Help! Anybody have a extra PRS1 series 50 humidifier?

The night before last (I was parked in Victorville, CA) I went to fill my humidifier tank and noticed it was still half full ... But the previous night I was in San Diego, CA and only used it for about five hours ... Usually use it for 7.5-8 hours and it is nearly empty, I have it set at 5! I thought that being in a more humid area and the lower hours of use was why ...

This last night I went to fill it, (In Green River, UT) and it was still full! I went to bed ... Woke up a little while ago ... Dry mouth ... When I put my mask back on (I have auto on) I noticed the humidifier light flashing ... I then turned it off, took out the tank and the heating element was cold!

I checked the manual and flashing light means it needs service ... I got this used off Craig's List over a year ago ...

If somebody has a humidifier that they are not using ... I'd be interesting in buying it from you!

Please let me know ... I'll be home again in a week and a half ... Until then I'll have to manage!

I'm going back to bed ... zzzz (I hope!)

Have you tried unplugging, disconnecting humidifier from the blower, reconnecting and plugging back in? Just to see if they had stopped communicating for some reason?

Yes, I tried that.

I had noticed when I was home last weekend that when I woke up my backlit number 5 was not lit ... If I unplug it now it then starts flashing the light behind the humidifier icon for about 10 minutes then everything goes dark.

I couldn't get back to sleep so I started looking around on line at Craig's list ... There is a place in Loveland, CO (the town I'm delivering in the afternoon) that is a medical thrift store! I'm going to see if they have one and if they will deliver it to my truck (I'm a truck driver)

I do see that Second wind has them for $70, but if I could get one TODAY, so much the better!

I did finely go back to sleep!

I have one. I only used it for one week. You can have it for less than $70 - pm me.

PM sent!

-----------

Looks like between Tigerlily and my new DME I'll be back in business ... Very dry mouth today!

--------------

I had called Second wind, but they haven't called me back, the place in Loveland closed at 5 and I got stuck in traffic ... I called my new DME and they said they were pricy, but if I was interested in a used one they had one out back I could have for free, when I come in on the 19th for my mask!

I just noticed that Tigerlily has a 60 series machine and started this year on pap therapy ... Does anybody know if the humidifier will work with my 50 series machine?

I know that the top of the chamber is different ... But will it plug into mine?

Shawn,
Tigerlily has a 50 series humidifier..
If I remember right she was originally given a 50 series brick machine...so she told them to take it back and they did but they wouldn't take the humidifier back...so she was stuck with it.
She bought her 60 series machine online when her DME gave her grief about getting a full data machine.
So she was stuck with the 50 series humidifier that won't work with her 60 series machine....she needs to find a home for that humidifier and maybe help defray her out of pocket expenses for the 60 series machine that she incurred.

Oh, OK! Thanks ... I'm a forgetful old trucker and just saw that she only was on therapy for six months or so ... And she had a new 60 series ...

I did go back and find my old thread on differences on humidifiers ... viewtopic.php?f=1&t=81621&p=741986#p741986

Now I'm wondering if it was wise to sell my "extra" machine ...

123.Shawn T.W. wrote:No I'm wondering if it was wise to sell my "extra" machine ...

Hindsight is always 20/20 isn't it?
Murphy's Law says if you have a backup the chances of ever needing it are slim.

Too bad you didn't have a S9...I have 3 humidifiers but no blower units...long story there...and I need to find homes for at least 2 of them and maybe the third. I don't know that I am in any great hurry to have another S9 VPAP Auto now that I have the PR S1 760 and the heated hose. So they need to go to forever homes and I need to reduce my spare inventory.

My wife has a S9 AutoSet ... I can't take it in the truck because I'm cheap and don't want to buy the 12 volt cord! My company has a policy of no inverters, or termination!

I've thought of trying it out while I'm at home, (to see if inlike how it works on me, compared to my PRS1) but the the last two times I was at home It was only one night! And sad to say I don't really sleep that well at home ... Different bed, extra body in bed, (one time my dear wife almost got clobbered when I woke up and she was cuddling me ... I was groggy and use to being alone, and I woke up in an obvious female in my bed! ) plus sometimes a dog!

I really like my PRS1 50 series ... I know I made a big fuss before getting a machine demanding a 60 series ... And all the fights I had with DME ... I still like my 550, I found I don't need the heated hose, even with the humidifier set at 5, and some nights I woke up in the morning and there was frost on the windows, still no rainout problems with my 550 ... I never did use my 560, maybe it would handle a more accurate humidity delivery ...?

