Airsense 10 Very High Pressure settings not changed

[fred987]

UPDATE: - I called resmed, they said it sound like it needs to be serviced but I have to contact the place I purchased it from for warranty repair. I called [Commercial Link Removed] Supplier #1 and after a LONG hold, then some troubleshooting, I was to it would have to be sent in for "evaluation" which would take 3-6 weeks. No loaner/replacement during that period. I wasnt too keen on that so after the call I did the usual attemt at self-repair and banged it hard a few times.. It seems to be working now. No problems last night at all.. If something changes I''ll add another update

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[Gideon]

#$&@+&! I missed that.

[SarcasticDave94]

What I've seen on the thread is post 1 your leaks pegged at 60 plus then the second post with OSCAR leaks were way down to a Max of 6. You're dealing with sometimes uncontrollable leaking. The analogy of the leaf blower seems about right at times. This has nothing to do with a runaway PAP pressure, it's runaway leaks.

[cathyf]

fred -- go into the settings and run the mask fit cycle. Compare that with what you are feeling when the machine gets into a snit. And is it leaking or not?

What you are describing could be that the sensor that's deciding what the leak rate is maybe malfunctioning? The way that I understand it the machine knows the relationship between the force that it's using to push the air out and the pressure that results. And it knows how much leak will cause how much decrease in pressure, and so if you have less than large leak then the machine can push the air harder to bring the pressure back to the pressure that it wants to deliver.

The usual complication is that when the machine blows full out to "compensate" for a medium leak, the higher pressure then causes a giant leak.

But when it's working just like it's supposed to, all of this is really complicated with lots of moving parts in the calculation. A flakey sensor would be a turd in the punchbowl! If a malfunctioning sensor decides that you are having a big leak when nothing of the sort is happening, then when it increases the blower force to make up for the non-existent leak, then it's blowing really really hard!

[clownbell]

Gotta ask -- how old is your mask? The seal may be worn, even if visible to the naked eye -- which creates the opportunity for leaks, to which the machine responds by cranking up the pressure -- but the mask won't seal because old. OR the headgear may have become stretched in time, preventing a good seal in the first place. Not 100% sure either is the case, but worth looking into.

[fred987]

Night 2 after beating the machine, and all was still good, no leaks, no high pressure/flow.

The "no leak" oscar was a week before the "leak" Oscar to show what it had been like before this issue started.

The Mask it started with was about 2-3 weeks old and the other one I tested with same results was 3 months old -- I never thought to try the nasal until just now although I'm pretty sure that would be the same.

I think Cathyf was right with the Turd in the Punchbowl --at least thats what I'm going with

Thanks for all the suggestions/help

[cathyf]

Note that the "flakey leak sensor" theory is the frightening one, especially if it's intermittent and not reproducible! We rely on these machines to function properly when we are asleep and not able to watch them -- if it takes off doing who-knows-what -- yikes! all sorts of scary horror movies come to mind!

You probably want to monitor your data really closely. If it starts happening again, you need to collect some independent data, too. For example, set your phone to record sound next to the bed. Then if you look at your data and it says that you were leaking like crazy between time X and time Y, you listen to the recording between time X and time Y -- if you hear your mask doing the trombone thing, then you know that it was a real leak. If it's perfectly silent, then you know that something is wrong with the machine.

And talk to your insurance company's customer service-- if the machine needs repair, then they should pay for the rental of a substitute machine while it's in the shop. The whole rent-the-machine-for-13-months-rather-than-buy-it scheme is of course a scam to get you to pay two deductibles when buying the machine. But in order for them to conduct that scam legally, it has to really be a rental. If your DME is in the business of "renting" when it's in the insurance company's interest, then when it's in YOUR interest then they have to still be in the rental business.

(And the rent-to-own model is not necessarily a total scam. If a patient starts on an A10 and it becomes obvious after a few weeks that the patient needs a bipap, then they would return the rented A10 and start over with the bipap. Or a patient who refuses to use the machine -- like my late father-in-law -- then the rental is returned. All that means that your DME has some returned machines available for short-term rentals.)

[pholynyk]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the simple water manometer pressure test. Find a tall glass or bottle and fill it to 25 cm (10 inches) of water. Then remove the mask from the hose and put the hose in the water to the bottom of the glass. Then turn on your machine. If you have 25 ch of water from the end of the hose to the top of the water, you should not get any bubbles. Then slowly raise the hose until you get bubbles and measure the distance from the bottom of the hose to the top of the water. That's your air pressure - convert your inches to cm and it should be pretty close to what your machine is set for.

It's less messy if you start the machine with the hose at the bottom of the glass...

[fred987]

I think if it reoccurs the phone Would pick up the noise because its massive, but I'm hoping for the best

As far as Insurance, I purchased the machine myself online because when I was 1st told I needed it I tried the Insurance but the supplier/insurance said I needed to pay $2,200 to get it due to the remainder on my deductible. so I did nothing. a year later I was back at the Sleep Dr and explained why I never got it and she said " you should have said something, here is your script, buy it yourself much cheaper plus you dont have to be monitored for usage evey couple months".. - so I did for $450. - so thats Why for warranty I have to deal with the online company myself, which actually they have been great other than the long "evaluation" period.

[cathyf]

I think if it reoccurs the phone Would pick up the noise because its massive, but I'm hoping for the best

As far as Insurance, I purchased the machine myself online because when I was 1st told I needed it I tried the Insurance but the supplier/insurance said I needed to pay $2,200 to get it due to the remainder on my deductible. so I did nothing. a year later I was back at the Sleep Dr and explained why I never got it and she said " you should have said something, here is your script, buy it yourself much cheaper plus you dont have to be monitored for usage evey couple months".. - so I did for $450. - so thats Why for warranty I have to deal with the online company myself, which actually they have been great other than the long "evaluation" period.

Ah -- I get it -- well if push comes to shove and you need to rent a machine for a month or two, then with your prescription you should be able to go to any DME and just rent one for a month or two. If they submit to your insurance then it would count towards your deductible at least. If you are near your deductible then that's of some usefulness!

(I'm living in a different universe... I've had a rough year -- blew through my $3000 out-of-pocket maximum with some surgery in September, and now I'm blowing through this year when some expensive lab work comes back. My latest cpap adventures started with my "hey I've got to my out of pocket max I should try to get a new cpap before the end of the year" which lead to a sleep study and the conclusion that I no longer have apnea which lead to another sleep study where I had an AHI of 18 and a supine REM RDI of 42. So I'm probably headed for a new machine this year. Just need to decide if I'm going to wait until the AirSense11 comes out. Ironically, my long-in-the-tooth Airsense 10 was when those were just released...)

Unless you are near the top of your deductible, it would probably be cheaper to just buy a second A10 used. If you shop around you can probably find one for less than the $450 you spent before.