New Machine, Funny Smell.....???????

Hi all.......haven't been on here in quite a while! Yesterday I took delivery of my new (all mine not a rental) machine, which was not without it's challenges. My tech decided to ignore my requests for the machine I wanted and ordered the same one as the rental (System One AutoSet). Not a bad machine but not what I asked for! She also did not bother with the heated hose I requested. I had to finally request a change in techs or I would take my business elsewhere. This was also after she claimed my data card was "bad" the month before so they could get another month of rental out of Medicaid. The card was fine, I downloaded it to SleepyHead at home with no problem but of course, that data was not acceptable. I filed a complaint with Medicaid and they said they would "investigate" my complaint. Ok, fast forward to my first night with the new machine. Much to my surprise I'm much more comfortable with it than I was with the SystemOne. I have no idea why but my chest did not hurt in the morning. The settings are in the same range so go figure but I'm very happy about it not that I was complaining about the old machine. However, there is a weird smell coming from the machine. It smells like when my mom would iron with starch when I was a kid......if you know what I mean. I can't smell it with my mask on but my bedroom smells strongly of it. There was water in the humdifier ...it did not dry out since I only had it set at 1 and I was not using the heated hose. Questions: What is that smell about? Should I be concerned or will it go away? I was given a "slimline" hose for the machine. What is the difference between that and the regular size hose? Does this machine not have the fine filters like the SystemOne has? I could not find anything on that in the manual. One thing the machine does is keep the blower on to cool down the humidifier after you finish therapy. The manual says to unplug the power source if yoou don't want it to do that . Will unplugging the power affect data being collected? Is it better to just let it blow? Finally, the tech locked up all the controls except for a couple of things like the humidity adjustment but I cracked that rather quickly. Where can I find the clinician's manual and the ResMed software? My avg AHI is at 1.3 and 98% compliance..don't know what happened to the other 2% since I always use my AutoPap..even for naps! TY AND SORRY for the long post!!! My

Now I remember why I stopped coming here........great information but some people have a tendency to be rude or cranky. I beg your pardon for stating the wrong machine name. It's a SystemOne Remstar Auto which I'm sure you probably knew.

Provider manual here
http://www.apneuvereniging.nl/forum/pdf ... manual.pdf

Send me a private message when you are ready for ResScan...Windows only though.
SleepyHead also works fine with it.
If you are using a Mac computer or Windows 8.xxx let us know as you need to lock the SD card when you put it in your computer.

Unplugging the machine won't hurt the data on the SD card but make sure you have given the machine adequate time to write to the SD card in the AM when you turn it off before you go unplugging it. Unsure how long as I have never been able to catch it writing to the card...5 minutes is probably sufficient though.

The Slimline hose just as a smaller diameter (15 mm) than the regular hose (22 mm). There's a setting in the clinical menu for hose diameter size.
The ClimateLine hose is also 15 mm but it is of course a heated hose.

I have no idea about the smell.
You might want to get into that clinical setup menu and look for run hours to make sure the didn't give you a used machine.

jaye8898 wrote:Now I remember why I stopped coming here........great information but some people have a tendency to be rude or cranky. I beg your pardon for stating the wrong machine name. It's a SystemOne Remstar Auto which I'm sure you probably knew.

I'm neither rude, nor cranky, simply trying to find out information.

you've stated contradictory things.

if it's a sys1 auto, then you've got the wrong info in your profile, and the software that pugsy is offering to help you get, and the manual, will be wrong.

you say "does this machine not have fine filters like the system one has" implying that it's *not* a system one...

would you please be so kind as to look on the ID plate, either on the back, or on the bottom, (remove the water before turning over) and tell us what number is next to "REF" on the label?

I fail to see how pointing out conflicting make/model info is enough to get anyone angry...but I'm a newbie, and I'm easily confused. To that point, you say it's a System One Auto...which is great, don't get me wrong. I like my System One...but your signature pic is of a S9, isn't it?
Onto the topic...the odd smell. Is that just after you take off your mask that you get a whiff of this odor? I know that if I use my machine for any length of time (even 5 minutes), as soon as the mask comes off, I start to smell all the perfumes and odors of the surrounding room. Laundry soap, furniture polish, wet dog (eew), etc. It dies down within a few minutes to "normal." Is that what you mean? FWIW, I use the washable filter and the disposable one, in an effort to keep the crud out of the system. That might contribute to the sensory overload.

jaye8898 wrote:Now I remember why I stopped coming here........great information but some people have a tendency to be rude or cranky. I beg your pardon for stating the wrong machine name. It's a SystemOne Remstar Auto which I'm sure you probably knew.

Lighten up! The statement was not rude or cranky....it was informational.

Tatooed Lady wrote: Onto the topic...the odd smell. Is that just after you take off your mask that you get a whiff of this odor? I know that if I use my machine for any length of time (even 5 minutes), as soon as the mask comes off, I start to smell all the perfumes and odors of the surrounding room. Laundry soap, furniture polish, wet dog (eew), etc. It dies down within a few minutes to "normal." Is that what you mean? FWIW, I use the washable filter and the disposable one, in an effort to keep the crud out of the system. That might contribute to the sensory overload.

when I was using a phillips Respironics machine, (both my old M series and the s1 auto, I did the same thing with the filters.. less crud in my lungs, I figured

I hadn't thought of the heightened sense of smell when unmasking... good thought. just because you're relatively new doesn't mean you can't have good ideas

OP was given a used PR System One Auto model 560 to use during compliance requirement time frame which I think was around 90 days but might have been longer.
Once it had been proven she was compliant then her insurance buys the machine. Her situation is a bit different than usual insurance situations so it is what it is. That's they way it was handled.
Her DME originally promised a brand new PR S1 560...but I guess they decided to supply the S9 AutoSet and that's why the S9 is now showing in the profile. No big deal..she likes it.
I am pretty sure she knows the difference between the Escape Auto and the AutoSet since the model names are easily seen on the top of the machine so I didn't see any need to go into that speech.

