Mirage Activa Leak Rate Question

cpapjack · Post by **cpapjack** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 11:30 am

Anyone have any idea as to what the normal leak rate should be for the Activa mask? My leak rate has been ranging between .18 to .38 over the past 3 weeks. I've still been feeling really tired throughout the day, but not as bad as before. I even find myself dozing off for a few minutes at my desk every now and then.

Pirate · Post by **Pirate** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 12:51 pm

I use the Activa mask with a Remstar auto. My leak rate seems to fluctuate nightly and I can't determine why, except for those times when I stick my finger under the mask to scratch my nose. However, it doesn't seem to matter what the leake rate is, as my AHI doesn't really change even if the leak rate is high. For example, my leak rate last night was 60 ltr/min and my AHI was .5. The night before my leak rate was over 200 ltr / min and my AHI was still .5.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): activa, AHI, auto

cpapjack · Post by **cpapjack** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 2:11 pm

cpapjack · Post by **cpapjack** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 7:31 pm

?????

Knightfall · Post by **Knightfall** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:11 pm

I've been on CPAP for only 20 days using the Activa exclusively. My average leak rate over that time period was about 0.06 L/s. I had two nights where it was at its highest at 0.12 L/s, but most of the time it runs around 0.04 L/s. Ken

cpapjack · Post by **cpapjack** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:21 pm

Knightfall wrote:I've been on CPAP for only 20 days using the Activa exclusively. My average leak rate over that time period was about 0.06 L/s. I had two nights where it was at its highest at 0.12 L/s, but most of the time it runs around 0.04 L/s.

Ken,

How do you manage to get your leak rate so low?

GoofyUT · Post by **GoofyUT** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:22 pm

My Activa also runs around 0.06L/s on my S8 AutoSet Vantage.

Chuck

cpapjack · Post by **cpapjack** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:23 pm

GoofyUT wrote:My Activa also runs around 0.06L/s on my S8 AutoSet Vantage.

Chuck

What's your secret?

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:28 pm

it depends on your delivery pressure, but the Activa mask has a pressure flow curve at 20L/min at 5cm pressure to 30 L/min at 10cm pressure.

So if your pressure is hovering around 10cm you can expect a intentional 30L/min leak from the exhaust ports. If you check the litrature that comes with all masks, it will show you the flow curve and intentional leak for the mask you have.

The Activa is probably the best at NOT leaking between the cushion and your face.

So if you have any unusual leaks it is probably from taking the mask apart for cleaning.

If you have taken it apart for cleaning, release the green tabs and remove the cushion from the main frame, then reseat the cusion to the frame use your thumbs on the inside of the cushion and work your way around to make sure it is snapped back in place properly.

That is where the Activa is most likely to leak. It is why I always leave the cushion on the mask for cleaning and clean the whole thing with only the headgear removed, you can pivot off the forehead piece and completely remove it for cleaning on masks that don't have 4 quick release clips.

cpapjack · Post by **cpapjack** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:35 pm

Snoredog wrote:it depends on your delivery pressure, but the Activa mask has a pressure flow curve at 20L/min at 5cm pressure to 30 L/min at 10cm pressure.

So if your pressure is hovering around 10cm you can expect an intentional 30L/min leak from the exhaust ports. If you check the litrature that comes with all masks, it will show you the flow curve and intentional leak for the mask you have.

The Activa is probably the best at NOT leaking between the cushion and your face.

So does .18 equate to 18L/min?

So if you have any unusual leaks it is probably from taking the mask apart for cleaning.

The maske itself doesn't leak that I'm aware of. If I'm mouth breathing at all, would that affect the leak rate? I was taping using micropore tape, but for some reason, it's stopped sticking. So I went back to my chinstrap, and my numbers are still the same. MAybe I'll try the Fixodent gel tonite and see what happens.

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:43 pm

cpapjack wrote:

The maske itself doesn't leak that I'm aware of. If I'm mouth breathing at all, would that affect the leak rate?

yes, mouth breathing would show up exactly the same as mask leak. when leak exceeds .4L/s (24L/min) is associated with patient discomfort, disturbed sleep, and reduced efficacy of treatment.

If enabled, the patient alert will signal at .7L/s (42L/min) when the leak exceeds more than 20 seconds. When the leak exceeds this level, the autotitrating algorithm ceases to perform optimally.

I would suggest enabling the leak alert feature, this will tell you if leaks or mouth breathing are a problem.

So does .18 equate to 18L/min?

I would say that is .18L/second (.18x60=10.8L/min conversion). That is not really a leak I'd worry about.

cpapjack · Post by **cpapjack** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:51 pm

Snoredog wrote:I would suggest enabling the leak alert feature, this will tell you if leaks or mouth breathing are a problem.

I do have it enabled, but my leak rate has never been above .36 during the 3 weeks that I've had my S8.

So since my leak rate is less than .4, what could be other reasons that I'm still felling tired during the day? Is it really likely that I could be still paying back my sleep debt after cpap'ing it for three months?

lvehko · Post by **lvehko** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 12:15 am

I'm using the Activa now and like it -- my leak rate has been pretty consistently 0.06 L/S. I'm also a bit stumped about the mouth leak question, but I haven't been using the mask long enough yet to determine whether I'm mouth leaking with it or not. I have used it with tape and without and my numbers across the board were exactly the same both ways. My AHI is still too high for my liking, running an average of 8.0, with the HI the majority of that no matter what pressure I set it at. Maybe I should start another thread for that, though...

Min

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 5:06 am

[quote="minerva"]I'm using the Activa now and like it -- my leak rate has been pretty consistently 0.06 L/S. I'm also a bit stumped about the mouth leak question, but I haven't been using the mask long enough yet to determine whether I'm mouth leaking with it or not. I have used it with tape and without and my numbers across the board were exactly the same both ways. My AHI is still too high for my liking, running an average of 8.0, with the HI the majority of that no matter what pressure I set it at. Maybe I should start another thread for that, though...

Min

cpapjack · Post by **cpapjack** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 6:58 am

cpapjack wrote:The mask itself doesn't leak that I'm aware of. If I'm mouth breathing at all, would that affect the leak rate? I was taping using micropore tape, but for some reason, it's stopped sticking. So I went back to my chinstrap, and my numbers are still the same. Maybe I'll try the Fixodent gel tonite and see what happens.

So I actually ended up trying the tap again last night. In fact I used extra tape to ensure I wouldn't have any mouth leaks, and my leak rate was .36 and my AHI was up to 4.3. That's actually the highest it's been since start my APAP treamtent 3 weeks ago. On top of that, my throat was very dry, which it never is. I have my humidifier set at 3. Strange.

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Additional Comments: Started CPAP June 14, 2006, pressure set at 8.0