Quattro leaks and cleaning? Help.

Make a long story short, my leak graphs always stink. I don't have 'monster' leaks, but periods with clear slow leaks. Also, the FF seems to make the machine think I have long periods of vibratory snores. These don't match the leak graph or the AHI hits. All in all, the mask has more 'interesting' things in the lightly report than the nasal mask I was using. My AHIs are OK and I am not having huge leaks.

So.... with my cleaning my face every night, I was cleaning the mask skirt with soap and water. This makes it quite grippy and more resistant to sliding around. I think the leaks are more controlled like this. But I worry about the effects that nightly soap have on the longevity. Should I make the nightly soap part of the routine? Should I just do it occasionally? I can get a mask every couple of months, so it's not like it has to last forever.

Carbonman - how often do you replace your ff mask skirt?

elader wrote:Make a long story short, my leak graphs always stink. I don't have 'monster' leaks, but periods with clear slow leaks. Also, the FF seems to make the machine think I have long periods of vibratory snores. These don't match the leak graph or the AHI hits. All in all, the mask has more 'interesting' things in the lightly report than the nasal mask I was using. My AHIs are OK and I am not having huge leaks.

So.... with my cleaning my face every night, I was cleaning the mask skirt with soap and water. This makes it quite grippy and more resistant to sliding around. I think the leaks are more controlled like this. But I worry about the effects that nightly soap have on the longevity. Should I make the nightly soap part of the routine? Should I just do it occasionally? I can get a mask every couple of months, so it's not like it has to last forever.

Carbonman - how often do you replace your ff mask skirt?

According to his profile, I believe Carbonman uses the Ultra Mirage Full Face (UMFF) like I do. I'm approaching 4 years of use on mine with the original seals and headgear.....well, at least 3 1/2 at the moment. I don't wash it very often, but it still seems to be in excellent shape......and the leak rate is just as good as (or better than) when it was new.

You didn't mention whether you had done the "Teflon tape fix" on your Quattro......
Also, the type of bed pillow a person uses can make a huge difference in leakage numbers.

Den

My Quattro gets 38-42 leak...I have done the teflon fix and I clean the outer membrane
every morning with Johnson's baby shampoo. Just a few drops in my fingers and rub lightly
around the membrane seal then rinse. Also I wash my face every night.

Bill

The only way I can get my quattro to seal for most of the night is if I wash it with baby shampoo in the morning or early afternoon so it can dry. I must also wash my face with a good bath soap without any moisturizing additives. If I wash my face at night with any of the liquid soaps with moisturizers I start getting uncontrollable leaks after about 3 hours. Ivory bar soap seems to work very well.

Dale

elader wrote: Carbonman - how often do you replace your ff mask skirt?

The Quattro mask is a dance w/the devil.

Once again, all of this is so subjective.
I could never make the Q work consistantly for me.
I gave up on it months ago.
I have been using the UM. It works, period.
For me, I just rinse the mask and seal w/warm tap water every am.
It drys on the towel rack. Maybe once a week I wipe it w/one of the cpap wipes.
For now, I have no reason or indication that the seal needs to be replaced.
I get better results if I don't use soap to wash my face at night. I just
rinse w/very warm water, when I do my nasal rinse.

Used w/my Papcap, I just "throw" my mask on at night, fire up the Ozzy hose,
and I'm into the abyss in minutes. With this setup, my biological clock continues
to run in reverse.

Wulfman wrote:You didn't mention whether you had done the "Teflon tape fix" on your Quattro......
Den

Teflon tape fix?

Debjax wrote:

Wulfman wrote:You didn't mention whether you had done the "Teflon tape fix" on your Quattro......
Den

Teflon tape fix?

Yep!

If you do a Search on "Teflon", you'll find lots of posts/threads about it......or you can read this one:

viewtopic/t37861/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37 ... on#p323983


Den

Wulfman wrote:

elader wrote:Make a long story short, my leak graphs always stink. I don't have 'monster' leaks, but periods with clear slow leaks. Also, the FF seems to make the machine think I have long periods of vibratory snores. These don't match the leak graph or the AHI hits. All in all, the mask has more 'interesting' things in the lightly report than the nasal mask I was using. My AHIs are OK and I am not having huge leaks.

So.... with my cleaning my face every night, I was cleaning the mask skirt with soap and water. This makes it quite grippy and more resistant to sliding around. I think the leaks are more controlled like this. But I worry about the effects that nightly soap have on the longevity. Should I make the nightly soap part of the routine? Should I just do it occasionally? I can get a mask every couple of months, so it's not like it has to last forever.

Carbonman - how often do you replace your ff mask skirt?

According to his profile, I believe Carbonman uses the Ultra Mirage Full Face (UMFF) like I do. I'm approaching 4 years of use on mine with the original seals and headgear.....well, at least 3 1/2 at the moment. I don't wash it very often, but it still seems to be in excellent shape......and the leak rate is just as good as (or better than) when it was new.

You didn't mention whether you had done the "Teflon tape fix" on your Quattro......
Also, the type of bed pillow a person uses can make a huge difference in leakage numbers.

Den

I will try the teflon tape thing. Hmmn, weird. OK. Also I sleep obn my side on a cpap pillow, so I sort of wedge the mask into a nice tight seal. I do not feel like it's leaking (when I am awake). If I sleep on my back it leaks constantly and makes farting noises that amuse my dogs.

elader wrote: I will try the teflon tape thing. Hmmn, weird. OK. Also I sleep obn my side on a cpap pillow, so I sort of wedge the mask into a nice tight seal.

I don't think that the teflon tape will fix the major leak problems that the Q has.
I did that fix and it made no difference. I think it has to do w/the curvature of the sides
that may or maynot be the cause of leaks, depending on the shape of the face.
I do the wedgie thing w/my slice and dice cpap pillow, w/excellent results.

elader wrote: If I sleep on my back it leaks constantly and makes farting noises that amuse my dogs.

.....well it's good to know that there is some
benefit to your therapy......