Fourteen years on CPAP/BiPaP and a question.

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
Yaatri
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Fourteen years on CPAP/BiPaP and a question.

Post by Yaatri » Mon Jun 13, 2022 6:12 pm

I am a newbie on this forum even though I registered in 2012 and have been on CPAP/BiPAP therapy since 2008.
I was diagnosed with severe OSA when I was visiting overseas and had to have emergency surgery for umbilical hernia. I probably had had OSA as early as 1999 as I remember waking up in cold sweat and had very bidi nightmares like I was dying as far back as 1999, which is also when my blood pressure started going up. I also started gaining wait then. I was already diabetic. None of my doctors suggested that I have a sleep study.

In 2007 when I had to have an emergency surgery when abroad, pre surgery consultation with Internal Medicine suggested that I have a sleep study. I asked him "Why do I need to have a sleep study?"
"So that the we know how much anaesthesia to give you. We want o be able to wake you up after surgery" I was diagnosed with severe OSA. I cannot recall my AHI then.

Upon my returned to the U.S. I talked to my doctor and told him that I need to have a sleep study. My sleep study done abroad was not valid for a prescription in the U.S. Unfortunately, my doctor said, "Oh you had it done in a third world country. They probably didn't know what they were doing." I had just forgotten what normal sleep was by then. Finally, he sent me for a sleep study in a hospital in Sept 2008. My AHI was 93, and I stopped breathing for as long as 43 seconds, with my saturation levels dropping as low as 66 during some of the apnea/ episodes. I was put on a Respironics M CPAP with a pressure of 14. Took me a few days to get used used to wearing a mask every night but the benefit was immense. I was more alert during the say. Within two weeks of starting the therapy, my blood pressure started to go down closer towards normal. In six months, my BP medicine had to be halved.

In a subsequent sleep study done a year and half later, in 2011, my pressure had to be increased to 16. It was becoming difficult to tolerate this pressure. So I switched to a Resmed S8 VPAP. Another study in 2014 raised my pressure to 18 and then to 22 in 2016. I had gone through a Respironics, an S8 and an S9 by then. I had some heart issues too --- bad aortic valve. My blood sugar control was generally pretty good even after 20 years of diabetes. In 2016, I was given a Resmed 10S which, at an EPAP---should be IPAP of 22 lasted only a year. Motor started making noises. Got another in 2017, which too lasted a year. I suspect they don't as long at high pressure. A sleep study in 2018 indicated that my EPAP cud be lowered to 20. Then I lowered it to 18 with AHI between 1 and 5. My third Resmed Aircurve 10S is going out after a little less than 4 years with about 12000 hours.

In the mean time, I had heart surgery in Aug 2020 in the middle of Cpvid-19 pandemic. Got a brand new bio prosthetic aortic valve 4 coronary artery bypass grafts.

Back to a CPAP question. Has anyone repaired a noisy motor on Resmed Aircurve 10S. I suspect the moor itself is a sealed unit. I was thinking may be I can replace the motor if I can find one.

Reason for the Edit: I typed EPAP instead of IPAP..
Last edited by Yaatri on Thu Jul 13, 2023 4:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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SleepGeek
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Re: Fourteen years on CPAP/BiPaP and a question.

Post by SleepGeek » Mon Jun 13, 2022 7:22 pm

I not going to suggest any repair to your equipment but I do suggest you try Oscar to see how your therapy is doing.

Try this FREE software to see if you can tell what is going on.

fwiw - create your own thread for best results.
viewtopic/t183175/OSCAR-130-is-released-10172021.html

1st Get a copy of your sleep study AND your equipment order - those will answer many of your questions.
OSA is as common as cavities and arthritis - the substitute for breathing is what?

Expect nothing from your doc and DME and you won't be disappointed. Take charge of your healthcare.
Who cares more about you then YOU?

Oh and Welcome to the zoo.
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GrumpyHere
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Re: Fourteen years on CPAP/BiPaP and a question.

Post by GrumpyHere » Mon Jun 13, 2022 9:34 pm

Yaatri wrote:
Mon Jun 13, 2022 6:12 pm
I was given a Resmed 10S which, at an EPAP of 22 lasted only a year. Motor started making noises. Got another in 2017, which too lasted a year.
They have 2 year warranties. So repair/replacement should have been free.
Yaatri wrote:
Mon Jun 13, 2022 6:12 pm
Back to a CPAP question. Has anyone repaired a noisy motor on Resmed Aircurve 10S. I suspect the moor itself is a sealed unit. I was thinking may be I can replace the motor if I can find one.
As separate units, the motors are hard to find. Best bet for DIY is to buy used S9s and A10s with low hours. They use the same motor.

ACBIO is often recommend as an authorized repair company.
https://acbio.com/cpap-repair/

LaurieAltra
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Re: Fourteen years on CPAP/BiPaP and a question.

Post by LaurieAltra » Wed Jun 22, 2022 9:41 am

Your best bet is to contact ResMed to find the nearest service center to send it to. The blower does tend to whine and need replacement. This is not a do it yourself job because once the unit is opened, it needs to be recalibrated. This can only be done on ResMed's service software, which is why it is important to send it to an authorized repair center for repair. If it is under warranty, this will be covered by the ResMed warranty.

