Welcome to Apnea Board !
As a guest, you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use.
To post a message, you must create a free account using a valid email address.
Login or Create an Account
(06-07-2023, 05:20 PM)Bostonsnow Wrote: Which Z-breathe setting did you decide on? I agree they all are useless ! I cant decide right now whether setting 2 or 3 are less-bad.
I also cannot return it so i',m stuck with it
I have ordered 2 pieces of 18 inch tubing that is 22mm diameter in the tube (and the opening). So similar to RemHunter, I'll put those on either side of the muffler thing, so 3 feet total. Will report back as to whether it helps.
I ended on on CPAP-3 as it had the least resistance, but I struggled to keep in on for more than 15-20 min before I just took it off. I have no qualms about selling it. I'm sure someone won't struggle with it
(06-07-2023, 05:45 PM)acctingman Wrote: I ended on on CPAP-3 as it had the least resistance, but I struggled to keep in on for more than 15-20 min before I just took it off. I have no qualms about selling it. I'm sure someone won't struggle with it
They arrived in 2 days. I set it up as in the photo, with one 18 incher, then the muffler, then another 18 incher, then my P10 nasal pillows, which has about 12 inch of slim tube. So the total length now is around 4 feet (a bit shorter than what RemHunter has). With this setup I totally agree with RemHunter! its a whole different machine and more like my Airsense!. The resistance to inhalation and particularly exhalation is now normal! Now I can switch between Z-breeze 1 , 2 or 3 and they all work as expected and I can pick which I like . I actually still feel a bit of exhalation resistance on setting 1, so likely will use setting 2 or 3. ON my quick trial, I actually like setting 3 the best, and it now seems to work as designed. There is no odd jerkiness to the exhalation phase. A couple of other notes:
1) Don't hold the machine upright in your hands when you are testing it. that makes the motor whirring much worse. Its best laying flat on its bottom, on a table. Then even Z-breeze setting 3 sounds fine.
2) I find the HME humidity thing adds a little resistance on to exhalation. I plan to use it without this thingy.
SO now I think I'm all set! for me it works like a usual APAP should! I'm excited for my trip and will report back in a couple of weeks about how it goes!
My experience is that my Z2 "doesn't like" my Vitera mask, even though I do. The pressure control problems are more pronounced with the FFM. My Z2 worked best so far with the P10 nasal mask that I'm still trying to get used to. The exhalation pressure relief finally worked as expected with that one, I just can't get used to "the thumb pushing up on my nose". I'll tackle it sometime I feel like I've got a lull and can experiment.
On the hard tube mount/motor outlet being a possible source of problems, I agree. It's bigger than that, though. You can't just "upsize" this component like you can the tubing, it's integrated. I think Breas is pushing this design to it's limits (size, voltage, portability). I was looking for what an average user could change easily. Agreed on the shortest length tubing possible. I'm still recovering from the panic I was in the second night I had my AS10 and rolled over in bed, pulling the whole thing off the nightstand water and all. Longer tubing helps me fall asleep knowing I wont tank the whole thing when I roll over.
It seems to me that the Z2 works great for a lot of people, just not ones like me with a larger tidal volume and a tendency to inhale sharply.
Regarding the HME (Heat Moisture Exchanger): I used it, didn't notice any difference worth mentioning. I think I'd leave it off if it were the height of summer and outside has high humidity, but it was tickling the upper 70's for peak temps(F, for those who have adopted modern units:25C) and 35% or lower humidity, I was glad to have it.
I am back from my 2 week trip. The wider diameter tubing worked well with my ResMed P10 nasal pillows. I no longer had the difficulty with exhalation. The Z2 then served me well during travel, and I was happy with its small size and portability.
Midway through the trip, when it was hot and I was running AC at night, I started to feel dried out. I then put in the in-line humidifying thingy, and it did seem to help a little bit with dryness. It was satisfactory for a trip, but I was glad to get back to my usual Airsense 11 with actual humidification when I got back home
The only odd thing with the Z2, per the app that comes with it, and from looking at the machine when I woke up, the APAP algorithm hardly raised the pressure very much from my baseline of 4. The highest I saw it go was 6, which is odd, as my Airsense 11 at home has a max set at 11, and it often goes up to as high as 9.8 or so. So there is some discrepancy somewhere. I'm not sure if the Z2 truly was not raising pressures very much, or if the app is wrong, or what. Anyway, my wife said I did not snore during the trip and I felt reasonably good each AM... Maybe the Z2 algorithm is less responsive than the Airsense 11's? (and I have read in several places that some people say the Airsense may be overly responsive)
So in summary the Z2 is fine with me for traveling and the small size is a plus. But I would not use it as my main home unit.
10-16-2023, 07:16 PM (This post was last modified: 10-16-2023, 07:19 PM by Hintertux.)
RE: Breas Z2 users?
Hope you tried it before your trip.. if anything to get used to it...
