leaks

I'm having an UN depressed third week so i'd better say so. Especially because I think half the problems in the world is you only get the picture when people are angry upset or p****D off. You never go on a consumer forum and get someone posting "actually I'm really happy with my energy supplier this week"/ "actually my tax bill was less this month"

so it distorts the picture - un-necessarilly so - and new users think it's like the bad posts all the time

Reason for post today - Leaks

I've got mine down to 20-30% BEST , cannot beat it - this is with recomended oils, fairly tight fit- any further I start experiencing diminishing returns because what I gain on super non leakage, I lose on mashed face and bruised/bleeding nostrils

is 20-30% leak acceptable? Esp as I love mouth breathing and I bet this is part of it. What are other people's acceptable leakage ranges on here?

Best regards
Andy

Have you tried a mask liner like Pad-a-Cheek? They help a lot with leaks and you could loosen your gear if that happens.

Let's clarify your units of measure.

Are you talking about 20 to 30 L/min or are you talking about 20 to 30 % and the only leak number that uses % is large leak.

20 to 30 L/min for your machine (remember it reports total leaks which are the masks intended vent rate plus any excess leak) at your pressures indicates minimal to none excess leak. You won't ever see 0.0 leak numbers because of the mask's intentional leak/vent number being included in the numbers. If you are comparing your leak numbers to a ResMed leak number...don't. The ResMed machines report only excess leak...apples and oranges comparison.

Now if your reports show 20 to 30 % of the time in large leak ...SleepyHead won't show this number..it's only available on Encore reports...that's a whole different story and leaks are indeed an issue.

But I am thinking you are seeing 20 to 30 L/min numbers in SleepyHead....and those are excellent numbers.
Large leak territory for your machine at your pressure with your mask...is probably around 80 to 90 L/min.

Reiterating what Pugsy said.

We need to know exactly where the 20-30 number is coming from.

If you're reporting 20-30% Large Leaks on the machine's LCD, that's bad.

If you're reporting total leak rates of 20-30 L/min as shown in SleepyHead, that's good.

Where are you getting the numbers?

Thanks Pugsy, Julie, and Robysue

i'm reporting in Sleepyhead, and week three of my conversion to a machine is going great so far - the thing I have noticed above all, is not getting up for the loo. That to me is the concrete proof things are changing.

As a numbers guy I'm quite often about perfection/precision. So I'd definitely be predisposed/prone to try and go for the perfect settings, which isn't here nor there when surely readouts or not it's about a RESTFUL NIGHT.....

three so far this week, squiggly lines aside - I will just have to accept 30% on sleepyhead is a job well done on the mask

Kind regards
Andy

andy5805 wrote:squiggly lines aside - I will just have to accept 30% on sleepyhead is a job well done on the mask

Remember that your machine reports total leak...so that includes vent rate...and there's another factor in the squiggly lines..as your pressure changes in auto mode your vent rate will change so some squiggly lines are to be expected. As your pressure varies a little so will the vent rate and the leak line won't ever be totally flat/straight. More pressure means more vent rate. So some fluctuation is really expected. SleepyHead tends to make mountains out of mole hills for the leak graph. It's going to look worse than it really is because your are zoomed in so close. Take a look at your leak line with Encore and you will see what I mean. Encore leak line is zoomed way out and any mountains in SleepyHead might only be a tiny pimple in Encore.

Oh...it isn't %...it's L/min if you are getting it from Sleepyhead. Don't confuse us.

andy5805 wrote: As a numbers guy I'm quite often about perfection/precision.
....
squiggly lines aside - I will just have to accept 30% on sleepyhead is a job well done on the mask

As a numbers guy, you need to get the units right on the leak numbers.

You say the leak numbers are coming from SH. If the numbers are coming from SH, that means they are measured in Liters per minutes and your machine reports total leaks which include the intentional leak rate built into your mask to prevent rebreathing.

Hence, your leak rate will never be 0.0 L/min because that would mean that the mask is not working correctly. Given your mask and your pressure, a total leak rate of about 30 L/min is probably saying that you have little or no unintentional leaks. I'd have to see the owner's manual intentional leak rate chart to be sure and it would be useful to see a typical leak graph in SH rather than just the summary numbers to be sure, but if these numbers are coming from SH, then your leak line is probably darn near perfect.

On the other hand, if you are getting the leak numbers off the PR System One Series 60's LCD, then the number is a percentage: The LCD leak number is the percent time spent in official Large Leak territory. It is quite reasonable to expect this number to be 0.0% night after night after night ....

Moral: Please get the units on the leak numbers cleaned up. If you're talking about 30 L/min, please say that instead of 30%.

thanks, and yeah you're right

I lead such a rushed lifestyle I glance at these charts on the way out in the morning. I assumed percentage.

it doesn't feel leaky - my nose often plays a trick on me (Actually when it's breathing really well ) and I suspect a leak that isn't there. In time i'll learn to discern between the sound of the outlet valve and anything else!

enjoy the weekend
Andy