Life expectancy of a cpap machine?

I just saw that my resmed has 6,000 plus hours on it (got it used). I have no idea how many hours are typical for a machine before it's considered old.

Here in the US, insurance companies will typically replace a CPAP once every five years or so. (Some are now trying to stretch out that interval, from what I've heard.)

At any rate: The insurance companies certainly are expecting a typical CPAP machine to last for at least:

5 years * 365 nights * 7.5 hour per night = 13,687.5 hours of use

since an average of 7.5 hours of sleep per night is not atypical for someone who is sleeping well.

Within my experience, which is only five and half years as a hose head. These sleep machines are incredibly durable. sturdy. A 57 Chevy is more likely to fail, (if you know that reference. in Cuba, as of just a few years ago, their taxis are 57 chevies, because they are so sturdy, hold up well, and -well also- because they can be fixed by bailing wire and chewing gum)

An RT from a DME said that when the machines fail, they fail catastrophically. That is, if they blow, they are working at the pressure that is shown on the screen. Since a DME is actually anxious to find a reason to sell a new machine, I take it this is one time I can believe a DME when they are sorta saying. "If it blows air, then it is working, and not likely to need replacement."

Worry about leaks, not the machine.

One way to damage a machine is to move it with water in it. If you spill water back into it, then unplug it. Do not turn it on to test it. Then consult with someone more knowledgeable than me about how long to leave it unplugged to be sure it has the best chance to dry out, and not have damage. Another is to pull it off the bedside table with the hose. One can tie the hose in some way to prevent jerking the machine off the table.

I have sent 20,000 hour machines outside of the country to people that were very grateful to get them. There are many Respironics M series machines that are sitting in closets that work as they did when new. I agree with the previous posters that avoiding user errors that end the life of the machines early is key.

As to when your machine is considered old, the privileged class will not buy a used machine so after the first nights usage it would be considered old to them. Others will consider it old when machines of that model are no longer in production. The final group consider it old when it can no longer perform it's designed task.

There is a small minority of users that collect non working machines at the cost of postage or through donation. They swap parts and tinker to get them working for the less fortunate. These people are generally outside of our country and recognize the need for the machines they have no way to afford.

Yay! Good news! My machine's still a pup, practically. Thanks everybody for this information.

Last year my GK420 died unexpectedly after about 4.5 years of use, so I was really glad that I had bought a spare machine.

Machines fail, backups are good. (That goes for the data on your computers too, folks! I had 2 hard drives die on me in the last two months, but luckily i regularly backup my data on an external USB disk.).

Good reminders, Echo. You motivated me to do some backing up.

Anyone know what the record is for machine hours on one of these CPAP puppies?

I have no prize for the winner, but I wonder who on this forum is presently using the machine with the highest run hours.

I have an old Sullivan that Ive used for almost 10 years. Took it in to my sleep doctor when I went in for my recent sleep study. I didn't know it had an hour meter. He peeled some rubber back on the bottom and it showed over 28,000 hours. Im doing much better now.

jnk wrote:Good reminders, Echo. You motivated me to do some backing up.

*wave* hi jnk Glad to help

hegel wrote:I just saw that my resmed has 6,000 plus hours on it (got it used). I have no idea how many hours are typical for a machine before it's considered old.

I have a Resmed S7 AutoSet in the Cupboard with 20000 hours on it, still going strong, I had it in mind to keep as a backup but no longer need it, if anyone in Australia needs it they can have it for the cost of postage