Bad SD card reader on my BiPAP??

Anybody know if the SD slot/card reader ON a System One BiPAP can be replaced?

Last night (as in Saturday night) I inserted the SD card, went to bed, and turned my BiPAP (Kaa) on and went to sleep. I woke up a couple of hours later and, as usual I turned my machine OFF and back ON. And as soon as I turned Kaa back on, Kaa started to beep and complain about the SD card---it had NOT complained several hours earlier when I first turned the machine on. I tried popping the card out and reinserting, but that didn't shut Kaa up. So I wound up popping the card out in order to shut Kaa up so I could get back to sleep. In the morning I stuck the card back in, Kaa wrote the data to the card and I downloaded to SH as usual. The wave flow data was missing (no surprise) but everything else was there. I put the card back in and there was no beeping ....

Until hubby went to bed. When hubby went to bed, Kaa was beeping loudly about the dang card again. This was several hours after I reinserted the SD card with no beeping. So I pulled the card and reinserted it. Kaa starts beeping again with an "SD Card error reinsert card" warning accompanying the beeping. Tried switching SD cards. No luck. Tried reformatting the SD card(s). No luck. Tried rebooting Kaa. No luck. After a lot of insert card, Kaa beeps and complains, take card out, reinsert, Kaa beeps and complains, take card out, ... Kaa is finally happy with the (current) SD card. But I'm convinced Kaa is going to start beeping at me again in the middle of the night, if not when I go to bed.

I'm beginning to suspect the card slot on Kaa is bad. Is this something that can be fixed???

ACCBio can do the repair. I suspect that the main board will have to be replaced.
It seems unlikely that the SD reader/writer would be a commercially available part from a computer store.
Aside from shipping your machine off for repair, the only thing I know to try is to spray the contacts on the SD card with tuner cleaner (Radio Shack) and then insert it and remove it quickly several times. The internal contacts may be dirty and that might help. If it were an ordinary electronic device, I'd suggest spraying the cleaner directly into the slot but that would put VOC's into the interior of the machine where they could enter the air stream and then your lungs.

Your description of the failure mode could be dirty contacts or it could be an intermittent electronic failure with the SD controller and that's on the main board. Edit: One source of intermittent failures is failed electrical connections. In that case, it might be a manufacturing defect and still covered under warranty even though the warranty period has run out.

On the other hand, getting it repaired will get you the latest firmware installed at no additional charge

Clean the contacts of the SD card(s) with a pencil eraser.

Pull the board and look for broken solder joints on the reader:



Do you have someone who can query the error log (although their answer to everything is Replace PCA Board)?

JDS74 wrote: If it were an ordinary electronic device, I'd suggest spraying the cleaner directly into the slot but that would put VOC's into the interior of the machine where they could enter the air stream and then your lungs.

there's no connection between the inside of the machine and the airflow passages.

in the input on the back, through the fan, around a corner and out.

On my 750 System One machine, the card reader slot is almost directly above the air intake port.
Spraying a volatile fluid in and around the card slot will allow some of the fluid to get to the air intake.
It is also not clear to me having not taken the unit apart that the internal structure is not only air tight, as was stated, but liquid tight as well. Without being absolutely certain of both of these conditions, I can''t suggest using Tuner Cleaner on a medical respiratory device. It may be safe but I don't know that for a fact.

What I did recommend is placing a little on the contacts of the SD card (not soaking the whole card) and then letting that small amount reach just the electrical contacts in the machine.

I appreciate this opportunity to clarify my prior post.

Gently cleaning the card contacts with a pencil eraser is the best option. If the contacts in the machine are also oxidized then use the same pencil eraser to clean them.

Maybe a little liquid DeoxIT Gold drops on the contacts on the SD card and then insert that into the SD card before it dries.

DeoxIt Gold is expensive, but it's good to keep some around the house for cases like this where you may need it. Looks like something like $10 for a tiny tube of the liquid.

Take the water tank out and turn the blower unit upside down so if anything drips it goes away from the rest of the CPAP.

archangle wrote:DeoxIt Gold is expensive, but it's good to keep some around the house for cases like this where you may need it. Looks like something like $10 for a tiny tube of the liquid.

Everyone has a pencil around the house.

I've called the DME. The person who answered the phone said she'd talk to the manager since there's no-one in today who could look at the machine. So I'm waiting for a call back.

