sub remstar filter

Flower51 · Post by **Flower51** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 6:22 pm

Anybody have an idea for what to use or where to get the kind of material used for the filter? I was only given one by my rt and it doesn't dry soon enough to use by evening. And the manual says don't use the machine w/out it, so its a catch 22 if you don't have 2 filters to switch off while one is drying. I'm talking about the black spongy looking rectangular thing at the back of the remstar auto unit.

Anybody wash it every week? Terry

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:08 pm

Terry:

Check out this link. Also, insurance is supposed to pay for them...might want to look into that.

https://www.cpap.com/simple-find-cpap-p ... SPIRONICSF

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:31 pm

Terry,

If they only gave you one of the filters, then they kept the other one. Ask them for it. When you purchase one of these machines, there are actually TWO of these filters that come with it. For what they charge for these machines, they should give you a handful of them. It's called a "pollen" filter and I wouldn't try to substitute anything else.

Yeah, I switch mine about every week or two.

Den

snork1 · Post by **snork1** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:46 pm

You can buy extra filters on-line for a fairly reasonable price.

If you want them to dry faster, try squeezing them with a dry towel just after you rinse them out. They dry really fast if you do that.

Its still nice to have a spare, just so you can swap in the clean spare right when you take out the one you are cleaning, so you don't forget to put one in.

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:47 pm

Its still nice to have a spare, just so you can swap in the clean spare right when you take out the one you are cleaning, so you don't forget to put one in.

Smart idea, Snork. Sounds like something I would do...

WillSucceed · Post by **WillSucceed** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 5:42 am

You can buy pollen-blocking disposable filters on-line for all of the machines. Also, you can go to the local hardware store, purchase the smallest, best quality (3M Filtrete Ultra, for example) furnace filter and cut out pieces of filter material that are the exact same size as the existing foam filter in your CPAP machine.

This might sound like a dopey idea but, it works well. The media that 3M puts in its filter is (if you buy the best quality one) highly efficient at blocking dust, pollen, animal dander, etc., This is exactly the crap that you don't want to be breathing. The media is designed to let the air through and block the garbage.

The cost of one furnace filter cut into many small filters will give you many more filters than the same amount of money spent on name-brand filters made by Respironics, PB., etc.

The foam filter that came with your CPAP unit blocks big dust particles and that is about it.

Since using disposable filter media (furnace filter) my allergies have dropped dramatically, my need for nose sprays, etc., has dropped and, I don't get stuffed up when I sleep anymore.

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:04 am

Will,
That's really interesting info. I'm going to go buy that 3M material. Sounds like a better filter anyway. Thanks for sharing.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:41 pm

Will,

That is really a great idea. I am going to do that right away.
The replacement pollen filters that a bought didn't work as well as the one that came with the machine(the gray color took a lot longer to develop).

frostman · Post by **frostman** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 6:03 am

Will, do you still use replace both the foam and the respironics type filter with the 3m filter??? The one I bought is 1" thick, do you just take it apart and flatten it then cut to exact size????

Grabraham · Post by **Grabraham** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 8:09 pm

I just Picked up a 20"x25" Filtrite Ultra Alergen furnace filter at Lowes for $16 (and there is a $3 rebate)

A couple of thoughts.. If I had a forced air furnace I would use this puppy NICE filter. (wow a tad too musch excitement for a furnace filter I know) VERY well put together (read as a PITA to pull apart ) but the filter medium is very easy to cut and work with. the filters were all the same price size wise for each grade. so I just grabbed the largest one on the shelf. and a 20"x25" filter dissassembled will make a couple hundred disposable size filters easily LOL when you pull it out of the frame and it accordians out it ends up being like 20" x 50" so I have no excuse for not throwing them out and using a new one

wading thru the muck! · Post by **wading thru the muck!** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 8:11 pm

Just buy some from cpap.com. You can't wait for your insurance to pay for every little thing...or can you?

Grabraham · Post by **Grabraham** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 8:12 pm

[quote="wading thru the muck!"]Just buy some from cpap.com. You can't wait for your insurance to pay for every little thing...or can you?

wading thru the muck! · Post by **wading thru the muck!** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 8:16 pm

I bet using "home made" filters voids the machine warranty. No way to know if the air flow characteristics are the same without expensive testing...just a point to consider.

snork1 · Post by **snork1** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 10:16 pm

wading thru the muck! wrote:I bet using "home made" filters voids the machine warranty. No way to know if the air flow characteristics are the same without expensive testing...just a point to consider.

pretty good odds the low resistance required for a forced air furnace is not going to cause problems on your machine. Compare the resistance in a heavily loaded dusty filter that someone is making last longer because of price or availability, to a low resistance furnace filter that is changed OFTEN because you have about a 100 of them now and its easy to replace. Note that the machine designers MUST design for a fairly heavily clogged up filter.

A couple of points...
The 3M Filtrete electrostatic media is VERY effective and should therefore be changed often.
Seal up the spare filter media in a bag or you will end up with a huge dust bunny instead of extra filters.
Hang onto your original filter in case you have to take your machine back for ANY reason, if you are nervous about voiding the warranty on a technicality.

Fifi · Post by **Fifi** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 3:03 am

Please explain what a furnace filter is for the unenlightened

Mask

Mask

sub remstar filter

sub remstar filter

3m filter material