Heated humidifier shutting off

~AP · Post by **~AP** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 12:27 am

Hello There,
I have noticed that my heated humidifier automatically shuts off after a while and when I wake up the water in the reservoir is cold. Does anybody else have this happening to them? Am I not doing something right? I would like the water to stay warm.

I usually turn the heater on first for a few minutes before using the cpap so it starts out warm but after an hour or so it shuts off.

Your advice is needed.

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 2:36 am

Bit tricky without more info.

Once you switch the h/h on & the led on the h/h glows, it should be on & stay on.

If you stop & start the Remstar, you must push the on-button for the h/h again.

That is my best guess.

Cheers

DSM

Darth Vader Look · Post by **Darth Vader Look** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 3:40 am

Once you switch the h/h on & the led on the h/h glows, it should be on & stay on.

If you stop & start the Remstar, you must push the on-button for the h/h again.

That is my best guess.

That would be my best guess as well.

~AP · Post by **~AP** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 8:12 am

Thanks for replying. the first thing I do is press the heat button to get the water to warm before I turn the cpap on. I do get a light on the H&H when I do this. Next, I press the cpap on/off button to let it start, then I press the vamp button; the H&H light stays on when I do this, but then after an hour or so the H&H shuts off and the cpap stays on.

I will try pressing the heat button again after I press the vamp button and see if that helps to keep the H&H going all night long.

Thanks for your advice.

_________________

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 10:38 am

Actually . . ., although I haven't proven it yet, I think this is another instance of a dumb design decision. I'm experiencing this same problem with my BiPAP-auto as well. I don't understand the exact sequence which causes it, but the solution may not be quite as simple as suggested. If I have time this evening I'll run just a few tests to see if I can figure anything out.

It is aggravating to wake up with dry sinuses and find the humidifier cold and off. Especially since part of my routine has been to make sure it gets turned back on if I get up. For each of the past three nights that I've used the BiPAP-auto I've unexpectedly found the heat off on the humidifier at some point during the night.

With the Remstar-auto it has never been a problem, but it was a problem with my BiPAP-auto when I first started xPAP, and now that I've gone back to the BiPAP-auto I'm seeing it again. I'd somehow just assumed it was me since I was so new to xPAP and all, but now I'm thinking . . . design flaw.

Regards,
Bill

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 11:39 am

~AP, I have seen the same behavior. I thought I was missing something, so last night I deliberately observed the stupid thing, and it (the heat) went off sometime during the night, although I had NOT poweredthe airflow off/on at any point.

Now I understand why some mornings the reservoir is almost empty and some days it seems to have lost almost no volume. Do we have a product bug? I still don't know enough about how it really works to make an intelligent guess.

What is C-Flex? Does my pressure stay steady all night at its setting or does it fluctuate based on breathing behavior? (If variable, could a drop cause the heat to go off?) I think I need tio get the software.

Rookie

rdjw · Post by **rdjw** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 11:45 am

Again, previous post was me. Sorry. Not a Lurker!

Rookie

roztom · Post by **roztom** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 12:16 pm

C-FLex drops the pressure on exhale so you are not breathing against pressure. It makes for more comfort.

I use it and like it. As far as the HH goes... you got me on that one.

Let us know.

tnx,

Tom

Moogy · Post by **Moogy** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 12:19 pm

I also use the Respironics Auto BiPAP, and my humidifier NEVER goes off unless I turn the machine off, OR if I leave it preheating for more than 5 minutes without turning on the machine. Perhaps there is a defect in some of the humidifiers?

Moogy

RestInSeattle · Post by **RestInSeattle** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:40 pm

Like Moogy, I also have never had my humidifier stop working, unless...

I have a power disruption. After the power is restored, the CPAP starts automatically due to breath detection, but the humidifer stays off until I press the button to turn it back on.

Perhaps you are also having brief disruptions in power?

If not, have it exchanged under warranty as there's a two year on the humidifier as well as the CPAP equipment from Respironics.

rdjw · Post by **rdjw** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:06 pm

RestInSeattle wrote:
Perhaps you are also having brief disruptions in power?

Good thinking, but greatly doubt it. The clocks would all be flashing, and other things would tell me. I'm going to pay a lot closer attention tonight to this thing and try to find some rhyme or reason to it. It's brand new, so should be easily exchanged. So it goes.

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:22 pm

C-Flex and the HH do not affect esch other other than they both are controlled by the main board. If your clock is hooked to the same line as the XPAP it might be a check for loosing power if it doesn't have a battery back. Power can go bad on some of the house wiring and not others, I know because I have a APC Backup on my computers and it goes off 2 to 3 times daily for 3 seconds at a time, My XPAP is hooked to it too. Some day I need to track it down but it's a little hard to do in 3 sec. Jim

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:56 pm

NightHawkeye wrote:If I have time this evening I'll run just a few tests to see if I can figure anything out.

During testing of the BiPAP-auto I found the following:
1) Heated Humidifier shuts down on mouth breathing if alarm is enabled. Although machine turns back on automatically when mouth breathing stops (except that doesn't work with some masks), the HH does not automatically turn back on, rather it stays OFF. However, I also found that HH stays ON if alarm is not enabled. Go figure . . .
2) Heated Humidifier stays ON during power outages. I tested a two minute power outage and the machine came right back up operating exactly as it had been before power was removed, and the HH came right back ON too.

Test results show that the Respironics BiPAP-auto usually provides the desired behavior of keeping the heated humidifier ON, but I did find one condition under which the heated humidifier turns OFF unexpectedly. I'm also pretty sure that the heated humidifier automatically turns OFF under some other combinations of conditions as well. This belief is based on my experiences, coupled with the observations of others on this thread and multiple prior threads.

So I guess I'll add the heated humidifier operational behavior to the Dumb Design Decisions thread, and hope that some of this user feedback finds its way to the Respironics design team eventually.

Regards,
Bill

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 8:48 pm

Moogy wrote:Perhaps there is a defect in some of the humidifiers?

Excellent suggestion, Moogy. Sorry I missed it earlier today. Only picked up on it when I reread the thread. I just happen to have a spare humidifier which I've never used before to test out the possibility. Tonight sounds like a good time.

Regards,
Bill

~AP · Post by **~AP** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 9:06 pm

Thanks so much for the feedback on this topic.

Moogy - I do preheat longer than 5 minutes and perhaps that is the key. Tonight I will preheat for less than 5 minutes and see if the H&H stays on all night.

Rest - I am not having any power failures because everything else is still working fine (no clocks flashing, etc.) only the H&H turns off sometime during the night.

Bill - this may be a case of Dumb Design, I will experiment also. Don't you agree it should have been noted in the user instructions that the H&H will automatically shut off when user does this or that.....???

I will experiment tonight and report back tomorrow am.