CSpring Water Tank

[PAPAstro]

Anyone tried one of these? I have an AS 11 and live in a dry climate. I also need  max level moisture. That means most nights I will run dry which is damned annoying and not healthy or good for the machine. This looks like a solution - if it performs well...

CSpring Water Reservoir

[PAPAstro]

Read a review by one of the CPAP authorities that was very positive. I Just Ordered One and will comment once I get it.

AS 11 Issues and CSpring Review


Order Link

[PAPAstro]

I set up the unit today. It seems to function well but have not used it at night yet. Of course it does mean a few more wires and tubes and I would like to know how carefully they looked at things like BPA content in the plastics, but this can be checked. 

NOTE: I checked with the manufacturer and they say that all the parts are medical grade materials

My only complaint so far is that the places to pour water in are quite large and not covered with filters. That would seem to allow dust and worse yet, maybe insects to fly in. I covered mine with some filter media but they need to address this IMHO.

NOTE: They are coming out with a solid top in about a month that should deal with possible insects.

It is worth noting that this is one of the most responsive companies I have ever dealt with. They answer my emails literally within minutes. Pretty impressive, especially after dealing with the likes of Phillips!

[PAPAstro]

One minor negative: The green LED ring power light on the front is really about 3X too bright for at night. This can be corrected with some dimming plastic but should not be that bright on a sleep related appliance.

[PAPAstro]

The light at night could be more than a minor negative if you are sensitive to light. 

On the first night I noted that since the unit is made of white plastic, the entire unit glowed like an alien orb. Not super bright but definitely more than I would like. I covered it with a dark pillowcase and that fixed it but IMHO, it should have been made of opaque (probably black) plastic instead of white (in addition to having the power LED go off by itself or be adjustable in brightness).

This may or may not be an issue for a user and depends entirely on your light preferences at night. Having said that, since sleep experts suggest as little light as possible, I consider this a major oversight for a sleep appliance.

UPDATE: Further communication with the manufacturer indicates that a light proof cover will be available soon.

[YipeekiOH]

I bought one to use with my AS10 and it is a very nice unit. I put a microfiber wash cloth over the top to keep dust and any other yuck out.

Not a light sensitive person thus the light never bothered me since it is toward the rear of the nightstand by the wall and something I don’t see. That said, I see how others may find it annoying. It would be nice to have the option to turn it off.

Sebastian is a wonderful fellow who is very proactive helping his customers.

[paperboy]

Can the CSpring Water Tank sit below the CPAP machine or must there be gravity flow down to the CPAP machine?

[car54]

It looks well designed.  If you constantly run out of water it would probably be worth it.
Just for the heck of it, here was my solution. I rarely run out of water so I did this just to have a solution if needed.

https://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread...humidifier

[dean406]

As with many Airsense 11 owners, I've been eyeballing the Cspring product.  I had many questions similar to those listed above which to the best of my knowledge are still unanswered,  The purpose of this post is to provide those answers so others can make a decision on if they should purchase a CSpring device.

Short answer: Resounding yes, but their are some things you need to be aware of.

1. This product is a working device that has been refined yet still shows signs of places where improvement could be made.  For example - the locations of where hoses/electrical connections are made are designed for placing on a nightstand with a CPAP.  If you wish to place the MK2 on the floor, the connections are not in ideal locations. Their are two connections in the back and one of the side.  I'd prefer all connections on one side - so it would provide more capability to tuck into a corner.  As it is currently configured, you may need 3-5 inches of clearance to accommodate the jack/water connections

2. Being that the owner has built this company himself and is designing and sourcing the components.... some minor quality issues do exist.  Functionality isn't a problem - but be accepting of quirks.  I wanted to place my device on a floor, so I purchased the extension set.  This comes with a wire with two proprietary jacks (mini DIN 6-pole) with built-in nuts to screw them securely in-place.  Their is a nut on both ends.  One nut screws the original short cable to the extension cable.  The other end of the extension has a nut to screw into the MK2.  Right now, the manufacturer created something out-of-spec and it's not possible to screw the nut into the MK2 to make the connection super secure.  It still plugs in securely, but when you proceed to the next logical step of also trying to screw the cable into the provided jack..... the threads won't interlock. 

3. Built inside the water tank is a high-intensity LED that changes color and mimics a Christmas ornament.  I don't find that feature pleasing.  I'd rather the LED be used for display of diagnostic information such as changing color when water runs low, etc.

-- that's all the negatives, moving to positives:

1. The product comes with cabling that is predesigned to fit/work on a nightstand. Works good out-of-the-box in that configuration.

2. An extension kit is available to reach from a nightstand to the floor.  This also works fine with the caveat that the "tie-down" nut on the extension will not "tie-down".  I know the owner is working to fix this soon.  Even though you can't screw the jack tight, it still pushes into the jack securely and works fine.

