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Number of vent holes ResMed AirFit F30i mask
#11
RE: Number of vent holes ResMed AirFit F30i mask
(09-17-2021, 11:15 PM)SevereApnea Wrote: @Deborah, I accept the top vent holes also exist, are these more important than the front ones? 

As I recall, more air exited from the top vent.
Machine:  ResMed AirCurve 10 Vauto
Mask:  Bleep DreamPort Sleep Solution
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#12
RE: Number of vent holes ResMed AirFit F30i mask
Deborah, thanks for that.

That's good to know, because if our sleeping position causes bedding/sheets etc to cover the front vent holes, the top ones will take over.

Another reason to like the top connection design.

Any other comments?

Does anyone think the variability in number of open holes in the F30i cushion is relevant?
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#13
RE: Number of vent holes ResMed AirFit F30i mask
Ok here is some follow up which might be relevant to other threads about leak rates.

Here is the night of the 3rd September.
[attachment=36524]
Just for fun: dose anyone have any comment about the leak rates between Sessions #1 and #2 and #3?

Set up:
AutoSet for Her: mode = CPAP at 8.4 for the whole night.
EPR = Off for the whole night.
SCC Medium for the whole night.
Headgear = Small for the whole night (which has recently given me good {too much?} control of leaks.)


Hint:
Masks used: F30i Medium

Result: 
The movement of air felt "different"
Horrid night.
Very dry mouth.
Water used for the night = 36 mls/hour compared to my usual average of 26 mls/hour.
Nightmares at the end of #2 woke exhausted note the Respiratory markers.
Developing headache at the end of #1 (headache score = 1/10)
Cracking headache at the end of #2 (score 10/10)
At the end of #3 I needed what I call some Breathing Recovery time.

Ideas? observations mainly about the leak rate?
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#14
RE: Number of vent holes ResMed AirFit F30i mask
Since my last contribution I switched from  a Large to a Standard (medium) headframe which I  believe has helped decreased the amount of leaks significantly.
I also used a small\wide F30i mask.......with only 21 out of 25 holes open. Why this is so is not clear to me.
This mask worked great but would developed leaks during the night and wake me up.
So I went back to a new medium mask but with a Standard (Medium ) headframe......So far ,so good!.....Hope this will be the answer to those leaks I was experiencing?......But this mask in contradistinction to my first medium mask only had 21\25 holes open.
The conundrum continues.
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#15
RE: Number of vent holes ResMed AirFit F30i mask
Here is the idea behind this thread.

Same night, same chart, now annotated.

[attachment=36565]

So yes I drilled the extra "missing" vent holes in the F30i wide and converted this to a 25 hole mask. Only had 1mm drill bits, the actual holes are tapered at around 0.6 mm.

Theory: If I could vent off more C02 I could avoid the headaches and other side effects of CPAP that have been plaguing me so far.
Result: this did not improve my symptoms. I still had a cracking headache. It can't therefore be hypercapnea.
Conclusion: even with only 21 holes the F30i vents enough to blow off CO2 at my low pressures at least.

Now the interesting bit:

As you can see for Sessions #1 and #2 I used the F30i with my extra vent holes (purple), but I had to abandon this and went back to the F30i W with 23 holes.

What is really interesting is the differing "Leak Rates".

With the extra holes in my modified 25 hole mask the ResMed data shows leaks which are now above the Zero line.
With the standard non-modified mask the leaks are below the Zero line. They are there, but ResMed does not record them. 
(Note I used a fixed pressure, same pillow, same neck collar, same machine settings and Climate Control, same everything.)

Therefore I suspect that the Zero line is really just the threshold between what ResMed calls the difference between Unintentional leaks and Intentional Leaks. Perhaps this is a rather arbitrary and rather wide or gray line? Perhaps the recorded leak rates are not that accurate, or even precise?

I don't claim that there is a linear relationship across the spectrum of pressures that CPAP uses. In fact, the mask Technical specifications chart show this it not the case.
(Also interesting is the comment in the F30i User Guide which says 'Smart/Stop may not operate effectively when using this mask with some CPAP or bi-level devices." An admission that flow and pressure variations my confuse the algorithm that drives this).

I get the hint: the leak rates can be a guide, perhaps not a perfect one, but good enough to be a rough guide.

The other comment I have is that when using the PR DreamWear oronasal mask (so called full face mask but actually a hybrid mask) I frequently got zero leaks recorded.
But my notes from those nights showed the leaks continued to wake and disturb me. So there is another clear discrepancy there and hint that the recorded leak rates my only be a roughish guide.

Perhaps the Machine are "tuned" differently, algorithmically perhaps, to masks "in general" rather than exactly, to interpret leaks in a less than perfect manner, based on somewhat crude flow and pressure parameters?

From the term Unintentional Leak this implies to me that there is also the concept of Intentional Leak. We know this is made up of leaks from the vent holes, the top mount vent holes, but what about perhaps also the concept that some additional leaks are not only acceptable but intended. Intended yes, physiologically, but for what?

My own notes and data for nearly two years now show I do better with some leaks.
My goal now is no longer Zero Leaks, but leaks around 6 - 10. I feel better that way. I need to adapt to not being awakened by these leaks.

Last comment, I may have made this point before elsewhere. I strongly suspect that I need to Vent. But what am I venting?

When I watch my wife sleeping, she occasionally vents.  She does not have SDB or apnea. I jealously look at her breathing in and out quietly through her nose. And then all of a sudden..... she will lip-leak. Mouth leaks>> pf then pff then Pfff, then Pffff then Pfffff then Pffff then pfff then pff then pf then back to nose only breathing. 

So clearly a homeostatic mechanism is at play, causing us to vent while we are sleeping.
This may be different for non SDB people breathing with no obstructions at atmospheric pressure versus us folk with OSA who are subjecting ourselves to continuous positive pressure. (Who knows how these baroreceptors/chemoreceptors/mechanoreceptors interact anyway?)

The question then is: But what are we venting?

My initial thoughts were that this is CO2 we are venting, hence I pursued this line of thought. I no longer believe that. In any case it is too hard to find a percutaneous CO2 meter and from what little I have read they need to be temperature calibrated, so this is nearly impossible for lay-people to measure.

Could it be that our lungs need to vent off excess pressure?  Thinking-about

For me at least that seems to be the case. There is enough in the literature to allow me to idly follow this line of thought. That is now the area I will be exploring further. 
Back to my favourite P30i.

Moral of the story: watch out for massive leaks, but don't sweat the small stuff.
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#16
RE: Number of vent holes ResMed AirFit F30i mask
i have noticed that, when using a fabric cushion, i sleep more soundly and wake less to the sudden pfffs (cuz they do not happen) or to the annoying flexi-tickles the soft silicon cushions cause when responding to the inhale and exhale pressure differences.

QAL
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#17
RE: Number of vent holes ResMed AirFit F30i mask
Thx QAL.

could you please elaborate. "fabric cushion" I thought they were all silicone of some sort or another?
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#18
RE: Number of vent holes ResMed AirFit F30i mask
(10-24-2021, 12:29 AM)SevereApnea Wrote: Thx QAL.

could you please elaborate. "fabric cushion" I thought they were all silicone of some sort or another?

Ha. I meant a fabric pad between cushion and face.

QAL
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