changing Co2 exhaust holes?

lrt, I should have looked at your mask on cpap.com before I posted. This pic



clearly shows the front of the mask. The large hole right in the center is the anti-asphyxiation valve. Three rows of tiny vent holes are located right above it.

So long as none of them are blocked, carry on with your rattin'.

Here is a pic of how I did mine. The green pad is not actually touching any of the holes, but difuses the air coming out.

ok. I promise to be very carefull.

my mask has a flapper like you mentioned. And above that there is a series of many tiny holes. They are on the same part you can see in the pic.
No holes are covered.


Ooops I must have been looking for the pic at the same time you posted yours.

Thanks for the help

The ventilation holes on a full face mask are a safety issue. Without them, the user could recycle the same air over and over, like breathing in and out of a bag, inhaling air with increasingly depleted oxygen and elevated CO2. I couldn't fully understand the photo, but I would be worried about any modification that raised even a small possibility that the holes could get blocked if the user rolled over on the mask wrong or by any other accidental cause. I would rather annoy my wife than run that risk.

Sleepless has a nice idea too. Seems simple yet functional.
As far as that mask I could not find a picture on here that would blow up that much and show that much and for some reason I found two different pics on the manufacturers web page.

Best of luck with your mods, I hope it works the way you want and doesn't pester anyone you sleep with.

Gerry

Thanks everyone for the well wishes and concern.

I will try to get a better pic in morning of my little contraption. I will get some good lights on it then.

It is like a cave. Over the whole section of the venting.

It does not cover holes. My hubby looked at it and said it looks safe.


Pst....I never sleep on my tummy.
And Don't think I could mash it down on the venting, unless I did sleep on my tummy. My hubby would not want me in danger either. All is well.

PST wrote:The ventilation holes on a full face mask are a safety issue. Without them, the user could recycle the same air over and over, like breathing in and out of a bag, inhaling air with increasingly depleted oxygen and elevated CO2. I couldn't fully understand the photo, but I would be worried about any modification that raised even a small possibility that the holes could get blocked if the user rolled over on the mask wrong or by any other accidental cause. I would rather annoy my wife than run that risk.

That is the idea behind using the green scrubby piece, it is so porous, that it would be virtually impossible for it to block the holes. Having nothing over the holes would be more likely to cause a problem if they got in full contact with a pillow.

Should anybody ever decide to drill their mask, I recommend they set their machine at a fixed pressure like 10cm and put plastic wrap to block the face opening. Then run the machine for a fair spell and check the leak rate against the factory specs.

I keep saying I am going to do this with my Forma as it vents a lot of air through the flapper valve making it noisy. I thought it was defective until reading F&P literature to use this particular valve part number on this mask only. My thinking is they made the holes too small and covered their error with the valve. I cannot get an answer from F&P.

OldLincoln you didn't say if the person should be wearing the mask or not when they drill holes in it. Now if that was something a manufacturer told you to do, you know there would be all kinds of warnings with it, because someone would be holding that drill up to their mask while it was on their face.

Gerry

rested gal wrote:In the good old tradition of bundling boards, perhaps put a pillow up there between you?

That pillow barrier works for me! I don't feel any air coming my way. That plus the fact that after awhile hubby turns onto his other side. I'd be reluctant to try any fixes on the exhaust ports but that's just me. BTW, RG, I never heard of "bundling boards", probably before my time!

We use the "pillow method" and have from the beginning. It works well (at least with a "king" bed). It was a bit close quarters with the double at my in-laws.

As to blocking airflow: masks are engineered to flush the CO2 at the minimum pressure (presumably with a safety margin built in). Using any pressure higher than minimal will give a flow rate well in excess of that. I'm betting that prudent "lab-ratting" (short of duct taping ALL the vents) would still result in adequate flushing. Unless there's a noticable difference in exhaling effort, I wouldn't worry about CO2 buildup.

The "greenie" pad idea looks intriguing. Does it affect noise either way?

Gerryk wrote:OldLincoln you didn't say if the person should be wearing the mask or not when they drill holes in it. Now if that was something a manufacturer told you to do, you know there would be all kinds of warnings with it, because someone would be holding that drill up to their mask while it was on their face.

Gerry

Might discover a new cure for OSA in the process! At least bypass the septum & turbs.