ACTIVA - H E L P

A simple way to check an Activa mask for internal leaks is to remove the swivel connector and short hose, then while wearing the mask, cover the round opening in front with the palm of your hand and exhale into the mask. the mask should fill and expand with your breath, and it should not be leaking anywhere, since the exhalation holes are in the swivel connector part that you removed. The swivel connector and hose assembly can be checked by covering the part that plugs into the mask and the exhalation holes, and then blowing into the tube that would connect to your main tube from your machine....there should be no leaks. This mask has a couple of holes at the bottom that are normally plugged with "port caps" ......easily forgotten or misplaced if you completely disassemble the mask. Hope some of this helps....Good Luck

Niteair,
I agree, that sounds like a way to check for leaks with the hole covered where the hose normally connects to the mask, but the mask won't make a leak-proof seal that way and it may allow air to escape out the sides of the seal where it might otherwise escape during regular usage, no? I will try anything, so I will give that a try. I appreciate any suggestion at this point. Last night, I washed the seal with a different type of soap and loosened the straps even more. That seemed to keep it more inflated, but caused more leaks around the nose and at the bottom corners of the mask. I can't win for losing!!!

Sorry it took me so long to reply...If your machine is a rental, then you need to call your DME company and have them send an RT out to your home to take a look at it. Usually they have some sort of policy for questionable equipment malfunctions. When they do come out, kindly ask them to check your mask as well. They might tell you that you need to bring it in to them at their office if they know ahead of time when an RT is available. It almost sounds to me like you put the mask together fine, but either the position on your face, the angle of the forehead piece or the loosness/tightness of your straps isn't what it should be for a proper fit. Did you have them mark with a magic marker where the end of the velcro piece met the headgear, so that when you took it apart you would know where to replace the straps for the same fit? You wouldn't believe the people who never think about that. I anxious to hear when you solve the mystery of the deflated mask!

Oh sorry, I forgot about the cleaning question. We clean our masks in our facility with warm tap water and a fragrance free, mild, liquid dishsoap (Ivory). Alcohol based products aren't good on the material and fragrance products can irritate already sensitive skin. It is easier to clean thoroughly when it is disassembled, but I understand your apprehension because of the current situation IMO, I would at least pop out the cusion itself to make sure that I was able to clean all the nooks and crannies where the user could have, pardon my term here---snotted into it. I only think like that because I've learned that lots of people do things that they don't think are big deals, but I just know too much about snotty germs!

Aren't you the wealth of information!!! Thank you so much for you assistance, really. You are great. No, no one ever marked my straps for me. What a great idea that WOULD have been. I seem to have gotten the mask to inflate better over the past couple of nights by loosening the straps even more, but now I am dealing with leaks, especially at the bottom corners of the "triangle." Can't win! But I guess I can rule out the machine itself.
As far as cleaning the mask, I will take your answer to mean, no chemicals on the Activa but mild soap, but just take out the diaphragm. I guess I'll soak it AND the mask in Ivory. Some folks on the site have suggested baby shampoo. I guess six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Thank you so much for you experience and knowlege. It means a lot to me that you took the time to write.

I do not have the Activa, but when I had my follow-up visit with my Pulmonologist, he said when I got my next mask, I might want to try the Activa. He got one and demonstrated how it worked. He said it was very important to only hold the mask lightly in front of your face until you turn on the PaP. The bellows action will then suck the soft plastic toward your face. He said if you put it on tight first before turning on the air, that keeps the inflation from happening.
Try that move and see if it makes a difference.

Photogal, thanks. I have, since posting this thread, acquired a second Activa mask and it seems I have different leaks with this one, too. I took my original back to my DME and he seems to feel it's the way my face is "constructed" that is causing the problems and nothing to do with a faulty mask. I am getting a decent night's sleep with it, waking about twice or so to reposition it and fix leaks or deflation. I figure, after describing myself pre-diagnosis of OSA as a goldfish out of her tank, flopping from side to side all night, awake for a moment and not knowing why I had awakened, that twice a night now and only for a moment or two, and then falling right back asleep to get regenerative sleep is a good thing. I have to look at it like this is a far better position to be in than I was a few months ago. I am up right now at 6 AM because I feel like I've had enough sleep, something I would never have said a few months back.
So thank you for your suggestion. I will certainly keep that in mind tonight. Have a great day and a greater weekend!