New Machine question.

I have had sleep apnea for 10 years and have been using the same old machine all those years without a second sleep study. I started getting concerned about the age of my equipment and purchased a REMstar Auto A-flex system used on craigslist.

It was my understanding that an automatic cpap or apap didn't require any prescription settings as it is automatic. But after getting this and reading the manual, they did mention prescription settings..

Can someone explain this to me??

My old machine was set for 11. This machine says 4.0 right on the display after using it for an hour. Does that mean that the guy I bought it from had a prescription for 4.0 and that this is too low for me considering I was prescribed 11?

Is there any way I can change this myself if necessary??? No health insurance and no money to pay for another sleep study.

Any help would be appreciated

The model number is 550P REMstar Auto A-flex.

Hi - 4 is just the lowest # you can set the machine at, 20 the highest, so it's as if whoever had it set it back to the defaults before selling it. You can set it to 11 or anything else you want... using these instructions from Apneaboard.com

"Respironics REMstar Auto (older pre-2007 standard unit, not "M" series, not the PR System One): you can enter the setup menu by holding down the Ramp button and both of the right and left arrow buttons under the display window, while plugging in the CPAP. The 3 buttons must be held down until the setup screen starts."

Then run thru the menu, steps, etc. til you get to the pressure settings (have you really never done this?) and then follow thru til you're done (takes a few seconds) and exit out of the menu. Good luck!

Julie wrote:Hi - 4 is just the lowest # you can set the machine at, 20 the highest, so it's as if whoever had it set it back to the defaults before selling it. You can set it to 11 or anything else you want... using these instructions from Apneaboard.com

"Respironics REMstar Auto (older pre-2007 standard unit, not "M" series, not the PR System One): you can enter the setup menu by holding down the Ramp button and both of the right and left arrow buttons under the display window, while plugging in the CPAP. The 3 buttons must be held down until the setup screen starts."

Then run thru the menu, steps, etc. til you get to the pressure settings (have you really never done this?) and then follow thru til you're done (takes a few seconds) and exit out of the menu. Good luck!

Mine doesn't have those buttons.. It is the 550P This machine https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... -flex.html

You didn't say you had the PR System 1... just an 'old' Remstar auto (one of which I have as a back-up). Go to the Apneaboard.com and find your manual for instructions.

Julie wrote:You didn't say you had the PR System 1... just an 'old' Remstar auto (one of which I have as a back-up). Go to the Apneaboard.com and find your manual for instructions.

He never said that...He said he had..."The model number is 550P REMstar Auto A-flex" That is a PR System One.

Julie wrote:You didn't say you had the PR System 1... just an 'old' Remstar auto (one of which I have as a back-up). Go to the Apneaboard.com and find your manual for instructions.

So back to my original question.. Do you know if the health care provider pre-programs a pressure into this device or if it is universal and can work for anyone? Since I got it used from someone, I want to be sure it will work for me and not be stuck at some pre-programmed pressure that belongs to someone else. I don't know how these apap a-flex things work.

http://www.apneaboard.com/pr-system-one ... structions

and there's a little video at the bottom of the page.

If you previously used 11 cm...then if you want to use auto mode with the 550...I wouldn't start it any lower than 8 cm minimum and you might need even a little more.

The 550 machine is a full data machine...you might want to erase prior user's therapy hours and data off the machine and SD card before adding yours to it.
Software is available (see my signature links) and you don't want someone else's data getting mixed in with yours.

The machine can and will auto adjust the pressures but it needs to have a good head start first...normally 4 cm is too low unless you only need about 8 anyway.

Pugsy wrote:http://www.apneaboard.com/pr-system-one ... structions

and there's a little video at the bottom of the page.

If you previously used 11 cm...then if you want to use auto mode with the 550...I wouldn't start it any lower than 8 cm minimum and you might need even a little more.

The 550 machine is a full data machine...you might want to erase prior user's therapy hours and data off the machine and SD card before adding yours to it.
Software is available (see my signature links) and you don't want someone else's data getting mixed in with yours.

The machine can and will auto adjust the pressures but it needs to have a good head start first...normally 4 cm is too low unless you only need about 8 anyway.

That makes sense.. However I am having a hard time figuring this out.. I did get the sleepyhead software and can see the previous users data but don't see any way to clear it out. Fortunantly, he only had it for 2 months before I got it..

Secondly, I don't see any way to set a pressure. I took a nap for about 30 minutes with the machine on and it went from 4 to 5.9. It felt like it wasn't enough compared to the solid 11 I am use to. How can I start it up higher? It has ramp turned on. I just assumed it was starting gentle and going to crank it up after an hour or so of sleeping but that was just a guess.

If there is a way to turn it up and have it start out closer to the 11 that I am use to, please let me know how.

Thanks for your help. I am a complete newbie to these automatic machines.

The video and the link above explains how to get to the clinical setup menu.
or you can request the pdf downloadable clinical manual here
http://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-p ... tup-manual
instructions on how to request it near the bottom of the page.
Be sure to request proper model name
the 550 is
Respironics PR System One REMstar Auto with A-flex

To get the prior user's data off the machine....there's a setting in the clinical setup menu to reset therapy data to zero...so that would need to be done and the SD card would need to be erased to get rid of the old data.
Once that old data as been imported into the software you can't remove it easily....it would have been best to remove it first.

To change anything in the set up menu will require that you go to the clinical setup menu.. It isn't hard. We do it all the time.
The links I gave you explained how to do it.

Pugsy wrote:The video and the link above explains how to get to the clinical setup menu.
or you can request the pdf downloadable clinical manual here
http://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-p ... tup-manual
instructions on how to request it near the bottom of the page.
Be sure to request proper model name
the 550 is
Respironics PR System One REMstar Auto with A-flex

To get the prior user's data off the machine....there's a setting in the clinical setup menu to reset therapy data to zero...so that would need to be done and the SD card would need to be erased to get rid of the old data.
Once that old data as been imported into the software you can't remove it easily....it would have been best to remove it first.

To change anything in the set up menu will require that you go to the clinical setup menu.. It isn't hard. We do it all the time.
The links I gave you explained how to do it.

Got it.. I didn't get into clinical setup before which is why I was missing all that.. I set the minimum to 8 for now since my old prescription was for 11 and I cleared the data.. I will go uninstall/reinstall sleepyhead to get rid of the old data..

Last question. What about ramp settings.. ramp start was at 4. Shouldn't that also be up around the auto minimum of 8?

You are used to 11, you don't need a ramp at all if you are using auto mode starting at 8. The ramp just helps provide comfort, which you don't need.

Using ramp is a personal choice. If you don't need it....no need to use it.

Regarding uninstalling sleeplyHead....you can do that but also go into your MyDocuments folder and look for a folder that SleepyHead puts in there. That folder is untouched by an uninstall...and it has all the old user's data still in it.
Just manually remove that folder to get it gone.