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palerider
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Re: Fourteen years on CPAP/BiPaP and a question.

Post by palerider » Wed Jun 22, 2022 6:08 pm

LaurieAltra wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 9:41 am
Your best bet is to contact ResMed to find the nearest service center to send it to. The blower does tend to whine and need replacement. This is not a do it yourself job because once the unit is opened, it needs to be recalibrated.
Well, that's 2 out of 3 of your posts that are full of crap. (and the first one is dubious at best).

Not off to a good start, are you? Maybe you should stop while you're behind.

To others, No, the unit does *NOT* need to be "recalibrated" once opened. :roll:

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klv329
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Re: Fourteen years on CPAP/BiPaP and a question.

Post by klv329 » Wed Jun 22, 2022 6:42 pm

This repair company is in Ocala, FL and lists the anticipated repair costs as $275 for the motor, $375 for the main pca board and $475 for the blower and the main pca board. They don't specifically list aircurve models, though.


https://cpap-repair.com/flat-rate-pricing/

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Re: Fourteen years on CPAP/BiPaP and a question.

Post by dataq1 » Wed Jun 22, 2022 9:13 pm

Yaatri wrote:
Mon Jun 13, 2022 6:12 pm
BTW, did you get your question answered about the reliability of home sleep studies answered?
"THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON CPAPTALK.COM IS NOT INTENDED NOR RECOMMENDED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE."

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Re: Fourteen years on CPAP/BiPaP and a question.

Post by dataq1 » Thu Jun 23, 2022 1:38 pm

dataq1 wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 9:13 pm
Yaatri wrote:
Mon Jun 13, 2022 6:12 pm
BTW, did you get your question about the reliability of home sleep studies answered?
"THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON CPAPTALK.COM IS NOT INTENDED NOR RECOMMENDED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE."

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chunkyfrog
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Re: Fourteen years on CPAP/BiPaP and a question.

Post by chunkyfrog » Thu Jun 23, 2022 4:28 pm

Resmed machines, like any devices, get old, and that causes some problems.
Resmeds are exceptionally well-made; and are "prone" to very little,
compared to competing brands.
Anyone claiming otherwise may have something else to sell.
Trust them not.

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Yaatri
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Re: Fourteen years on CPAP/BiPaP and a question.

Post by Yaatri » Thu Jul 13, 2023 3:47 pm

First of all, I would like to thank you all for responding to my post and apologise for disappearing without even expressing my gratitude to this community. I have travelled quite a bit over the year. I travelled to India and spent some time in the Himalayas on the border between India and China. Although the city was at an altitude of over 11000 ft, Buddhist monasteries required further hike of another 500 to 1000 ft. A monk atone of the monasteries gave us a silk scarf as a token of thanks for making it to the monastery. A visit to a fresh water lake at nearly 14000 feet (13800 feet actually) required going over a pass at 17688 feet. We were a bit worried about the altitude, but we were On as we drove. It's one of the highest motorable pass. We also travelled to Greece 4 times between Nov and April.

Back to CPAP/BiPAP talk. The sleep center at my HMO wanted me to take a home sleep study. He offered lot of resistance to my suggestion of slep study in a proper sleep clinic. I finally was able to see a doctor. I had taken my old sleep studies and the SD card from my BiPaP. She agreed that a home study would be useless for someone in my situation that it ha to be done in a properly equipped sleep center. I had been playing around with my pressure settings over the last year and had found vest results at inhalation pressure of 17 cm of water. Titration in the clinic too recommended 17 cm of water column.

Looking for a new unit as mine has been making a noise.

Yaatri
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Re: Fourteen years on CPAP/BiPaP and a question.

Post by Yaatri » Thu Jul 13, 2023 3:58 pm

LaurieAltra wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 9:41 am
Your best bet is to contact ResMed to find the nearest service center to send it to. The blower does tend to whine and need replacement. This is not a do it yourself job because once the unit is opened, it needs to be recalibrated. This can only be done on ResMed's service software, which is why it is important to send it to an authorized repair center for repair. If it is under warranty, this will be covered by the ResMed warranty.
Thanks for your response. The biggest risk in repairing it myself would be damaging the housing or seals. As far as recalibration is concerned, I think, it's an overkill. I were going to use the unit for doing some R&D measurements in order to develop some new standards for, say, NIST, I would developing some standards for NIST, I would recalibrate even a brand new piece of equipment bought commercially.

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chunkyfrog
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Re: Fourteen years on CPAP/BiPaP and a question.

Post by chunkyfrog » Thu Jul 13, 2023 5:32 pm

Again, as pointed out by Palerider, (who is an adept benchmaster), calibration is unnecessary.

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Yaatri
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Re: Fourteen years on CPAP/BiPaP and a question.

Post by Yaatri » Thu Jul 13, 2023 7:43 pm

chunkyfrog wrote:
Thu Jul 13, 2023 5:32 pm
Again, as pointed out by Palerider, (who is an adept benchmaster), calibration is unnecessary.
I agree. I said calibration ia an overkill. I think you misunderstood my post. If I were going tho perform some R&D measurements to develop some sxientific standards or parameters, calibration would be necessary but not for personal use. Some pieces of equipment have to ne calibrated right out of the box if one is using it to do some R&D.