Hi Pugsy and thank you!

I checked the run hours and it is at 11 which seems about right considering I took a long nap today. When I woke up that smell was in the room again.

I checked the water level and it had barely gone down but what I did notice is that it was cold. Would that have something to do with it? Shouldn't the water have been warm? I had increased it to 2.0 to see if the smell would go away. The display indicates it's warming up and cooling down at the appropriate time but it's just cold.

I do know it's the right machine (autoset) says it right on the top. I think the number in back is something like 36000A.

I saw the setting for the different type of hose. Just did not think of the obvious.....smaller, lighter.

Personally, the readings on my SleepyHead were very close to the ResMed software they use at the clinic. It was annoying that they simply would not trust my data forcing me to do an additional month of the rental for compliance.

I have been treated like an idiot by my DME provider for a while now and my patience is gone when it comes to being patronized. Sorry if I overreacted!

Thanks again, and I will PM you. I use Windows 7.0 and plan to stay with it.

Pugsy wrote:Provider manual here
http://www.apneuvereniging.nl/forum/pdf ... manual.pdf

Send me a private message when you are ready for ResScan...Windows only though.
SleepyHead also works fine with it.
If you are using a Mac computer or Windows 8.xxx let us know as you need to lock the SD card when you put it in your computer.

Unplugging the machine won't hurt the data on the SD card but make sure you have given the machine adequate time to write to the SD card in the AM when you turn it off before you go unplugging it. Unsure how long as I have never been able to catch it writing to the card...5 minutes is probably sufficient though.

The Slimline hose just as a smaller diameter (15 mm) than the regular hose (22 mm). There's a setting in the clinical menu for hose diameter size.
The ClimateLine hose is also 15 mm but it is of course a heated hose.

I have no idea about the smell.
You might want to get into that clinical setup menu and look for run hours to make sure the didn't give you a used machine.

There may be something wrong with your humidifier re warm vs cold, someone else may know more about that machine, but if you're in a relatively humid location, the humidifier simply won't do much unless things dry out... it's a little like a thermostat heater not coming on in warm weather.

A setting of 2 on the S9 humidifier is a low setting...it isn't going to add much heat and you might have felt of the water and the plate during an off/on cycle with the off cycle being longer at the lower settings

Also if you live in a relatively humid locale the amount of water needed to be added to the air at a setting of 2 might not even trigger the heater plate much at all. Meaning the air already has maybe more humidity in it than a setting of 2 offers.
When it rains here and I have my window open...even with my maximum humidity setting I might not see any water use because the air is already full of moisture.

You are in Washington state? West of the mountains if I remember right? How's the humidity recently and last few nights?

Thank you, Julie and Pugsy. Yes, I'm in SW WA just across the bridge from Portland, OR by the Columbia River. The weather has been pretty humid lately as we had quite a bit of rain for more than 1/2 the week. I did not realize, Julie, that it was like a thermostat. That makes sense. So, I will not worry about it being cold. However, that smell is kind of scary and I did find some info on the other Apnea Board on that. I guess it's not supposed to be a good thing and I need to call my provider. Dread that.....they have not been "user friendly" at all!

Julie wrote:There may be something wrong with your humidifier re warm vs cold, someone else may know more about that machine, but if you're in a relatively humid location, the humidifier simply won't do much unless things dry out... it's a little like a thermostat heater not coming on in warm weather.

I forgot to say, I did find this info on the ResMed site and will try this out.

Is there a simple way for me to check that my H5i heater plate is working properly?
Yes. To confirm H5i function, complete the following steps;

Disconnect ClimateLine tubing and remove the water tub.
While the S9 is NOT running, place your hand on the heater plate to assess the temperature of the H5i heater plate. NOTE: Do NOT place your hand on the heater plate if the H5i has been running in the 10 minutes prior to this test as it may still be hot.
Set the humidifier output to 6.
Place the unit in warm-up mode and allow it to run for 1 minute.
Place your hand above the heater plate (without touching it) to confirm an increase in heater plate temperature. Don’t place your hand directly on the heater plate as it will be hot.
Press the dial for 3 seconds to enable cooling down mode.

jaye8898 wrote:Thank you, Julie and Pugsy. Yes, I'm in SW WA just across the bridge from Portland, OR by the Columbia River. The weather has been pretty humid lately as we had quite a bit of rain for more than 1/2 the week.

my friend in portland says she used to call that place across the river "vantucky", now she calls it "vansterdam"

lol.....yes, there are a lot of jokesters that still call it "vantucky". Vansterdam fits better now that repression is gone here. I personally don't care what anyone calls it, I love Vancouver! Came here by way of San Diego and outside Philadelphia seventeen years ago and hope to stay here or elsewhere in WA state for life.