Setting up a CPAP on your own

planted wrote:Pugsy, the computer I own is an HP notebook with and i3 core intel chip and Windows 7. I'd have to look at the device information for more specifics. I don't know if it is 32 or 64 bit as I haven't paid attention to that stuff in years. The computer is only a year old though.

Well, luckily enough, IT is my day job. 1yr old, i3, and Win7.... I'm betting you are 64 bit, but here is how to find out. Click on the Windows Button (Start Button) to bring up the start menu, RIGHT click on Computer (it is halfway down the right hand column of the start menu), and select Properties at the bottom of the context menu that appears. This will bring up the System screen and on that screen is a label for "System type:" which will tell you if your version of Windows 7 is 32-bit or 64-bit.

Doesn't really matter what the computer is in regards to 32 or 64 bit unless a person found the Viewer 2.0 for free..
Viewer 2.1 and/or EncoreBasic or Pro don't care how many bits the computer has.
I included that bit of information because sometimes people get Viewer and wonder why it won't install on a 64 bit computer and the reason is that they got the older version which only works on 32 bit computers.

With the M Series...and Windows 7...I suggest EncoreBasic. It is easier to work with than Pro and no sense in paying $99 for Viewer or something else to get the exact same reports. It includes the driver software for the DT3500 so no extra work involved with that aspect of the install.

Check your private message box...the main thing I was wondering about was Windows 7 or 8...Basic doesn't play nice on 8.xxx

You actually have a decent older machine and if the water didn't fry things...we can get you set up so you can figure out what's going on. If your AHI was so low that you couldn't make diagnosis it is likely not going to be too exciting using the machine either but we can monitor leaks and give you something to sink your teeth in with the numbers. It seems to help validate peoples needs somewhat.

Thanks you all the help! I'll let the machine dry out and hope it works then go from there. Be in touch once I get the thing running.

One last question, where would be a good place to get the manual for the device?

http://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-p ... tup-manual

Or here's the short version
http://www.apneaboard.com/manuals51/REM ... 0Guide.pdf

Make absolutely sure that the machine is dry before you turn it on. I killed a ResMed S8 with water. I'd get 5 lbs of rice. Put the machine
in a plastic bag. Pour the rice over it. Let it sit that way for a couple days. The rice will absorb all the moisture.

prion wrote:Make absolutely sure that the machine is dry before you turn it on. I killed a ResMed S8 with water. I'd get 5 lbs of rice. Put the machine
in a plastic bag. Pour the rice over it. Let it sit that way for a couple days. The rice will absorb all the moisture.

I've "baked" a few soggy electronic items in an oven on the lowest setting with the door propped slightly open....

Well the machine works! I left it in my car for a few days in the sun and well as you know it can get hot inside a car. Anyway, is there any useful info I can get off the machine while I wait to order a card reader and head gear? I saw that it appears to report leak and AHI averages through the menu. Is this useful or should I wait until I get a card reader to start using it?

The AHI and leak rate off the machine's LCD display is useful. It shows a 7 and 30 day average for AHI and total leaks.
It gives an overall AHI ...average per hour of the apneas and hyponeas.
Leak is a general overall average total leak and don't panic if it is not 0.0...it won't ever be 0.0 because it reports total leak which is mask vent/intentional leak plus any excess leak. Large leak territory with the M series machine is going to be up around 90 L/min.

So you might as well use it until the card reader comes.
It will stored 7 nights worth of detailed data on the smart card along with 1 years worth of AHI averages.

You might want to erase the prior user's data from it so that any old data doesn't get mixed in with your data.
You can use the EncoreBasic software to erase the Smart card old data.

How to erase the data on the machine..
In this thread...4th post from the bottom it is explained.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=90946&p=836882&hili ... rs#p836882
You could do this daily if you wanted to so that you see each night's worth of data without it going to the 7/30 day averages.
When checking the data on the machine's display.....make sure you check it after 12 noon GMT time because that is when it gets updated.

planted wrote: I saw that it appears to report leak and AHI averages through the menu. Is this useful or should I wait until I get a card reader to start using it?

Yep, M series, no card reader, figuring it out as you go... exactly where I was a year ago.

Without the card reader you can clear the machine's existing data, set the machine for the lowest pressure you feel comfortable breathing at and try sleeping with it for a night. The AHI numbers on the display only update once a day on some machines so it may take a while, but you should eventually get a number for the 7-day AHI, which will just be your one night AHI if you cleared the data. Without the card reader you don't have any way to know what kind of events you had, so all you can do from there is trial and error experiments. If you raise the pressure one or two and the 7-day average starts to increase then you may have gone to high. If you raise pressure and the 7 day average goes down then it appears to be helping and maybe you want to try raising it a little more. It won't hurt anything to try, you'll just do a lot of guessing about what the AHI number means.

Thanks again for all the info. There is actually no data on the card it appears to be blank. No existing averages etc. The machine says it has 15 days of use and the blower has 222 hours on it. I guess it was barely used.

If the machine says 15 days of use...there's data on the card and the machine from a previous user..if it was over a year ago though...it may have fallen off the machine and the card.

Not enough data to mess with your data very much...if any.
Sounds like they used it 2 weeks and then it went into the closet. Since that model was discontinued in 2010 the old data may have just fallen off.

Well I finally got to use the machine last night since my headgear arrived. Still waiting on the card reader. Anyway, there was no values showing for leaks, AHI, etc so I assumed the machine/card data fell off since it was old. Well, there are numbers today; leaks were in the 20s and the 7 day AHI was 6. Since only once night of use I am guessing last night's numbers. Should I use it for several days before changing pressure? I started at 7. Also, as expected had a kind of rough night's sleep getting used to the device. Hope to get the card reader soon, should be here sometime this week. Thanks again for all the guidance.