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Anyone's F20 Quiet Air Elbow Not Diffusing/Venting ANY Air?
#21
RE: Anyone's F20 Quiet Air Elbow Not Diffusing/Venting ANY Air?
Guess you are right about the air needing to escape somewhere, and although I guess since I feel no air coming out it must be trapped - It is definitely quite, but want a little more air noises at the elbow so I know that air is being expelled out.
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#22
RE: Anyone's F20 Quiet Air Elbow Not Diffusing/Venting ANY Air?
Also, I removed the packing from one of my quiet elbows and will try to use it without it tonight - guess it won’t be “quiet” but might get my some added CO2 exhausting and feel better in the morning ??
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#23
RE: Anyone's F20 Quiet Air Elbow Not Diffusing/Venting ANY Air?
I'll be interested to hear your report.
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#24
RE: Anyone's F20 Quiet Air Elbow Not Diffusing/Venting ANY Air?
Update - I cut out the quiet elbow packing, I have pictures but don’t know how to attach them, and there are some black dots (mildew?) around the white packing and directly under the round vent holes, but not as many as some other vent-packing pictures I have seen on other posts. Anyway, definitely louder airflow sounds, and more air expelling/seeping, but I can’t tell yet whether I feel Better yet. I’ll give it a week...
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#25
RE: Anyone's F20 Quiet Air Elbow Not Diffusing/Venting ANY Air?
You can check the file attachment wiki here
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...pnea_Board

There will be a size limit to pay attention to. Most likely, you should begin to create a new post, type what you want to say in the post, and then below that you'd follow the process of Attaching a file:
Choose file>Add attachment>Insert into post.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#26
RE: Anyone's F20 Quiet Air Elbow Not Diffusing/Venting ANY Air?
Thanks SarcasticDave94 for photo attachment directions -

 Added picture of mildewed packing to my post on quiet elbow.


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#27
RE: Anyone's F20 Quiet Air Elbow Not Diffusing/Venting ANY Air?
You're welcome. I do see the dots beginning on your packing material. I think it seems time plays a factor in how dark and/or developed they'll appear.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#28
Surprised 
RE: Anyone's F20 Quiet Air Elbow Not Diffusing/Venting ANY Air?
Pulled the packing from my other elbow too, yuck - repacked them with narrow strips of filter material.  As an experiment, I will not be submerging them in water just wiping them down with wipes.


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#29
RE: Anyone's F20 Quiet Air Elbow Not Diffusing/Venting ANY Air?
Hi Hydrangea, [url=http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/User-Hydrangea][/url]

I had the same problem with the F20 diffuser. I typically use an N20 but wanted to get an FFM for nights when I'm congested. I got a new F20 mask on Saturday and noticed that I started waking up with a headache every morning just like I used to before CPAP. Also my respiration rate went up a point and my tidal volume went down 40 points from when I used the N20. Both of which are signs of excess CO2. I even ripped the straps off my mask one night which I've never done. After seeing a post on the forum about diffuser flow issues, I checked and could feel absolutely no air coming from the diffuser. I decided to get rid of the foam diffusion material to see if I could increase the flow.

I cut a 1/2 flap on the diffuser cap to see what it looked like and pulled out the foam. I ran a test and got lots of air but it was very noisy so I decided it was time for an engineering modification to see if I could get more air but also keep it quiet. I got my smallest drill bit and drilled out all the holes. I approximately doubled the size of the holes. Then I stuffed the original foam back in and did a test run.  I got lots of air but it was very loud. So I  got a cpap filter and cut two 1/4 inch strips and stuffed them under the cap with a piece of wire. The result was no noise but no air. So I pulled out the felt like filter material and pulled each of them apart as much as possible to make them less dense. Then I stuffed them back under the cap. Ran a test and it was quiet but I could now feel air. I then super glued the flap back to the cap. Woke up this morning feeling refreshed. I forgot to plug my flash in last night so couldn't check to see if my respiration rate and tidal volume have improved, but I'll find out tomorrow morning. I think I know the answer.

From what I've read everyone handles CO2 differently. Some people need to rebreath more CO2 to avoid Central Apneas especially with higher pressure support. But I think it is entirely possible to get too much. Symptoms of too much CO2 are reduced respiratory drive (tidal volume), increased respiratory rate, and headache. I experienced all these symptoms. Note I'm kind of a leak fanatic and even wear an elastic head band over the F20 to keep it tight. I rarely show any leaks on my graphs. I may reconsider my position on leaks after this little episode.  Maybe a little leaking is not such a bad thing.

Regards,

Dave
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#30
RE: Anyone's F20 Quiet Air Elbow Not Diffusing/Venting ANY Air?
Awesome info, Dave! I'm glad for that validation, and that I'm not imagining things. But bummer that others are experiencing this.
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