43 degrees here in Laramie, WY this morning, brrrrr!

As far as I know the 60 series takes a special 12 volt cord, but it is 1/3 the price of the Re$Med! The 50 cord I made from Radio Shack, I don't think they carry the funny end PR put on the 60 cord!

I find that I really like the heated hose and for me it's a blessing. My first 2 winters on CPAP using the M series machine I fought rain out constantly. Hose cozy helped some but not totally all the time. My nose needs max humidity and I like (and can't do much about) a cold bedroom. Pretty much recipe guaranteed to have condensation somewhere. My 3rd winter I was using the PR S1 50 series machine but found unless I used Classic mode that I was getting ice cube nose with it and in Classic mode it was working just like the M series did...so I bought the Hybernite heated hose and it was a huge help.
Probably would have stuck with it but I stumbled across the S9 VPAP with Climateline and never looked back. That's what I used last winter. Then this past spring I sold the S9 (I am a papaholic) and got the PR S1 660...heated hose again. I just like what it offers me.
I don't really need it now but I know I will come this winter. So now I have a 760 and a 660 machine...with just one heated hose adapter thingy...so if one machine craps out I have a back up. So far I have been lucky and never needed a backup machine.

If you don't ever wake up to horrible gurgling sounds in the hose (they even woke my husband up) or getting a cold wet shower in the middle of the night then you may not even need the heated hose part of things.
I don't know if the ability to fine tune the humidity and temp delivered with the 60 series heated hose would be that much of a benefit for you. It's all pretty much personal preference anyway.
All I know is my nose doesn't like getting dried out at all and I try my best to not let that happen. I have forgotten to top off the water tank and let it run dry and my nose gives me fits for about 3 days when I do that. It's real ugly about it.

Now that you mention the power cord...I have an extra 50 series power cord (not the brick part) don't know how I ended up with it but I guess I need to check to see if it works on the 60 series.

The 60's end of the cord if fatter, not so much that you couldn't use to 60 cord with the 50, but the 60 can draw up to 80 watts of power, and the 50 cord was never designed for that much load, in other words they probably used a smaller diameter of wire inside the cord, and if drawing 80 watts (max settings) the cord could over heat, and possibly catch on fire!

Yes, you got that right Pugsy. You have a great memory!

I have a 60 series and can't help but think the humidifier design is a bit lacking.

The humidifier has a hot plate of sorts on a spring. When the lid is closed the hot plate is put into contact with the bottom of the water tank. Neither the plate or the humidifier are perfectly flat (as evidenced by the scratch marks sliding them in/out).

This just wastes energy.

I'm willing to bet there's a coil (as simple as a length of wire of sufficient gauge to produce the desired wattage) on underside of the hot plate, but since it's on a spring there must be a flexible length of wire that accommodates movement as the tank is removed and inserted. So, you have a system that poorly transfers heat and mechanically fatigues the wire/coil; these factors make failure more likely.

IMO,the tank's plate should have the heating element. This would make it so that the humidifier housing only needs to provide contacts or connectors to juice the plate; the heating element would be fixed making it more reliable. You'd have less energy loss and in the event of a coil failure, all you'd have to do is replace the tank vs an entire housing.

Then again, while that makes practical sense it may not make enough business sense.

Fizzled,

You got me thinking ... I decided to take my humidifier apart, to see if I could somehow rig it to get by this next week (But it wasn't so bad last night, maybe I'm getting use to it?) ... Really comes apart quite easy ... Take the cover off by squeezing the rear hinge together ... Then release the catch that is the "dry box" and four screws (T-15 torx) and it's apart!

Last night I checked the humidifier tank to see how much water was still in it ... There was still the same amount as a few days ago, so not much evaporated by just running air over the top of it!

But ... Today it was empty! No wonder it seemed better!

I don't understand why it would not work one day, and work the next, unles there is a broken wire ... But there really is no where for the wire to move ... And the humidifier has been snap into the blower unit since I first checked it ...

I re-filled the chamber ... And hope it works tonight, but don't trust it ...

Here is the spring:


And here is the bottom of the heating element, with the spring in place:


Goes together like this:


Interestingly two of the four connector pins are jumped together with the black wire, the blue wire must control the temp:


It would take less than five minutes to swap out a new heating element, and should cost about $3 ... But PR probably will not sell just the element, and if they did it would have quite a markup!