[CPAP] ResMed S9 Autoset Climate Control in Auto Mode

[Richard Hoffman]

ResMed S9 AutoSet offers a choice of Manual or Auto climate control. My machine works fine in manual, heating the water reservoir as necessary to encourage evaporation and deliver sufficiently humid air. BUT, in Auto mode (which should provide 80% humidity at (the selected) 80 degrees temperature at the mask, the water reservoir heater NEVER COMES ON and little or no humidity is delivered all night long. This despite the air-conditioned bedroom (72 degrees) with very low humidity. My S9 supplier insists nothing is wrong, but has no meaningful answer to my experiences. Any idea what's going on?

[Paptillian]

It could just be a perception and maybe in manual mode your setting was delivering more humidity than you realize. Does the water level go down at all overnight?

[PaulaO2]

It also depends on what you have it on, such as 1 through 6.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Richard,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for more answers to your question.
Best of luck with CPAP therapy and getting this problem straightened out.

[Richard Hoffman]

It could just be a perception and maybe in manual mode your setting was delivering more humidity than you realize. Does the water level go down at all overnight?

Water level doesn't go down perceptibly overnight. My wife's ICON, which only has a climate control MANUAL mode, stays warm all night and her water level goes way down. I tried a nearly empty water level last night and woke up at 4:30 AM to a dry reservoir with the heat ON (first time I've seen it on in Auto mode), The Auto mode clearly recognized a low humidity level and tried to boost it with heat to the reservoir, so I guess the Auto mode works, but it seeks a much lower humidity level than my wife's ICON in Manual. The S9 supposedly seeks an 80% relative humidity at the mask in Auto mode. Wonder how I could measure what its actually achieving?

[MAPnea]

Hi, Richard,
Your question made me decide to try my humidifier on "auto" instead of manual last night.

Because I like cool air coming in so I don't feel so "claustrophobic", but I need high humidity because I live on the desert, I had manually set my humidifier at 5 and the temperature at 70. I was getting a lot of lips sticking to my teeth and tongue sticking to my teeth in the morning - even when I wore a full face mask. I read elsewhere that, maybe, I needed to adjust my humidity setting SO...

last night I set my temperature on "77" and the humidifier on "manual" and NO DRY MOUTH this morning! Lips not glued to teeth, tongue not stuck to roof of mouth. Wow! Setting the humidifier on "auto" and the temperature slightly higher, may be the solution to (my) desert-ly dry mouth in the morning. THANKS for posting and helping me!

[DreamDiver]

ResMed S9 AutoSet offers a choice of Manual or Auto climate control. My machine works fine in manual, heating the water reservoir as necessary to encourage evaporation and deliver sufficiently humid air. BUT, in Auto mode (which should provide 80% humidity at (the selected) 80 degrees temperature at the mask, the water reservoir heater NEVER COMES ON and little or no humidity is delivered all night long. This despite the air-conditioned bedroom (72 degrees) with very low humidity. My S9 supplier insists nothing is wrong, but has no meaningful answer to my experiences. Any idea what's going on?

I'm pretty sure this is intentional.

I keep mine set to Auto 80 too and have found the tank to not be very warm either. This changes during the winter. It actually warms up considerably.

Because the machine has two humidity sensors--one at the end of the hose and one at the back of the machine--if the air in your home is already fairly humid, you may not need that much heat to create more humidity inside the hose. That's way the tank stays more full on humid warm nights than it does on cool dry nights (like winter).

If you prefer warmer, more humid air coming at you even in summer, perhaps you're better off leaving it on manual. Many find that too much humidity can actually clog sinuses, acting as a wake trigger. A few find the reverse to be true. In the end, it's really your own preferences that matter. Finding settings that work for you is your best option.

To make sure your H5i is heating properly, try the "Warm Up" feature:
In "Patient Settings" on the panel, dial to the climate control section. (with the big drop in the icon). Hold down the big dial for three seconds. You'll see on the panel a dialog box with a progress bar telling you the tank is warming up. Before it gets too warm (watch the progress bar), open the lid on your H5i, pull out the tank and test the bottom of the tank to the palm of your hand. If it's warm, your tank is functioning normally. Press the power button twice to stop it from warming up. It will then go in to cool-down mode, showing a cool-down progress bar in the panel.

To be sure auto climate is working properly, disconnect, then reconnect the climateline hose to your S9. On the panel, you'll see a temporary dialog box that says "Climate Control Enabled". You should be good to go.