CPAPtalk.com

archangle wrote:

Bayrat wrote:Phillips returned my inquiry and told me to contact my medical supplier or my doctor for resolution, basically blowing me off. NEVER again will I deal with this company.

Does ResMed do any better in terms of being willing to deal directly with the patient?

I can't answer this honestly because all all my previous machines worked fine from day one and still do. They are simply noisier, larger and a bit tired now.

Carl LaFong wrote:OP, never mind how much water it uses -- At what setting do your sinuses not become irritated?

On this machine, All of the settings. On my other two machines, let's just say that they are fine as if set a bit less than rainout. Since day one I have not been able to use the unheated passover humidifier. I know there is something wrong with the new unit, there is no way it should use almost zero water when set in conventional mode and turned all the way up to 5. It may make a nice door stop..

Dude,
I know you're angry. All we're saying is to go to the dealer. The place you bought it from, and I'm assuming that's a local DME. Yell at them...
J

jamiswolf wrote:Dude,
I know you're angry. All we're saying is to go to the dealer. The place you bought it from, and I'm assuming that's a local DME. Yell at them...
J

My man, that is what I did!!! They did their hand on the heater plate "test" and said basically, stick it, we say it's OK. Then I called Phillips, they told me to go to the supplier or my doctor. I just finished telling them that is what I had done previous to contacting them. Am I dealing with the government here or what?

BayRat,

First, a hi and a welcome from a fellow upstate NYer. (WNY more precisely.)

Second let's try to not turn this into a useless "which machine is better thread."

You've got a problem with a brand new PR System One, or perhaps more accurately, the System One humidifier even when it is set to Classic setting 5. Upstate NY is not a particularly dry area of the country, and the System One humidifier, even in Classic mode, is not going to superheat the water to increase the humidity in that already pretty humid air. Now once we're all using forced air heat, that might be a different story.

I do have some questions:

1) How old is this machine? Is it possible that you could simply return the machine and request the DME swap it out for a ResMed S9 AutoSet and its Hi5 humidifier? If the machine is less than 30 days old, you might be able to get the DME to agree to this. But it does mean sweet talking them instead of yelling at them. (But note, last fall when I was using a ResMed S9 AutoSet, I was amazed at just how little water its humidifier seemed to use---regardless of the settings---even after we turned the forced air heat on)

2) Since you've been so happy with ResMed products in the past, why did you switch brands in the first place? Why didn't you just upgrade the machine to the S9 AutoSet with its Hi5 humidifier? This doesn't help you solve your problem, but it may let the forum members get beyond interpreting your posts on a simplistic level of "PR Bad, ResMed Good"

robysue wrote:BayRat,

First, a hi and a welcome from a fellow upstate NYer. (WNY more precisely.)

Second let's try to not turn this into a useless "which machine is better thread."

You've got a problem with a brand new PR System One, or perhaps more accurately, the System One humidifier even when it is set to Classic setting 5. Upstate NY is not a particularly dry area of the country, and the System One humidifier, even in Classic mode, is not going to superheat the water to increase the humidity in that already pretty humid air. Now once we're all using forced air heat, that might be a different story.

I do have some questions:

1) How old is this machine? Is it possible that you could simply return the machine and request the DME swap it out for a ResMed S9 AutoSet and its Hi5 humidifier? If the machine is less than 30 days old, you might be able to get the DME to agree to this. But it does mean sweet talking them instead of yelling at them. (But note, last fall when I was using a ResMed S9 AutoSet, I was amazed at just how little water its humidifier seemed to use---regardless of the settings---even after we turned the forced air heat on)

2) Since you've been so happy with ResMed products in the past, why did you switch brands in the first place? Why didn't you just upgrade the machine to the S9 AutoSet with its Hi5 humidifier? This doesn't help you solve your problem, but it may let the forum members get beyond interpreting your posts on a simplistic level of "PR Bad, ResMed Good"

First of all, I am NOT playing brands here but rather complaining about the "service" offered by Phillips. The machine was a week old when I returned it to the supplier for repair or replacement. It is now well beyond the 30 day period. To answer your question regarding the machine purchase, this is the ONE machine the supplier recommended as THE best one out there. How the heck should I know, I trusted them.

Secondly, I have not "yelled" at anyone. I accepted the explanation from the medical supplier that this was the best they could do. From there I contacted Phillips. I never "yelled" at them or anyone else, but accepted that they were blowing me off.

It seems you all are not reading my posts before posting replies so I am pretty much done with this. My guess is that the manufacturers must support this forum in some way so to gain real insight is not really possible here.. Thanks for all the help, I'll go it alone.

By the way, thanks for the welcome Robysue. I'm simply frustrated, not taking this out on you or anyone else. God bless and take care....

I filled my humidifier reservoir to the top line on Friday night and this morning it was dry. Setting was on 3, with 5 the highest. Likely your machine is not functioning properly. Keep pestering them!

Bayrat wrote:By the way, thanks for the welcome Robysue. I'm simply frustrated, not taking this out on you or anyone else. God bless and take care....

No offense taken. Been there and done that re the frustration.

