Starting the road back to rem,
Bob

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 4:03 am

Hi GroggyBob,

I have a question re this episode re the error card card - did the machine work ok when *no* card was inserted (before you fixed it with the air blast) ?.

I am trying to guess what might have caused the error.

The card in slot is open inside the machine & theoretically there should have been no reason the RemStar would not work without the card as the micro switch that detects the presence of a card would not be affected by a blast of air in the card slot.

Cheers

DSM

http://www.internetage.com/cpapinfo/rem ... index.html insides of RemStar

groggybob · Post by **groggybob** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 5:52 am

Good point DSM, In my frustration I did not try it without the card when the error was occurring. I did try it just now and it does work without card. Being a lifelong repairman I'm kicking myself for not thinking of trying it without the card and also perplexed as to what if anything the blast of air had to do with fixing it. Any thoughts?

On a side note, my first night back on CPAP was slightly restless due to mostly hose tangling and mask whistling, but I have awakened without a headache and now remember what it was like when I was using the machine nightly.

Bob

groggybob · Post by **groggybob** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 7:47 pm

Update to error 23 problem. Came home today to the sound of my machine on alert and showing the error 23 again. This time I removed the card and the error went away. I once again cleaned the contacts of the card with a pen eraser only a bit more aggressively this time. Inserted card and error is gone again. Go figure.

Bob

Kemosabe · Post by **Kemosabe** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 12:03 am

groggybob,

From your description, it seems to me that perhaps it's not the contacts on your card that are dirty but maybe the contacts on the reader. Were it me, I'd try to clean that.

I've never done this, but I might try wrapping a strip of microfiber lens cleaning cloth around the reverse end of the card, and insert and remove it a couple times. I wouldn't use any kind of cleaner, not even water. I don't know if this is safe to do, but it seems safe to me as long as you don't force it.

Perhaps someone else here has an idea?

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 2:20 am

I agree with the masked ranger. If you can get some material to 'wrap' over the card that will clean the contacts try it.

When I dismantled my RemStar, I could not get anywhere near those contacts (I wanted to inspect them). I even removed the plastic frame the card slides in.

Material on the card (wrapped & not likely to tear) seems the best thing to try.

Cheers

DSM

PS - an eraser to clean the contacts on the card is a great old trick of the trade.

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): clean

groggybob · Post by **groggybob** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 4:55 pm

OK, this was scary. I figured out that if I push the on button as soon as the machine starts up from being unplugged, I could beat the error and the machine would run normally. Now knowing that I could make it work, I debated over trying to clean the card reader lest I make things worse. Aw what the heck, I'm a dedicated gambler and decided to carefully give it a shot. I learned two things, one is that no matter how thin the material is that you use, it will take some force to insert the card fully. The other thing was that it didn't work. The cloth came out spotless both times it was inserted and the error continues. Fortunately I can still start it as mentioned above. Time to save some money for a new machine or to have it repaired, whichever is less.

Thanks for the suggestion guys.
Bob

groggybob · Post by **groggybob** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 3:54 pm

FYI -This is the reply that I recieved from repironics concerning the e-23 error.

"The E-23 indicates that a component on the main circuit board has failed. Please contact your local porvider where the machine was purchased to arrange the repair."

Bob

Kemosabe · Post by **Kemosabe** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 9:11 pm

Bad luck groggybob.

From the wording, it could be the smart card contacts or something else completely.

groggybob · Post by **groggybob** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 6:11 am

I agree masked man, considering that the reader is attached to the circuit board. As of now my machine errors out all the time. I have to keep it unplugged until I want to use it and then beat the error as described above. Other than that it seems to be working normally. I've decided to just buy another machine and then decide whether or not to get the Remstar fixed.

Bob

groggybob · Post by **groggybob** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 5:29 pm

A happy ending to the E-23 fiasco. In desperation I stopped to see my RT and was pleasantly surprised when she suggested that I take one of her loaner machines and let her send my machine in to Respironics for an estimate to repair. At least I would have an idea how much it was going to cost before shelling out enough money to buy a new machine to repair an old one. She did verify that my Remstar Pro w/cflex was out of warranty.

With nearly two weeks gone by and no word about the repair I had planned on calling today to see what was going on - didn't need to. The RT called me this morning to tell me that my machine was back and I could pick it up. I asked her what happened to the estimate and she replied that there was no charge.

Here's the scoop from the Respironics paperwork. They replaced the following parts: cflex tubing kit, outlet port, flow housing assembly,printed circuit board, blower assembly and whisper cap(whatever that is). Under Technicians notes on the paperwork it reads, "Confirmed E-23, No Charge Repair".

No where does it tell me just exactly what the error was, or was caused by, but at this point it doesn't matter anymore. I'm just happy to be able to quit worrying about when the machine was finally going to die and how in the world I was going to replace it.

Enjoying an early Christmas present.
Bob

sleepyinsunnyvale · Post by **sleepyinsunnyvale** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 6:04 pm

Sounds like they replaced every component from PCB to motor. Kind of like jacking up the radiator cap and driving a new car under it.

Glad it didn't cost you anything. A free fix after 18 months may indicate they acknowledge a quality problem (without saying as much) about the time your unit was built. Good to hear of their good customer service.

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groggybob · Post by **groggybob** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 6:09 pm

It was more like 34 months, out of warranty for almost a year.