I may try the pencil eraser trick if the DME can't do anything in the reasonably near future. For now, I'll content myself with the fact that if I can get it to accept a dang card, the all the data except for the wave flow does manage to get written to the card. But playing the game of: insert card, listen to beeping while Kaa rejects the card, pull card and repeat cycle for 10 minutes or more at a time is not a long term game I want to play. And I miss my wave flow

This afternoon I did an experiment with a brand new blank SD card. Kaa accepted the card after about 5 or 6 "insert, Kaa rejects, pull card" and repeat cycles. And I put my mask on and turned Kaa on and sat there breathing and looking at the LCD. Played some "breath" games---the standard what happens if I hold my breath, and so forth---to keep myself from getting too bored. I triggered a PP on one of the "hold my breath" periods and saw Kaa decide to increase the EPAP pressure (so I'm sure I triggered an OA and not a CA by holding my breath) and about 10-15 minutes after I turned Kaa on, the SD card icon switched from the standard "SD card is properly inserted" icon that we all know and love so well to an SD card icon with a big X on top. And sure enough, as soon as I turned Kaa off, Kaa starts beeping incessantly about an SD card error. Popped the card out and tried a few more insert card, listen to beeping while Kaa rejects the card, pull card cycles before I decided to just leave the dang card out for now.

JDS74 wrote:On my 750 System One machine, the card reader slot is almost directly above the air intake port.
Spraying a volatile fluid in and around the card slot will allow some of the fluid to get to the air intake.
It is also not clear to me having not taken the unit apart that the internal structure is not only air tight, as was stated, but liquid tight as well. Without being absolutely certain of both of these conditions, I can''t suggest using Tuner Cleaner on a medical respiratory device. It may be safe but I don't know that for a fact.

Yep. You've described my 750 System One's rear side exactly. There really isn't a good way of masking that air intake port if you're spraying something in and around the card slot. And I too am not at all sure just how "air tight" the insides are.

What I did recommend is placing a little on the contacts of the SD card (not soaking the whole card) and then letting that small amount reach just the electrical contacts in the machine.

I may try this in a few days, if I'm desperate and the DME can't give me any reasonable suggestions.

The thing is: I'd be willing to pay a reasonable amount of $$ for a repair to get it done right, so I'm hoping the DME can suggest something. Of course part of that something will likely have to be a loaner machine while they ship Kaa back to PR for repairs. And small DMEs like mine don't have 750 or 760 machines lying around in storage ....

Way back when when my first 750 started turning itself off and on for no reason, the DME simply replaced it under warranty and had PR overnight ship a new unit. I think I had to sleep with the funky, untrustworthy machine for 1 or 2 nights because, of course, the problem developed on a Saturday night and I had to wait until Monday morning .... I don't expect them to swap the machine out (and certainly not for free) since Kaa is over 3 years old. But it would be nice to NOT have to use an APAP/CPAP for a week or two (or more) while waiting to have Kaa shipped back from PR.

Guest wrote:

archangle wrote:DeoxIt Gold is expensive, but it's good to keep some around the house for cases like this where you may need it. Looks like something like $10 for a tiny tube of the liquid.

Everyone has a pencil around the house.

I haven't seen many pencil erasers that will fit in an SD card slot

robysue, it's *possible* there's cruft, or something in the sd card slot, perhaps with a little flashlight and a magnifying glass, you could see... if there's any cruft in there, if you can find a tiny hook of some sort, you might be able to fish it out.

also, it's *possible* that the contacts have gotten oxidized, though the repeated insertion and removal of cards tends to keep them clean, something thin like an emory board might be able to be inserted to gently clean the contacts, then hold kaa slot down and blow in there to remove any dust that might have created.

palerider wrote:

Guest wrote:

archangle wrote:DeoxIt Gold is expensive, but it's good to keep some around the house for cases like this where you may need it. Looks like something like $10 for a tiny tube of the liquid.

Everyone has a pencil around the house.

I haven't seen many pencil erasers that will fit in an SD card slot

That is where you have to get creative or you just pay someone else to do it for ya.

palerider wrote: something thin like an emory board might be able to be inserted to gently clean the contacts

That can cause more damage than trying to fit a pencil in there. Better to send it out for repair.

palerider wrote:robysue, it's *possible* there's cruft, or something in the sd card slot, perhaps with a little flashlight and a magnifying glass, you could see... if there's any cruft in there, if you can find a tiny hook of some sort, you might be able to fish it out.

This morning I did take a good long look at the slot. Didn't see anything. And I had my glasses off, so my naturally severely near sighted eyes were doing their thing of focusing well on small objects at a distance of a few inches from my nose. I may try looking at it again. I was actually surprised that when I held the thing just right that I could see into the slot in the first place ...

Still waiting for the call back from the DME.