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Do any machines try to fix leaks?
#21
RE: Do any machines try to fix leaks?
(03-28-2016, 07:53 PM)sdb7802 Wrote: Which came first: Pressure or flow?

I don't know!

flow, without flow, you won't have pressure, unless you're talking a sealed vessel and you input thermal energy.

but, we're not talking a sealed vessel here, we're talking a vented circuit, which requires a specific flow to produce a desired pressure
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#22
RE: Do any machines try to fix leaks?
(03-28-2016, 12:34 PM)robysue Wrote:
Quote:Turning the pressure down in response to leaks is a very common (I believe) reaction. It was my first reaction when starting out.

We're not talking about manually reducing the pressure by changing the pressure settings on the machine. We're talking about what the machine is programed to do when it detects an official Large Leak in the middle of the night.

If the machine just leaves the pressure at the current level when the leak rate is large enough to be scored as an official Large Leak, that will allow the official Large Leak to go on long enough for the efficacy of the therapy to be compromised, and potentially seriously compromised, if the person doesn't wake up and fix the leak in a timely fashion. And a lot of people can routinely sleep through an hour long massive, official Large Leak. (And some of them can do this while also complaining that minor leaks at the beginning of the night are so irritating that they find it hard to get to sleep.)

I was not aware that I was talking about the machine making a temporary pressure reduction in an attempt to reseal the leak. First, if a seal blows out, it will not reseal by simply reducing the pressure but sometimes I would imagine the temporary reduction might work. If it is temporary does it go back to where it started and if it does, it will probably just leak again if it is caused by pressure.

My point here is that it is much better for the person to use his/her brain to figure out the solution and take the appropriate action so that the leakage is prevented on a longer term basis.

Best Regards,

PaytonA.

Admin Note:
PaytonA passed away in September 2017
Click HERE to read his Memorial Thread

~ Rest in Peace ~
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#23
RE: Do any machines try to fix leaks?
(03-28-2016, 11:04 PM)PaytonA Wrote: I was not aware that I was talking about the machine making a temporary pressure reduction in an attempt to reseal the leak. First, if a seal blows out, it will not reseal by simply reducing the pressure but sometimes I would imagine the temporary reduction might work. If it is temporary does it go back to where it started and if it does, it will probably just leak again if it is caused by pressure.

It really depends on what caused the leak to go from "bad, but still small enough where the machine can compensate" to "Large Leak that the machine cannot compensate."

For example, if there is a medium-sized leak (that is NOT an official Large Leak), the additional air flow the machine is using to try to maintain current pressure may be enough to encourage the user's mouth to open, which can cause the leak to go from "bad, but manageble" to "official Large Leak". If the machine temporarily backs off the pressure a bit (by reducing the air flow) that can encourage the person to close their mouth (which fixes the official Large Leak) and if the mask has also been moving around with the large air flow that was being used in an attempt to maintain the higher pressure when the leak was "bad" but not in Large Leak territory, the mask may also settle back down on the face with a decent enough seal so that once the leaks are under control, the machine can once again do what it is supposed to do in terms of maintaining the desired pressure.


Quote:My point here is that it is much better for the person to use his/her brain to figure out the solution and take the appropriate action so that the leakage is prevented on a longer term basis.

It really depends on how often the Large Leaks happen and how long they last.

If you see a bad leak that lasts less than 10-15 minutes no more than once or twice a night and you are sleeping right through the leaks, it may be best to just ignore the leaks since that's not really enough time to seriously affect the quality of your therapy. And the solution to the leaks adds any discomfort, then solution the may wind up making it more difficult to get to sleep and to stay asleep; in that case, you're better off sleeping through the occasional short Large leak.

If you see bad leaks that last an hour or more at a time OR if the total time spent in Large Leak territory is more than about 20-30% of the night, you really do need to do something to fix the leaks.

If you wake up multiple times each night from the leaks, you need to do something to fix the leaks ---even if the leaks are pretty small.
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#24
RE: Do any machines try to fix leaks?
Thank you Robysue, you just supported my point very nicely.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

Admin Note:
PaytonA passed away in September 2017
Click HERE to read his Memorial Thread

~ Rest in Peace ~
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