AirSense 11 water / humidity / software incident

[rpierce]

Something really disconcerting happened to me last night. At the end of my first mask session, I woke up, and the air felt less than ideal, like it was heavy and slightly stinging when it went into my lungs. I figured this was a humidity problem. I’d previously increased humidity from 4 (as shipped) to 6 and then 7 to try to help my throat. Maybe it was too high? So I tried to lower it.

Then came a surprise as the menu was different. I couldn’t find a Humidity setting anymore, in either user mode or clinician mode. Instead there was: Climate Control: Auto, Tube Temp: Auto. I wonder whether there was an over-the-air software update that changed the machine's menu. So I changed Climate Control to Manual. This forced Tube Temp to a default of 80 F. And I now had a Humidity setting that I changed from 7 to 6. I went on the machine again and went back to sleep.

Almost three hours later, I’m awake and aware something is wrong. It feels like I’m getting less / obstructed air from the machine. I sit up, check the pressure; it’s 7 which I’ve learned should feel good to me. I try to go back to sleep, but there’s an unusual clicking wet sound coming from the mask valve. I get off the machine, disconnect the mask hose from the machine’s hose, and there’s water dripping out the hose. More drips from the back of the machine when I unplug that hose. This is new to me; I've never noticed my hoses being wet like that.

As for the software, I later learn that when the hose is unplugged, I no longer see Climate Control and Tube Temp, but I do see the Humidity setting. I think it’s likely I’ve done all my configuration of Humidity so far (from 4 to 6 and then 7) with the hose disconnected. I’m wondering if the machine ignores the Humidity value set that way when the hose is in use because it was defaulting to Climate Control: Auto / Hose Temp: Auto for both of these; in other words, it was ignoring my requested Humidity these past two weeks, but last night, by taking manual control, setting Humidity to 6 was too much, causing water to start condensing in the hoses? If so, that means the Auto Climate mode removes any user humidity preference?

This just seems wrong on a lot of levels. I’d appreciate any advice on what happened with the machine and what’s up with the software.

[Sleepster]

The machine accepts both heated and unheated tubing. When you plug in a heated hose you can see that there are a couple of metal pins that also plug in. This connection "tells" the machine a heated tubing is connected and the menu displays options for settings of the heated hose. I'm not familiar with the settings as I don't use a heated hose. Someone will come along with more knowledge who can help you.

If you unplug the tubing, or plug in a regular unheated tubing, there are no metal pins making the electric connection for a heated tubing. The menu displays options for settings of the humidifier only, which are different.

[rpierce]

Thanks for the advice! I definitely have a heated hose with metal contacts.

I’m now really curious whether the heated hose actually removes the humidity control if I am in Climate Control: Auto mode. It looks like it does, and the changes to Humidity I made with the hose disconnected may have been doing nothing at all.

I’ve never had water in the hose with Climate Control: Auto, so I’m guessing I must have messed things up by switching Climate Control to Manual and changing the Humidity to 6.

In general, what’s up with water in the hose, the clicking of the vent valve, and the reduced flow?

What are my options? It sounds like sticking with Climate Control: Auto is safest, but then I have to accept whatever humidity it gives me.

[rpierce]

Ok, doing more digging, this is garden variety rainout. My machine is below head level, but the hose likely dipped below the machine itself, creating a bend that trapped water. I can try to find a better hose management solution. But the change in settings seems like the single biggest issue.

So does this mean the Humidity settings I was changing when the heated hose was not plugged in were ignored when the heated hose was attached?

[FromOZ]

So does this mean the Humidity settings I was changing when the heated hose was not plugged in were ignored when the heated hose was attached?

When you connect the ResMed heated tube (info from the ResMed site)

ClimateLineAir 11 heated tubing

• Specifically designed for AirSense™ 11, the slim size of the ClimateLineAir™ 11 tube is designed to offer flexibility, sleeping comfort and a reduced risk of getting caught up in the patient's bedding
  
• Built-in sensor is designed to continuously monitor temperature, and when paired with a ResMed HumidAir™ heated humidifier and the available Climate Control Auto option, humidity is automatically adjusted to deliver optimal comfort
  

to the AirSense 11 the AS11 will register the tube is connected and will go to Auto for both tube temp. and humidity level (from the manual)

Climate Control - Auto setting

Auto is the recommended and default setting. It is designed to make therapy as easy as possible so there is no need to change the temperature or humidity settings.

• Sets the tube temperature to Auto (80F/27C). If the air in the mask is too warm or too cold, you can adjust the tube temperature to anywhere from 60 to 86F (16 to 30C) or turn it off completely
  
• Adjusts the humidifier output to maintain a constant, comfortable humidity level of 85% relative humidity
  
• Protects against rainout (water droplets in the heated air tubing and mask).
  

Either, or both, settings can be changed to Manual and adjusted. I use full Auto, I suspect (but have not tested) that if you:

• connect the tube — AS11 senses it connected and goes to Auto
  
• change settings to manual
  
• disconnect the tube
  
• reconnect the tube
  

then the AS11 will go again to full Auto and the manual settings will be 'deactivated'.

Does the full Auto not work OK for you though?

[rpierce]

Thanks for the info!

I strongly suspect my problem is that the machine keeps separate settings for both the normal hose and heated hose, and uses whatever setting based on what's plugged in at the time. Back when I initially started on the machine, I didn't know this, so I was dialing the Humidity setting up with the heated hose disconnected, thinking it was actually doing something the following night, when it almost certainly wasn't. I only own a heated hose, and when I plug that in to use the machine, the machine forgets all about the Humidity setting and goes into Climate: Auto Hose Temp: Auto mode.

Then, when I tried changing this in the middle of the night with the heated hose connected, that was the first time I really changed something. I set Climate to Manual, Hose Temp defaulted to 80 F, and I changed Humidity to 6. That probably caused a rainout. And the hose looped below the machine, making a trap that could catch water.

The air didn't feel optimal while I was sleeping, which is why I wanted to adjust the humidity. But it's still good enough, and had I left well enough alone, I'd have probably been fine.