3. I wanted to use the wall-mount Airsense 11 device boasted/promoted by "CPAP Reviews" Youtube channel sold by an individual who makes them with a 3-D printer and sells them on Etsy.  Due to my bed headboard, this would require a 5 foot run of hose between the wall-mounted CPAP and the MK2 sitting on the floor.  I very much wanted my nightstand to NOT have any CPAP related material on it.  At least I wanted to try to pull this off.  The extension kit from CSpring was only for a total of 3.5 feet and wouldn't reach the distance I needed; so I retrofitted a 5 foot cable.  I recognized the cable as being 1/4 inch inside diameter; 3/8 inch outside diameter [1/4 ID, 3/8 OD].  I was able to buy a 25 foot roll of vinyl tubing with exactly those diameters at a hardware store.  The connectors on each end of the supplied cable can be removed if you carefully pull them from the hose.  I was able to put those same connectors on a longer "Home Depot" hose.  The smell of the vinyl bothered me... I mean it bothered me A LOT.  I recognized that CSpring used some hose far higher quality than Vinyl.  I didn't think of it when shopping at Home Depot.  I was so excited to see the correct size hose - I bought the wrong type of plastic.  The air blowing in my mask smelled strongly like a beach ball and I assumed it wouldn't be healthy long-term.  I determined that the correct hose material was silicone and Amazon had a 10 foot hose for $15.  I cut the ten foot hose down to the needed 5 feet and hooked everything up.  It worked (with another caveat... which I'll cover next.

4. When I turned the device on, it filled for 7 seconds and then would stop.  This is a function of the self-test programmed into the machine.  I thought my issued was likely related to the extension cord not being capable of screwing all-the-way into the MK2, so I contacted the company email - admin@cspring.com.  I received a reply within 20 minutes from Sebastian Cardenas explaining that he's had some manufacturing challenges with the cable nut not fitting and will send me another one.  3 days later, I received it.  I tried cable #2 and had the same exact problem.  It wouldn't screw into the MK2 (jack fit securely, just wouldn't "also" screw-in tight). I did some experimentation and recognized the device worked fine on a nightstand but wouldn't work using the extension with my 5 foot configuration.  I assumed it was the extension cable not being secure and contacted the email address again.  I provided more detail.  In 20 minutes, I received another email from the same person - Sebastian "Can I call you?" - he said.

5. I responded yes to the email and promptly received a call from Sebastian.  We compared notes and he quickly resolved the problem.  The initial 7 seconds fill operation that the device performs on start-up is designed to introduce enough water into the CPAP humidifier reservoir to reach the 1st water-level sensor (marked S1 on the cable).  Since I was pushing uphill 5 feet, the pump wasn't able to reach the water level required to satisfy that level within 7 seconds.  He said the unit goes into a safety lock-out mode if it doesn't receive a signal that the S1 sensor is detecting water after 7 seconds of operation.  To resolve the problem, turn it off and on a couple times to force the unit to repeat the 7 second fill operation - or just open the humidifier chamber and "prime" it with a cup or two of distilled water to reach that S1 sensor.  Sebastian explained that during start-up, the pump starts for 7 seconds and expects this to be enough pumping to reach the minimal (S1) sensor in the humidifier.  Once that 7-second "start-up" fill/test is complete, it switches to auto mode and will keep the humidifier filled.

Final result: perfection - with my own customization  of a 5 feet run from the floor to a wall-mounted CPAP above my headboard!  This is exactly what I envisioned as being ideal for my bedroom allowing the nightstand to have just an alarm clock on it.  I no-longer have any CPAP 'crap' on the nightstand for the first time in 2 decades.  I can hear the water pump kick on,,, it's pretty quiet and does not wake me up at-all.  When first trying to fall asleep, I did hear it and didn't recognize the odd noise (1st night)....  One of those "what the heck was that?" moments followed by ohhhhhh, that's the CPAP filler-upper.  It holds enough water to allow us to reprogram the damn RESMED 11 to maximum humidity and still last a whole week or more - no problem.  I had reconfigured the settings to minimize H2O so it wouldn't run dry on me.  With this MK2 unit - that is no-longer an issue at all.  When talking to Sebastian I recognized he is the inventor/owner, is providing customer support directly himself and is an all-around great guy.  

I did submit my online receipts for this unit to my workplace Flexible Spending Account (FSA) - and they did reimburse me using my FSA account for "CPAP Accessories".  I was hoping they would - and they did.  

Summary: I've been a CPAP user for 20 years and have owned about 10 CPAPs/APAPs.  The RESMED 11 has been a plethora of disappointments from the beginning that never seem to go away.  We all hate the childish "MyAir" statistics online that provide kindergarten detail of your sleep.  With all of the annoyances/quirks of the RESMED 11, the humidifier was the worst problem - even reaching the level of causing clinical issues (therapy delivery affected).  The CSpring MK2 absolutely fixed the humidification situation from "worst CPAP ever" -> "Best humidifier config ever" as advertised.  I would highly recommend it.