I find that if I take a couple of real deep breaths and hold for a sec between them it calms down and I sleep like a baby in my hammock while camping.
Running at 13 myself, don't use the muffler and Florida is humid enough not to use the little humidity insert. I save those for air flights and hotels up north.
(06-13-2023, 08:13 AM)REMhunter Wrote: My experience is that my Z2 "doesn't like" my Vitera mask, even though I do. The pressure control problems are more pronounced with the FFM. My Z2 worked best so far with the P10 nasal mask that I'm still trying to get used to. The exhalation pressure relief finally worked as expected with that one, I just can't get used to "the thumb pushing up on my nose". I'll tackle it sometime I feel like I've got a lull and can experiment.
On the hard tube mount/motor outlet being a possible source of problems, I agree. It's bigger than that, though. You can't just "upsize" this component like you can the tubing, it's integrated. I think Breas is pushing this design to it's limits (size, voltage, portability). I was looking for what an average user could change easily. Agreed on the shortest length tubing possible. I'm still recovering from the panic I was in the second night I had my AS10 and rolled over in bed, pulling the whole thing off the nightstand water and all. Longer tubing helps me fall asleep knowing I wont tank the whole thing when I roll over.
It seems to me that the Z2 works great for a lot of people, just not ones like me with a larger tidal volume and a tendency to inhale sharply.
Regarding the HME (Heat Moisture Exchanger): I used it, didn't notice any difference worth mentioning. I think I'd leave it off if it were the height of summer and outside has high humidity, but it was tickling the upper 70's for peak temps(F, for those who have adopted modern units:25C) and 35% or lower humidity, I was glad to have it.
I use my old Flexfit 405 mask and just the short hose... works great
10-22-2023, 05:12 PM (This post was last modified: 10-22-2023, 05:14 PM by Txgeodigger.)
RE: Breas Z2 users?
I just completed a 3 week trip with the Z2. I'm a 20 year cpap user and this is the first travel machine I've had. I love it!
I first received it several months ago and felt that it blew a lot harder than a 9. I called cpap .com and told them. They had me run so dumb test then they gave me and RMA number. I sent it back and it took 2 months to get it back to me. The report said nothing was wrong and they didn't do anything. I extremely disagree with that paper. Machine is acting like it's supposed to and not blowing my ears out. Then I had to figure out the setting with for the Z-breath and I liked 2. I used a 6' regular hose without the muffler and HME.
The first week a New England cruise and then 2 weeks driving through Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York to Niagara Falls and then back to New York City.
I really loved the ruggedness of the Z2. I was able to throw everything in my backpack. It didn't take any time to set up and tear down. And I love not having to carry water.
I look forward to getting home to my regular unit. The Z2 performed well.
This machine is miserable to use because of the low flow. I did significantly improve its operation with an unconventional fix.
The air inlet port is very, very small. However, the space around it is mostly a cavity. About 1/8 to the left facing it is a plastic wall, to the right there is nothing.
So, I took a hole saw to broaden the gap. One could cut out an entire "D" shape beginning at the outermost left edge of the current port all the way to the right end of the air inlet section all the way up, down (your orientation being faced towards the air inlet port).
This greatly reduced the need for Z Breath adaptation as you breathe in because of the significantly lower air restriction on the intake side. The difference is immediate and dramatic. The pressure is metered from the bypass attached to the output port. It appears to me to have no effect on pressure whatsoever other than perhaps to change APAP adaptation.
It is STILL not as good as a full-size machine because of the tiny output motor diameter and small output port, but it works a lot better and saved me $800 from not buying a proper Airmini. It was 2 seconds from the trash before I gave into this extreme option. Obviously, doing this is at your own risk and could come with complications, plastic in your nose being one of them!! So, you may not want to take my input!
It DOES make the machine louder. I am betting this is why the port is so small. But, I don't care about the noise because I can't handle the feeling of suffocation. In general, this machine sucks and I would never recommend it, but I was able to make it work better.
I wanted to add... the science behind this I think is a kind of air turbulence. Think of the prop in the water if you've ever owned a boat - it cavitates if it's not far enough in the water or the prop is spinning too fast. The motor is pulling air to create a compression effect of higher than atmospheric pressure. The reduced air pressure on the intake side from reduced air density leads to less air mass moved per rotation when a breath draws air from the compressed end. Getting around it requires a higher rotational speed (Z breath adaptation). The effect becomes greater logarithmically with higher pressure (don't know that math, sorry).
I had a very similar problem with my new Z2 Auto. It was really bad. The folks at cpap.com helped me troubleshoot the problem to a defective hose adapter. Not the device works pretty well.
The hose adapter should not have any holes in the side of it - only the main hole and the side tubing outlet. When the hose adapter is attached, it should not have any air leaks in the side. The tech had me disconnect the hose so only the hose adapter was connected, cover the outlet with my hand and turn it on. Huge air leak on the side of the hose adapter. They sent me a new part.
Good luck.
Jim
