CPAP and heat build up

nomad · Post by **nomad** » Fri May 19, 2006 12:33 pm

Hi... I'm new to the forum and have been on a CPAP for a few months now. I have a question I hope someone can answer for me. As was mentioned in another post, I too would like to make my machine a little quieter. As you can see below, I have it sitting in a cubby hole like area in my night stand. This area has a door. Also, if you look closely, you can see two holes in the back (behind the machine) for power cords and what not (each about 1 to 1 1/4 inches).

What I want to do is to run the tube out through the bottom hole and close the door on it at night while it's running. Would this cause any problems with heat build up? Btw, it also has the heated humidifier attached to it. I did a test run one night and it felt a tad warm in the morning, but not hot. As a side note, it was really nice to be able to barely hear that thing all night! it was SOOO quiet! I just wasn't sure if the holes would allow enough air in to prevent long term damage to the unit.

If that won't be enough air flow, one possibility I was considering was to put a larger hole (or a few if needed) in the back of the cubby hole facing the wall. What's everyones' opinion on this? Thanks for the help.

nomad · Post by **nomad** » Fri May 26, 2006 7:45 am

It struck me that we had a remote outdoor weather sensor I could use to test this (DUH... ). I started out with the door closed and gave the sensor a while to adjust and level off before bedtime. At rest, before bed, the temperature was 72.9° F and the humidity was 22% inside the CPAP "garage."

I turned the machine on, went to sleep and after a few hours I woke up and checked it again. The sensor in the "garage" was now reading 76.3° F and the humidity was 13%. It stayed like that until morning.

According to the manual, that's well within the operating ranges (except for that last humidity reading which was a hair low).

The operating specs listed in the manual are... Temperature: 41 to 95° F; Humidity: 15 to 95%

QUESTION: Does lower than recommended humidity (or higher as far as that goes) do anything to harm the operation or longevity of the machine? I have the HH, so dry air to the mask isn't an issue.

Ps. It's sooooo nice to not hear the machine run at night (you can if you get your head close and really listen for it though). All I hear with the door closed is the air coming from the mask...

Sleepy-in-AL · Post by **Sleepy-in-AL** » Fri May 26, 2006 8:16 am

I would be concerned about the air intake. I'm not sure how tight the door is, but you want lots of fresh air available at the filter intake.

Just my .02 FWIW.

oldgearhead · Post by **oldgearhead** » Fri May 26, 2006 9:01 am

I like your set-up. However, I would add a 3.0" hole, near the unit's air intake (left side maybe).

nomad · Post by **nomad** » Fri May 26, 2006 11:10 am

OK, here's where I'm at. I drilled five 2 1/8" holes along the back. If my math is right, that gives me right at 17.7 square inches of ventilation.

If I decide to do anything else to the CPAP's living quarters, I'm going to go to Radio Shack and buy one of those cooling fans you find on computers and mount it in the side panel (right behind the air intake) of the night stand. They make some that are pretty quiet. That should move more than enough air around in there.

oldgearhead · Post by **oldgearhead** » Fri May 26, 2006 11:17 am

Ahhh! PERFECT!
I want one..

Bob... · Post by **Bob...** » Fri May 26, 2006 11:22 am

Hi,

I would think those 5 holes would do it just fine.

Bob

dizzy · Post by **dizzy** » Fri May 26, 2006 11:28 am

I'm still on my first month, and am now running a Remstar Auto. The machine is very quiet, at least compared to the masks. I'm now on my 4th mask (the activa... which I think will be the one... ironically it was the first on my list... but the last one to try). Anyway... All the masks were much noisier than the machine by far (considering they are right in front of my nose), and there is no way I could hear the machine over the noise of the air rushing in and out of the masks. I'm not sure what mask you have, but it must be very quiet (or you have an unusually noisy machine).

At least from my limited experience...

-David

nomad · Post by **nomad** » Fri May 26, 2006 11:32 am

dizzy wrote:I'm not sure what mask you have, but it must be very quiet (or you have an unusually noisy machine).

My primary mask is the F&P FlexiFit 431 (full face). And yes, it is pretty quiet.

yardbird · Post by **yardbird** » Fri May 26, 2006 1:25 pm

I'm looking at what you've done and it looks really nice! I will be building a similar storage compartment for my Remstar when I build the new bed this summer. I'm looking at your 2-1/8" holes and just had to wonder...

If you took something like the cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels, could you stick one end into that hole that looks like it would line up perfectly with the air intake on the xPAP machine.... open up a rectangular slot in the cardboard tube at the end right there by your intake?

This would give the machine access to air from OUTside the box. I'm not saying this is necessary. From the looks of your temperature experiment I'm guessing the air gets changed in that box pretty quickly. I'm just curious.

nomad · Post by **nomad** » Fri May 26, 2006 2:16 pm

yardbird wrote:I'm looking at what you've done and it looks really nice! I will be building a similar storage compartment for my Remstar when I build the new bed this summer. I'm looking at your 2-1/8" holes and just had to wonder...

If you took something like the cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels, could you stick one end into that hole that looks like it would line up perfectly with the air intake on the xPAP machine.... open up a rectangular slot in the cardboard tube at the end right there by your intake?

This would give the machine access to air from OUTside the box. I'm not saying this is necessary. From the looks of your temperature experiment I'm guessing the air gets changed in that box pretty quickly. I'm just curious.

I guess you could use a cardboard tube, but IMHO, it seems like it would be a hassle to hook and unhook it from the machine every time you pulled it out (cleaning, filling the water or whatever). Like I said, a cpu fan would blow air directly into the air intake. Or you could cut an elongated hole in the side of the stand and back the machine up to that hole.

oldgearhead · Post by **oldgearhead** » Fri May 26, 2006 2:31 pm

Let's not over-engineer this thing! The 5 holes are more than enough for the ReStar's air supply. I would not even consider the fan, unless a repeat of your earlier temperature test indicated a need for more cooling....

Mask

Additional Comments: Pressure MinE 11 MaxI 17.5

CPAP and heat build up

CPAP and heat build up

I figured it out...