AirFit P10 vent blocked?

[retired_guy]

Out of all this I offer the following suggestions for keeping your P10 functioning correctly:

1. Clean your mask components well in advance of going to bed, so that water has plenty of time to evaporate from the filter before you use it.

2. Try not to run the CPAP warm-up function and then delay going to bed, so as to avoid condensation in the hose and/or mask, which may get into the mask vent.

3. If, in spite of your best efforts, you go to bed and find that your P10 vent is blocked, consider it almost certain that you have moisture trapped in the micro-mesh fabric of the vent.

Nice investigative write-up OP.

I've never had this problem with a P10 and haven't really been able to understand why anyone has. Until now. So thanks.

It just points out that my method for proper mask maintenance is good to go.

1. Never allow the mask to get wet. If you feel you really really need to wash it, don't.

2. Never do the leak test thingy. Put the mask on, push the cute little on button, lay down, go to sleep.

3. If you do think you're P10 is blocked, remove the cat.

The same kind of argument once led a lot of people to believe that the Ford Pinto was a safe car.

What? There's something wrong with my Pinto? What is the world coming too????????

[GeoffD]

It just points out that my method for proper mask maintenance is good to go.

1. Never allow the mask to get wet. If you feel you really really need to wash it, don't.

2. Never do the leak test thingy. Put the mask on, push the cute little on button, lay down, go to sleep.

3. If you do think you're P10 is blocked, remove the cat.

1. That's my strategy. I wash the nasal pillows, ClimateLine tube, and headgear occasionally. I don't wash the mask. I don't want to do anything to clog that micro-vent system. I'll bet people are clogging it with soap.

2. I have the auto-start feature enabled on my A10. I just put the mask on and start breathing. The machine starts immediately. Other than occasionally putting it on upside-down when I don't have my reading glasses on, I don't have to fiddle with the fit.

3. I'm well trained cat staff. I don't ever remove the cat unless my cat orders me to do so. My last cat was a long haired cat fuzz generator. This one is a shorthair and doesn't ever seem to shed much.

[OpineCone]

[quote='OpineCone' pid='103150' dateline='1425505303']

Nice investigative write-up OP.

I've never had this problem with a P10 and haven't really been able to understand why anyone has. Until now. So thanks.

It just points out that my method for proper mask maintenance is good to go.

1. Never allow the mask to get wet. If you feel you really really need to wash it, don't.

2. Never do the leak test thingy. Put the mask on, push the cute little on button, lay down, go to sleep.

3. If you do think you're P10 is blocked, remove the cat.

Thanks for the compliment, RG. I enjoyed your response but now have a question and a comment for you.

When you say never allow the mask to get wet, are you referring just to the frame that supports the pillows, or are you recommending that people not wash the pillows either?

As for sharing your P10 with your cat, remember that airlines recommend for safety reasons that in an emergency you should apply the mask to yourself first and then to your cat.

[retired_guy]

When you say never allow the mask to get wet, are you referring just to the frame that supports the pillows, or are you recommending that people not wash the pillows either?

Technical clarification:

Washing the pillows is fine. Or at least scrape them off once in awhile.

[OffroadToy]

I'm more concerned with condensation from the humidifier plugging up the screen. I think your better off washing the vent once in a while with soap/tooth brush and a good rinse with hot water... then allowing to dry over night. I've noticed overtime time the p10 gets harder to breath through and after washing/scubbing the vent it's like new afterwards... just my observation.

[bburch5721]

So disappointed as I love the way the P10 fits and feels. But, since I started using it 2 months ago it has felt like my exhale doesn't vent and I was suffocating. Went back to feeling like before CPAP - extreme daytime exhaustion, anxiety and depression. Finally had an episode of chest pain in the night. My AHI has been 0 throughout. Switched back to my old SwiftFx mask and I am back to normal. I tried blocked the end of the tube on the P10 while blowing in the nasal pillows - next to no air comes out of the vents. In fact when I inhaled it collapsed the tube. I think I have been just rebreathing while sleeping - that can't be good. Really did like the P10 fit, but not sure I want to purchase another one to see if the vent isn't blocked.

[PaytonA]

I had a nasal mask with a small vent and a diffuser with a vent on it. I actually complained that if I blocked everything off except the vent, I could hardly blow any air through it even blowing as hard as I could. I was told that we were not supposed to be able to breathe through the vent but that was not my real complaint. I was also told that certainly the designers had calculated the vent rate properly and tested it (that is what you call real optimism). I started to feel weird during the day. I finally went back to a different mask with a larger vent. Much better.

I am not sure that I trust small vents, especially when they have a diffuser on them. That is just me and a lot of people seem to put up with this situation just fine. Maybe I spooked myself into feeling weird. I do not know but I do know that I am going to be very careful with this type of situation.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

[worn_out_in_lebanon]

Sounds like your P10 vent is blocked. I remember reading on here somewhere, but don't remember what mask it was, there was one with blocked vents. The person looked at the inside more closely and said it looked like the punches didn't go all the way through. Mine seemed to vent better after the second time I washed it. I don't know if I got paper towel lint in it the first time, or it had some crud in it, or what.

[DariaVader]

I recently got a new (3 mo replacement) P10 and it was blocked when I first put it on and felt terrible. I persisted with it for a bit, and the sensation subsided and now it vents just like the first. seems like a QC issue.

[archangle]

So disappointed as I love the way the P10 fits and feels. But, since I started using it 2 months ago it has felt like my exhale doesn't vent and I was suffocating. Went back to feeling like before CPAP - extreme daytime exhaustion, anxiety and depression. Finally had an episode of chest pain in the night. My AHI has been 0 throughout. Switched back to my old SwiftFx mask and I am back to normal. I tried blocked the end of the tube on the P10 while blowing in the nasal pillows - next to no air comes out of the vents. In fact when I inhaled it collapsed the tube. I think I have been just rebreathing while sleeping - that can't be good. Really did like the P10 fit, but not sure I want to purchase another one to see if the vent isn't blocked.

Welcome to the board!

Go here and tell us what CPAP machine you have. Depending on which machine you have, it might be able to tell you how much air your mask vents are venting.

You can also put on the mask, plug the hose port, and blow into it and see if the air comes out of the vent OK.