I really was curious as to why the switch in brands.

It's a shame that the machine is past 30 days old. It's also a shame you were not offered a chance to stay with the brand of CPAP that you've been using successfully for a long time. I really don't understand why some DMEs literally push one brand over another to the point of telling a satisfied user of one brand to switch. I've used both a S9 AutoSet and a PR System One BiPAP Auto. The two brands' algorithms for exhalation relief, ramping, and humidification are not the same. And there's a small group of users who seem to do better on one of the two brands than the other. Which brand is best for Person A really depends on Person A: For me, the PR machines are more comfortable over all; and I strongly suspect that for you, the ResMed machines are simply more comfortable over all. And I think that had you been sold the S9, you likely would have been a happy camper.

Finally you write:

My guess is that the manufacturers must support this forum in some way so to gain real insight is not really possible here.. Thanks for all the help, I'll go it alone.

Nope. The manufacturers provide no support whatsoever to this forum. Our kindly host, cpap.com, is an on-line CPAP supplier that sells a large number of different brands---far beyond the Big Two of Resmed and PR. In the year I've been here, the only manufacturer rep I've seen posting has been someone from DeVilbiss, who has a poster named DeVilbiss Marketing who posts occasionally wanting feedback on ideas the company should consider when developing their products.

Bayrat wrote: My guess is that the manufacturers must support this forum in some way so to gain real insight is not really possible here.. Thanks for all the help, I'll go it alone.

Most of the manufacturers would love for this forum to disappear. They love for the patients to be as ignorant as possible so they can be ripped off by the manufacturers and their dealer network. They consider the CPAP salesmen and doctors to be their customers, not the CPAP patient.

"I really don't understand why some DMEs literally push one brand over another to the point of telling a satisfied user of one brand to switch."

We all KNOW why--the profit margin on PR machines is higher than on ResMeds (insurance reimbursement minus wholesale price).

It's certainly NOT about patient need!

Bayrat wrote: On my other two machines, let's just say that they are fine as if set a bit less than rainout.

See that was the "old way" and what you expect. I think the "new fangled systems" from both makers now try to eliminate rainout and in doing so limit the amount of humidity.

And for some of us that is not enuff or even if it is enuff it is not what we are used too.

So I don't think changing to Re$med S9 will fix your problem but do let us know how you fix it.

Good Luck

Well, I finally won out. I called headquarters of the medical supply company and told them that I was going to contact my insurance company due to a new machine that was malfunctioning, one that they tested by holding a hand on the warming plate and gave it back to me without attempting to send for repair. Headquarters called the branch I had dealt with which prompted action. Right to the end, the branch insisted the problem was me and not the machine. Yet they have no idea how the system one works when set on auto i.e. the internal sensors etc.

The machine was replaced with a new S9 which works flawlessly. The machine, set on auto, uses about 2/3 of a tank of water compared to almost zero on the System 1. I would have been satisfied with a System One that worked properly, however, no issue with this machine whatsoever, at least not yet

Thanks to all of you for the help and advise rendered. Frustration over!

Here's the specs for S1, notice the numbers for the hum. settings

This Product Includes...

Humidifier
Chamber


Product Specifications
Temperature Operating: 41° F to 95° F (5° C to 35° C)

Temperature Storage: -4° F to 140° F (-20° C to 60° C)

Relative Humidity: 15 to 95% (non-condensing)

Atmospheric Pressure Operating: 77 to 101 kPa (0 - 7500 ft.)

Atmospheric Pressure Storage: N/A

Dimensions: 8.25 in. L x 8.75 in. W x 4.0 in. H (21 x 21.9 x 10.3 cm)

Weight (with water tank empty): Approximately 1.2 lbs (< 1kg)

Water Capacity: 1 1/3 cups (325 ml) at recommended water level

Standards Compliance: This humidifier is designed to conform to the following standards: IEC 60601-1 General Requirements for Safety of Medical Electrical Equipment EN ISO 17510-1 Sleep Apnea Breathing Therapy Devices

AC Power Consumption: 100 - 240 VAC, 50/60 Hz, 1.7 A max.

Type of Protection Against Electric Shock: Class II Equipment

Degree of Protection Against Electric Shock: Type BF Applied Part

Equipment Type: IPX1: Drip Proof Equipment

EMC Operation: Continuous

Electromagnetic Compatibility: The device meets the requirements of EN 60601-1-2, 2nd edition.

Heater Settings: 1 to 5 (104° to 158° F / 40° to 70° C)

System One Relative Humidity:

Setting 1 = 80-90%
Setting 2 = 70-80%
Setting 3 = 60-70%
Setting 4 = 50-60%
Setting 5 = 40-50%

Pressure Drop with Humidifier: (max.) 0.3cm H2O at 60 LPM flow

Humidity Range: 10 to 40 mg H2O/l

LED Type: Type 1 per IEC 60825-1

Disposal: When necessary, dispose of the humidifier in accordance with local regulations.

darimont,

Thanks for the numbers. I assume the 1-5 are if the machine is used on manual mode and not auto? Mine has a hose temp setting but no humidity setting.