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[Equipment] Respironics REMstar Auto A-Flex 550P Issue
#21
RE: Respironics REMstar Auto A-Flex 550P Issue
I doubt that it is the auto off feature. That will turn the machine off, i.e. stop delivering air. The OP reports that the machine is actually rebooting. Sounds more like either power issues or a problem with the machine itself.
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#22
RE: Respironics REMstar Auto A-Flex 550P Issue
Well, it's definitely something. When I slept last night, 20 minutes in it rebooted, but I let it go to see if maybe it would "behave" for therest of the night. it did it a couple of hour later, then again a couple of hour after that, at which point it began to alarm and it threw up the "service required" message. I had to unplug it to get it to stop. When I plugged it back in, just for the heck of it, I turned it back on and it started normally, so I guess it needs to get serviced?
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#23
RE: Respironics REMstar Auto A-Flex 550P Issue
Ouch. Service Required message is:
REMstar PAP machines will present an error code when there is an error. If the machine only says "Service Required", it is usually a fatal error. This will happen with water damage that has caused a short circuit.
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




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#24
RE: Respironics REMstar Auto A-Flex 550P Issue
Wow, well yeah, I would definitely get that into the shop! Good luck!
As always, YMMV! You do not have to agree or disagree, I am not a professional so my mental meanderings are simply recollections of things from my own life.

PRS1 - Auto - A-Flex x2 - 12.50 - 20 - Humid x2 - Swift FX
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#25
Wink 
RE: Respironics REMstar Auto A-Flex 550P Issue
I was having a similar issue last night. My machine would beep on start-up and then shut down, over and over until I unplugged it. I fought with with my machine for nearly 2 hours because the thought of sleeping without it was sickening since i have used it for almost 2 years straight. I used to wake every hour and I don't think I had a decent night sleep in years! I thought why bother sleeping. Regardless I love my machine, it saved my life and my sanity (whats left of itSmile). So I finally gave up lay down with pillows piled high, then it occured to me, my husband has the same machine! I switched out the machine and ended up with the same annoying issue, a single beep on start-up and then it shut down. I was not impressed, but what are the odds of it happening to 2 different machines. Then I remembered another issue someone posted just below this one. The power. I had taken my machine and my husbands out of the room to not wake him (he doesn't use his regularly) I had it plugged in else where so it wasn't likely that there were power issues in my home. I was however, using my own power cord!!! I switched back to my machine, with his power cord and it roared to life!! YEA!!!Big Grin so needless to say I had a good sleep once I got that all sorted out and thought I should post this since I am fortunate enough to have a 2nd machine in the house and other may not have the opportunity to troubleshoot as I did.

So before you go buy a new machine, trying borrowing the power supply. I am sure the cost of replacing that is much less expensive. I will check with my supplier after the weekend.
Thank you all! Without this thread, I may not have figured it out. Well maybe eventually, but I would not have been a happy girl this morning, so Thank you!Thanks
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#26
RE: Respironics REMstar Auto A-Flex 550P Issue
You should look into having that power brick (power cord) replaced. That way you'll have a back up.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#27
RE: Respironics REMstar Auto A-Flex 550P Issue
Sorry to bump an old thread, but since these posts turn up in google searches for years to come (I just read through this yesterday) I'm posting in case it might help somebody else down the line. I've been having similar problems with my REMstar Auto A-Flex 550P and I *think* I found the issue (spoiler: a leaky motoro/blower assembly).

The problem started off about a year ago with the unit turning itself off during use. I was able to correlate this to particularly deep inhalations or exhalations and I could reproduce the problem easily. After playing with the auto-on/auto-off, changing power bricks, etc I reasoned (I'm an electrical engineer, BTW) that the deep breathes were causing more stress on the blower and drawing more current than usual (which is true).

Somewhere on an apnea board (can't remember which one), somebody suggested using "Deoxit" contact cleaner on the power connector, which I did and it worked... for a few months. Then the problem re-appeared and again, Deoxit helped for awhile but a shorter amount of time. After a few cycles of this, I figured the contact was just getting too bad, so I hacked in a new power connector on the left side of my CPAP unit and everything was good for months... problem solved, right?

Well, a few days ago this started *again* and this time I got the "Service Required" message on the LCD. After searching forums like this, with no real solution, I took the unit apart but without any great hopes of finding a fixable problem.

What I found, and what I believe was the problem, is this: there's a black motor/blower assembly inside the clear plastic chamber. I took it out and noticed that of the 5 or 6 screws holding the motor/blower together, the plastic on the bottom half of 3 of the screw holes was cracked (sorry, wish I had pictures to show). In other words, the clamshell wasn't held together as tightly as it should've been and probably was leaking air.

My working theory is that because of the leak, the motor was having to work harder to get up to pressure and was driving the current up which eventually exceeded what either the connector or the brick could provide. I also had been noticing for some time that the pressure seemed weak, but couldn't tell if it really was weaker or was I just getting so used to it that it seemed weak?

So I'll tell you how I fixed it, but it's probably a really bad idea and I don't recommend doing the same as I did. I took some of that epoxy putty that comes in a 1" tubular bar -- you cut off a piece, knead it between your fingers until it's a uniform gray, then mold it onto whatever you're fixing. I took this stuff and covered all of the 5 or 6 screw sites (they stick out, again sorry no pictures) and let it harden.

The good news is, after doing this, the pressure on my CPAP was more than I could stand (I gues I was tweaking up the minimum pressure over the course of a few years) and it didn't quit once last night. I actually had to turn the minimum pressure from 10 down to 7 in order to get to sleep.

So the bad: breathing that fishy smelling epoxy putty inside the air chamber of the CPAP can't be a very good thing. I doubt it's the most toxic thing I've every breathed, and if I had a few days to leave it to out-gas before reassembly it probably wouldn't be too bad (doesn't have any smell at all after a few days) but I wouldn't recommend this method, at least unless you can afford to be without the CPAP for a few days while the epoxy cures.

Bottom line: the difference in pressure and the fact that the current problem went away makes me pretty sure that a leaky motor/blower housing was the culprit. Maybe there's a safer material to seal the motor/blower or maybe there's a way to buy a replacement part (kind of doubtful).

In case anybody wonders, there was nothing else in the CPAP (like a dust bunny or clump of hair, yeeeeaacccchhhh!) that would account for the lack of pressure, and I had actually had it apart before looking for obvious problems.

Hope this helps somebody in the future, and if I find out something else, I'll report back here.

Best of luck,

DRC
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#28
RE: Respironics REMstar Auto A-Flex 550P Issue
The most common reason for this failure is when the flow sensor in the upper-right corner of the main board fails to detect breathing. This was fixed in later generation Respironics machines (Series 60) by adding a screw to the main-board to maintain contact of the sensor with the breathing circuit. The 550 can be repaired by adding a #8 X 1/2 sheet metal screw with a plastic washer to the empty mounting hole about 1-inch down from the upper right corner of the main-board to hold it down. The 60 series has a screw in this location.

[Image: Jfu8x.jpg]
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

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INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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