AirFit P10 vent blocked?

[BadGoodDeb]

As I say, I did pinholes first, and they didn't help me enough. And then closed up a bit. If yours are enough to help you, GREAT!!

[AshSF]

    My photos. As you can see, there are straight holes (5-10) in one side of the mesh.

Some holes do rip the mesh and a thread may separate from the mesh. But it's harmless unless it dislodges.

[BadGoodDeb]

What I was saying was that, *unless* I rip the mesh, I found my holes closing up again. The way pinholes in fabric (your shirt) do, when you stroke the fabric to bring all the threads into alignment again.

But if it is enough for you, I'm glad! Damaging the threads was NOT my first step in finding a solution.

[OpineCone]

With this thread spanning more than two years, it is interesting how varied are the reported experiences with respect to the effectiveness of the P10 vents. Some people struggled with hyperventilation right from the start, some were satisfied at first but later were shocked by a sudden unexpected blockage, some experienced a gradual deterioration in airflow over a number of nights of usage, and others encountered no hyperventilation issues at all. The solutions offered for the blockage problems have also varied widely: wash the vents frequently and thoroughly, or quickly and gently, or as infrequently as possible (e.g. never), or allow several hours for the vents to dry after washing, or avoid condensation from warming up the mask with humid air from the CPAP machine and then allowing it to cool down again before use, or modify the vents by making holes or cuts in the fabric, etc.

Personally I have been fortunate to have only experienced blocked vents once (with no detectable airflow through the mask at all), to have immediately identified the cause as water in the mesh of the vents, and to have made changes in the way I handled the mask that were effective in avoiding a recurrence. The final form of the changes I made were: never wash the vents at all unless the mask is visibly dirty or discolored, and avoid condensation in the mask by leaving it unconnected from the CPAP machine until I am actually in bed. This has worked so well that during the last 16 months I have never once been even slightly tempted to put holes or cuts in the vents.

[Apneaway]

I've exchanged my DreamWear for the P10. Been using the P10 more than a month. I remember I was able to feel the air from the mesh originally. Cold air came out there and blow on to my arm. Then all of a sudden I was kind of hard to breath every time I put it on at the beginning but I was never ever thought about th clog problem. I wash the gear every week. It's only at the beginning when I first put it on. Not sure if I'm getting use to it later or the DreamStation adjusted the pressure on it's own as I don't have the suffocating feeling later. But I believe I do inhale CO2 if that's the case.
I just ordered a Dreamwear from Amazon for a backup. The other problem with P10 is that it doesn't have a swival head like the Nuance Pro which I tried before.

[chuck6161]

I've just recently had this issue with the P10, but I'm hoping mine was just clogging because my humidity level was high (4) and it was causing condensation. Going to try tonight with humidity level at 2 and hoping that will work.

[MitchS]

The other problem with P10 is that it doesn't have a swival head like the Nuance Pro which I tried before.

Hello, Apneaway.

I miss the swivel head on my Nuance, also.

Good luck with your treatment.

[OpineCone]

I've exchanged my DreamWear for the P10. Been using the P10 more than a month. I remember I was able to feel the air from the mesh originally. Cold air came out there and blow on to my arm. Then all of a sudden I was kind of hard to breath every time I put it on at the beginning but I was never ever thought about th clog problem. I wash the gear every week. It's only at the beginning when I first put it on. Not sure if I'm getting use to it later or the DreamStation adjusted the pressure on it's own as I don't have the suffocating feeling later. But I believe I do inhale CO2 if that's the case.

Hi Apneaway,

I notice you show your APAP pressure range to be 4-20, which is a relatively wide range. Is it possible that the low end of the range is set too low for your minimum needs for effective apnea support? That minimum number would have been established when you were tested.

Your APAP's ability to raise the pressure to meet your needs is likely to be less than perfect. Also, it may vary from night to night depending on various factors including your sleeping position, the extent to which your airways are congested, how rapidly you are breathing, your mask leakage rate, whether you are mouth breathing, etc.

In my first few days of sleep apnea treatment my sleep doctor switched my machine from CPAP to APAP and, without telling me, dropped my starting pressure from 11 to 4. I lost a lot of sleep during the next two nights, but then I discovered what the doctor had done and arranged for the pressure setting to be adjusted. The only explanation from the doctor was that he always sets the low end of the range to 4 when switching a patient from CPAP to APAP.

You might want to double check that low pressure setting!

[WLKSRQ]

I had the very same issue -- no venting and an unremovable mesh -- with a brand new P10. Gave up on it after a few nights, fortunately during my initial 30-day return period.

[herbm]

BTW, I have not seen another film on my P10 exhaust vents since STOPPING the use of water and the humidifier about 2 years ago.

For years I thought the humidity would be essential to my comfort but it really has not been an issue and it reduced maintenance to essentially zero as there now no need to even wash the hose or mask.

I just swap out the P10 mask after about 6-8 months but this is mostly due to the headgear -- my P10 itself would like last for decades.