noisey cpap machine remstar auto,noisey as vacuum cleaner

I'm in the middle adjustment phase of cpap, about 2 months, and have been having a moderately difficult time of it.
My current machine is a remstar auto with cflex. This was lent to me to see if I was correct that I needed a lower pressure (in accordance with advice given me on these boards). My prior machine was a remstar pro with cflex.
Both machines had the following problem with noise:
At first they were fairly quiet and I had no problem from either myself or my wife. Then at the two week mark, both the previous machine and the current one started to really make noise. The wooshing noise of the cflex was so loud that I had a hard time sleeping, and my wife started moving to the couch. The peculiar thing is that neither machine started out this way. With both of them, it was after they had been in the house about 2 weeks. I couldn't get anyone to admit that the noise was anything out of the ordinary... or that it wasn't just my having a hallucination... (but it wasn't... my wife and I listened to the machine during the day... it just had become too noisey). I was about to ask this question of the board when I read other posts that people have put down today, and someone said that if your machine is louder than your vacuum cleaner, its too old... so maybe that's it. In any case I'd like to hear from others. Should the remstar be so noisey you can't sleep? Should the cflex function cause a great whooosing sound to issue from the unit?
If it is too old, how do I get a better, newer machine out of my dme? I suspect he is giving me anything he has around, and denying it when I complain. Getting any service out of him is quite difficult, and I haven't the money right now to buy a machine on my own (my insurance pays the whole thing.)

I am very sensitive to noise when trying to get to sleep. My first night on CPAP was very annoying. The mask was making noise and the CPAP (Remstar Pro II) was making noise, too: like this loud breathing noise.

My DME suggested I put the CPAP under the bed, and that has helped a lot. I did have it on the night stand. I have switched from the Swift to the Breeze, which I find quieter. And...I've grown somewhat accustomed to the sounds that are emitted by machine and interface after a month on CPAP.

Maybe you could try putting your machine under the bed until you can convince your DME that you should have a new CPAP.

Jerry

I have a REMstar PRO II with 750 hours on it, I don't consider it too loud, I though it would be louder. I have to have noise to sleep. I run a T.V. all night. On the nights I don't use the T.V., I have a radio-CD player that plays MP3's. I burn .mp'3s with nature sounds, rain, storms . bird calls, and forest sounds, It runs for about 5 hours a night, very restful.

I think the idea of putting it on the floor is a good one.

I was told that my sleep co. bills my insurance monthly until the machine is paid off (this is to make sure that I will keep and use this machine); at which time I will be given a brand new machine with a warranty. So I guess that means the one I am using is a "used" model. Maybe this is the case with you, and the machine is used? Just a thought....

When my wife expressed her concern at the noise on the Autoset Spirit I was using, I put it on the floor then put a pillow over it. Seemed to do the trick.

As she got used to its whiring up & down I moved it back to the bedside table and then removed the pillow.

My dear tolerant wife does negotiate with me to give her advanced warning when I swap machines - she says she gets to know each machine by its sound & the way it behaves as I breathe. A new machine can be disturbing to her.

As I have mentioned here before I was using a ResMed S7 Elite (same mechanical parts (100%) as the Autoset spirt, just has a different internal control program. The S7 Elite was quite ok to my wife although the Spirit caused her to move to the spare room for a night. So I decided to swap the blower unit (fan) from the Elite to the Spirit. After the swap both machines sounded *exactly* as they had before the swap - the Autoset remained noisy & the S7 Elite seemed quiet. The only difference was really the control software that runs the Autoset Spirt in AUTO mode while the S7 Elite runs in CPAP mode!.

MY RemStar Plus, is a bit noisy but no more than the F&P221LE - both have a solid blowing sound but it is constant & thus easy to adjust to.

If a RemStar suddenly seems noisy then something has changed. The fan in these units is very simple. The possibilities are (set in order of probability) ...

1) There is some obstruction to the air intake - filter clogging up & owner fogets it is there & doesn't clean it

2) Owner changes AUTO settings enough to alter noise pattern

4) Owner changes brand of mask

5) The owner's hearing is changing & the CPAP gets the blame

6) Fan bearings are wearing or rusting & becoming noisy


Cheers

DSM

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): resmed, CPAP, auto, clean

I have a RemStar auto as well, and have had it since July. Mine's not nearly as loud as you describe yours to be. It takes some adjustment to feeling like "darth vader" when you breathe in and out, but it definitely wasn't anything close to the noise level of a vaccuum cleaner, and has never kept me awake. Every thread on "How noisy is ___________ brand?" I've ever seen has ended up with the same answer: decibel level is as individual to machines as mask fit is to users. It's luck of the draw as to whether you get a loud or quiet one.

But it sounds like yours is unusually loud, and that bit about it getting louder after two weeks I don't understand at all. I would be pestering the *^&(*^ out of my DME to either have it looked at or replaced, if I were you. CPAP's not going to help you sleep if it's keeping you awake. Good luck.

My machine (not a Remstar) becomes much noisier when:

*The gasket (?) connecting it to the humdifier isn't clean.

* The gasket (?) connecting it to the humidifier has been cleaned, and isn't sealing properly. Putting it on again with a proper seal takes some trial and error. I always check with the back of my hand to see if there's air leaking out of the seal.


O.

My Remstar Pro with Cflex when new seemed a little noisy until I got used to the up and down whirring noise, my other half actually liked the fact that she could tell I was breathing by listening to the machine.

Recently I returned my machine to Respironics for repair and am totally amazed at how quiet it is now. The sound of air rushing through the passover humidifier is louder than the machine itself and no more up and down whirring. Seriously, you can't tell the machine is running except for the sound of air blowing. The first night after I got it back I went to bed first and when the other half came to bed she was scared to death that I had quit breathing. Actually had to put her hand on my chest to make sure.

It is evident that Respironics has made advances in their machine designs that have nearly eliminated machine noise. Of course this would mean that your DME is indeed giving you older machines.

Bob

That was me above. Now I see what everybody means about getting guested.

The times my remstar auto w/cflex has been super loud it was my own fault!
A couple of times, after having pulled out the clear rubber gasket in the hole that the humidifier "plugs into", I forgot to put it back in (I had taken it off so I could connect my hose directly to the machine and "blow out" any moisture in the hose. It was SO LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!! when I then sleepily put the humidifier's "thingy" into the hole w/out first inserting the gasket. YIKES.

The second reason was once, again sleepy, I didn't push my humidifier's "thingy" back into the hole the entire way and so it was not good a seal....Again...YOWZA it was LOUD!!!!

The third reason is when my nasal aire II mask wasn't fitting properly in my nose...first because it was too small for my nose and allowed air to whoosh freely between my nares and the prongs....again it was like NIAGARA FALLS loud!

Fouth...when my nose prongs slipped around some or the thin hoses connecting my mask around my ears weren't just so things got louder than normal...just a matter of adjusting the hose and I was fine.

Hope this helps. Love, your hosehead sister, Terry

Once again the forum has helped me find the solution.
Yes, it was the connection between the humidifier and the cpap was leaking air.
The reason the noise started at the 2 week mark for both machines was that that must have been the time in both machines' life with me, that I picked it up, and dislocated the humidifier-cpap connection, and not checked to see if I had replaced it properly.
Thanks again to all, yours skinnysleepapnea (the 2 is because my first logon doesn't seem to be able to log on any more.)