Power outage or stuffy nose?

SnoreNoMore2005 · Post by **SnoreNoMore2005** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 7:40 pm

I have been using a Remstar Auto Cflex with Activa Nasal mask for 15 months. It has turned my life around for the better and I use it every night.

Last night I awoke having trouble inhaling because of what I thought was a stuffed up nose. After a few minutes of trouble inhaling, I realized the electricity had gone off in my house and I had been trying to breathe through my mask and machine that wasn't even operating. It was a little scary as there is no alarm on the machine of anything to warn me that the power was off. The power was off for about 30 minutes.

What do other people do when the power goes off in their homes? Do you have your machines plugged into battery backup units? Do you just take your chances hoping the power won't go off?

I'm curious what other people do.

Thanks
SnoreNoMore2005

inacpapfog · Post by **inacpapfog** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:04 pm

I have found that some masks get real stuffy quick when the machine is not blowing! (Swift, for one) But I can honestly say that the Hybrid allows so much airflow, I hardly notice that the machine is not blowing!

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:36 pm

My Cave Power is a little flaky, it drops low for 20 sec at a time about 6 times daily, I have mine on my computer APC Back-UPS 1250, It probably won't run too long, it will keep my two MoneyPits running for 17 minutes, If they weren't running, I expect it would be good for a hour. We don't have many long outages, an I drive lots of junk cars. Jim

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:49 pm

SNM,

Even though I have several UPS units, they're dedicated to my computers. Our power is very stable here and I've never had a blip while I've been hosed up. I DO have my XPAPs plugged into a good surge protector though. If the power should go out, the valve in the mask would still allow me to breathe until I woke up.

Best wishes,

Den

Vader · Post by **Vader** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 9:07 pm

Whatever you do, don't call Respironics tech support.

I asked them what they would recommend for the very same situation that you described, and they said they couldn't really make a recommendation!
I said "what about a UPS device"? and the tech told me they wouldn't recommend one. Naturally I asked why, and he said "because they're all different". I said "honestly, hasn't this question come up before by your customers" he said "yeah, but we can't make recommendations for something like this".
What could I say? I just told him thanks for his professional expertise, and have a nice day.

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 9:08 pm

I was wondering about how bad that would be, I found out, I was half asleep and rolled over. I flipped my hose over and half asleep noticed I was having trouble breathing, I put my hand over the vent to check, no air, a few seconds later I noticed the hose was gone off the mask, I had lost my snake. Jim

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 9:14 pm

Goofproof wrote:I noticed the hose was gone off the mask, I had lost my snake.

All the UPS units in the world won't protect you in a case like that.

Den

Vader · Post by **Vader** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 9:26 pm

Goofproof wrote:I had lost my snake.

I sure do hate when THAT happens.

jskinner · Post by **jskinner** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 9:31 pm

Funny I was just thinking about this potential problem yesterday. Its seems like someone should develop something similar the Respironics Portable CPAP Battery Pack but that can be left plugged inline charging between the AC wall power and a CPAP. If the power went of it then should automatically could start supplying power.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 9:41 pm

Why spend $500.00 when you can get the same thing at CPAP.COM for $399.00 ???

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... -pack.html

Den

Sleepy Dog Lover · Post by **Sleepy Dog Lover** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:09 pm

I have a UPS that will provide an hour or more of power in an outage, it was only $80. It also conditions the power so you don't have any variations which can be tough on the xpap, we do get brownouts here and fluctuations. It is an APS UPS, a quality UPS made for computers. If it will run my computer and monitor for an hour in case of an outage, I figure that I have at least that and probably much more since the xpap doesn't draw as much power.

Vader · Post by **Vader** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:35 pm

Wulfman wrote:Why spend $500.00 when you can get the same thing at CPAP.COM for $399.00 ???

Actually, I've seen it elsewhere for a lot less ($330)

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:44 pm

Vader wrote:
Wulfman wrote:Why spend $500.00 when you can get the same thing at CPAP.COM for $399.00 ???
Actually, I've seen it elsewhere for a lot less ($330)

But from what I saw, there are a couple of models (one is in that price range)......I was trying to compare "apples to apples" (model numbers).

Den

CollegeGirl · Post by **CollegeGirl** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 11:03 pm

These solutions are great, but what about when the power is out all night? Luckily this hasn't happened to me. So far, when the power's gone out, I've awakened immediately (the lack of sound from the machine wakes me up), and just stayed awake by getting out of bed and doing stuff til the power goes back on (so far, it hasn't been more than an hour that it's taken). A UPS backup is perfect for this - but what about those extended outages?

A unit that can back up something for 8 hours would probably cost waaaay more than I could spend out of pocket.

I can't believe Respironics doesn't even have something they recommend. "Maybe if we ignore it, it'll go away."

CollegeGirl · Post by **CollegeGirl** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 11:06 pm

Can someone who has seen the Respironics battery packs speak to how they function?

Do you leave it plugged into your AC outlet, plug your machine into it, and just not worry about it, and it picks up the slack when there's no power? Or....?

Thanks.

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Power outage or stuffy nose?

Power outage or stuffy nose?

Re: Power outage or stuffy nose?