Respironics RemStar AUTO wCFLEX 2005 disassembled ...

Mystery of which way the card goes up!.

When I got my RemStar I had no idea which way the data card was to be inserted. The data cards *all* seem to have a picture & set of data pad contacts on one side & are blank (no contacts) & white on the other.

I looked at a photo of a Respironics machine at some website & it showed the picture side up. So I inserted the card that way & got a little icon on the display indicating card inserted (as per the manual). This is what the manual says should happen when a card is inserted.

I duly sent in my card to the Mayo clinic trial team after my 1st week but they said - "There no data recorded on this card". Then, despite being sent 3 more cards the Mayo Clincic team kept saying my card had nothing on it.

I had tried putting the card in white side up just to see what happened & immediately the display flashed C-1 & a beeper beeped - non stop until I removed the card. Put it back in pic side up & got the little card icon again. I took that to be proof they go in pic side up but why no data ?. I regard the appearance of the card icon in the display to indicate that the card was accepted by the machine.

Then, recently I did the disassembly & photoshoot & realised there was *no* way the card could work in that slot unless the contacts on the pic side of the card were facing downwards as this is where the corresponding CPAP contacts for the card are. I took the machine apart again last night to double check this. (I could be missing something re the way this card writer works, but danged if I can see what it is I am missing). I have used similar many times & never had a problem understanding how they make contact & how they work.

So the only conclusion I can draw from the evidence is that the Respironics datacards get inserted with the white blank side facing upward & the pic side & data contacts facing downward but as always this locks the CPAP up with the C-1 error. This indicates some kind of datacard error.

Just to reconfirm, can several others with RemStars please say which way faces up on their datacards ?

Thanks

DSM

One additional thought - It just occured to me that the card has 4 ways it can be inserted

1) white side up end 1 in (end 1 being the bottom when looking at the pic)
2) Same side up but reverse end
3) pic side up end 1 in
4) pic side up & reverse ends

I have only tried 1 & 3 & accepted 3 because the card icon appeared.

I haven't tried 2 & 4 It is possible I need to try 2

DSM

DSM,

You have noticed there is an arrow on the picture side of the card showing you which end should be inserted, I'm sure. Right? I never take anything for granted, no matter how obvious, because I know how I can be .

Sleepless on LI wrote:DSM,

You have noticed there is an arrow on the picture side of the card showing you which end should be inserted, I'm sure. Right? I never take anything for granted, no matter how obvious, because I know how I can be .

I don't have the cards in front of me at the moment. And because this began 3 months ago I can't recall exactly why I placed them in pic side up but I believe I was following the obvious info on the card *and* in the manual & the fact that the machine (as per the manual) showed a 'card' icon after I inserted the card in the RemStar led me to believe I had done it right..

When I dismantled the RemStar I could see contacts in the receiving slot on the underside of the inserted card this conflicts with placing the card in pic side up.

My question is

How are you putting your card in ? (I can accept that you are putting the card in arrow point 1st)

1) Pic side up or down


Cheers

DSM

Picture side up for me, white side down, arrow first.

Sleepless on LI wrote:Picture side up for me, white side down, arrow first.

debit or credit?

Tks Lori,

That is how I did it. But as you can see from the one of the photos there are no wires making contact with the data contacts on the datacard when inserted that way. This is what is confusing.

UPDATE# Look at photo 4 - I can see the arrow and the pic but there appear to be no contacts there.

My 2nd dissassembly appeared to confirm that the contacts are underneath the card.

This will need deeper analysis

Cheers & thanks

DSM

wading thru the muck! wrote:

Sleepless on LI wrote:Picture side up for me, white side down, arrow first.

debit or credit?

Hey Wader are you just tryin to increase yer post count

Out to eclipse everyone

Cheers

DSM

wading thru the muck! wrote:

Sleepless on LI wrote:Picture side up for me, white side down, arrow first.

debit or credit?

Puleez, too many of both. I thank God this one can't be used as either...

Smart Card goes into the machine blue side up. The end with the little gold chip thingy goes in first. The end with narrow white stripe is sticking out slightly. Goes into the card reader the same way.

rested gal wrote:Smart Card goes into the machine blue side up. The end with the little gold chip thingy goes in first. The end with narrow white stripe is sticking out slightly. Goes into the card reader the same way.

Tks RG & Lori, I needed a couple of confirmations that matched my own original understanding.

What I will do now is to take yet another look at the insides of the RemStar to try to figure out why the contacts appear to be underneath and none on top of the 'card cage' (see where photo 4 shows the gold contact pads). Perhaps my initial inspections just weren't close enough (very difficult to get right in close) & there are wire contacts from above that only need to make contact on one half of the gold contact pads.

This experience has taught me one thing, we really do take risks when buying low cost gear from remote supliers. But I knew it & can live with it.

More when I have looked closer.

Cheers

DSM

Thanks to your support I have solved the mystery of the way the card writer accepts the datacards. There are a set of wires on the above side of the card cage & they are inside the black plastic bar that comes across from the sides.

The wires only cover one half of the gold contact area.

Unfortunately it doesn't help me solve why my RemStar doesn't appear to write to them.

Cheers

DSM

dsm wrote:Unfortunately it doesn't help me solve why my RemStar doesn't appear to write to them.

I may be wrong here, but it sounds like you have a computer malfunction going on and you may not be the one to be able to fix it. If you know now which way the card should be inserted and that is what you're doing, yet it still can't receive data, that doesn't sound too promising. Is there any way to reboot your machine, so to speak, like one would do when a desktop or laptop for some weird reason just stops working right? I know that helps sometimes.

Keep us posted as to if you do figure it out, but it may take some expert tinkering in the computer dept.

dsm wrote:Hey Wader are you just tryin to increase yer post count Out to eclipse everyone

Been there...Done that...But I can't keep up to LoRi and I'm not even going to try. LOL!

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dsm wrote:Hi Folks,
Added 40 photos of the disassembled RemStar.

I always thought there was a genie inside. There go my illusions.

Seriously though, very interesting. Some people get off on hot cars, and others...