Disassembling Resmed S9 humidfier portion, bug clean up

[Thelgow]

I need help, man. 2 weeks now and I didnt realize how important this cpap is.
Ive had it about 3 years and 2 weeks ago I notice a roach run by on my night stand. Im in NYC, in an apartment building, so Im used to seeing a handful in the kitchen, sometimes the bathroom, but never the bedroom.
So I do a check around the night stand and find a bunch in the velcro strap of the power plug. Yay, so I try cleaning that up.
Come night I give the actual hardware a sniff and sure enough roach droppings. Sadly I have some experience with this when a friend gave me an expensive arcade stick for free under the pretense "its need some TLC".
It took a few months on and off but I was able to fully disassemble it and clean it up.
Come to the cpap. I have the humidifier portion opened up with torx10, got some PCB's out, but i see a wire coming out from an enclosed area. my guess is this is the controls to the heating portion of the metal base plate. i cant get into this. When I originally tried to open it I did see 2 small roaches in there. I hit it with some spray and double bagged it. Came back 2 days later, no roaches. so I know for a fact they climbed into that area. I tried wiggling a screwdriver to pry out some of the plastic and that just increased the scent, letting me know they are in fact in there.
My wifes getting the run around about its too soon for insurance to cover another one, but might allow it if we get a new prescription and then order through a preferred vendor.
I cant even think straight at this point.
Anyone have any ideas about getting that enclosure off? It looks like a big plastic cap that might have popped in but I'm not seeing any plastic clips I can wedge something in to pop them off. I've seen pics of people going into the other, main portion but the humidifier side.
Also I've noticed I try to breath through the mouth now and I have horrible dry and sore throat the whole day as well.

Im thinking of finally opening this 2 year old still wrapped dremel and going to town on this damn thing.

[Sleeprider]

Here is a link to the S9 H5i Humidifier Service Manual http://www.sleepfiles.com/servicemanuals...Manual.pdf This has disassembly and good images to follow.

This is from a link on the Member's Private Files list http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...Only-FILES Lots more resources there.

[Sleeprider]

Thelgow, one other thing for you to consider. You can purchase a new auto CPAP from Amazon with no run-around for under $400. Look for the Respironics Dreamstation Auto DX500T11. If you have a prescription for your last machine, there is probably no need for an update unless you are going through insurance. Any of the online Suppliers will sell to you with a prescription your doctor can verify, or that you have a copy of. Considering copay and deductibles today, it is often less expensive just to skip the insurance hassle. Keep in mind you don't need a specialists for a prescription, your primary care doctor should be able to do this for you.

Keep it simple...good luck.

[Thelgow]

Here is a link to the S9 H5i Humidifier Service Manual This has disassembly and good images to follow.

This is from a link on the Member's Private Files list.
Lots more resources there.

Thanks. Its good to know I was on the right track. I was able to fully dismantle it to this point on my own. Basically its the Chassis Assembly on page 15. Those little indentations are holes about 4-5cm deep, and from what I can tell theres a spacing that big between that plastic and the metal base. They dont go into detail on this bit so I assume it's not serviceable other than getting that whole part, 19548.
A quick google doesnt seem to show something to easily order via this part number. Is that accessible through Resmed themselves or something?

Thelgow, one other thing for you to consider. You can purchase a new auto CPAP from Amazon with no run-around for under $400. Look for the Respironics Dreamstation Auto DX500T11. If you have a prescription for your last machine, there is probably no need for an update unless you are going through insurance. Any of the online Suppliers will sell to you with a prescription your doctor can verify, or that you have a copy of. Considering copay and deductibles today, it is often less expensive just to skip the insurance hassle. Keep in mind you don't need a specialists for a prescription, your primary care doctor should be able to do this for you.

Keep it simple...good luck.

I'm starting to come to this conclusion. Normally funds are low, and last year I thought my FSA rolled over enrollment automatically and didnt. So now I have it back and have access to the funds but my wife wanted me to put the max allowed and I said shes crazy. no she'll hold this over my head all year. I did go to the site my Dr provided me initially and it looks like they sell that whole portion for around $235.
I initially stopped when I hit the wall on the humidifier part. I'll take a look inside the other portion and if that seems salvageable then I may just take a chance on buying just half.
Thanks everyone. again I wasnt sure this thing really worked but this has been a hellish 2 weeks.

[Thelgow]

Yea, this aint happening. I worked as far as I could on the humidifier. Figure Ill cut my losses and just deal with it so I could sleep.
I move onto the main unit. Nope, cant do it. And I cleaned out an arcade stick that was infested and had no problem.
Just a graveyard of roach legs. Knowing this crap was being pumped into my lungs...
Ill figure something else out.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Thelgow,
WELCOME!to the forum.!
Boy, that's a bummer, I'm sorry to hear about your roach problem, what a pain.
Good luck to you with getting a new machine; I hope you can figure out how to keep bugs out of your new one so you don't have to go through this again.

[Thelgow]

Hi Thelgow,
WELCOME!to the forum.!
Boy, that's a bummer, I'm sorry to hear about your roach problem, what a pain.
Good luck to you with getting a new machine; I hope you can figure out how to keep bugs out of your new one so you don't have to go through this again.

Thanks. I guess its just checking it periodically. I really dont know. I'm in an apartment building and the exterminator comes around sometimes and confirmed its the people above us that dont clean up.
So I see them occasionally around the kitchen. Born and raised in New York City I'm somewhat used to this. Just a nasty side effect you try to ignore. But this is just madness.
You know its bad when you wake up at 4am and think about hooking it up because roach legs cant be that bad. Thats how bad my sleep is now.
The Dr office made me take home another home sleep test because I apparently need to reapply since a test and prescription are only good for 1 year.
We found a place 2 blocks away that the insurance company recommended and said they may be able to work with the original results. I have those now and will go in on Monday.
Otherwise they may be able to help me out with getting it early while we play the paperwork game.
I can easily say I was no where near this bad prior to using the CPAP.

[Sleeprider]

Thelgow, I had my last sleep test in 2008. If a doctor thinks your sleep apnea is suddenly going to go away, you need a new doctor. Many prescriptions are written for life, and the users then use an auto CPAP and data to maintain a good workable pressure. Once you get a prescription, you can file a copy with someone like Supplier #1, and they will continue to honor that script indefinitely.

With regard to your roach problem, I think it would really help if you just got some Borax powder and distrubuted it in all the corners and edges of the room, as well as in the kitchen. It is even safe to put into drawers. Borax is lethal to roaches and acts by desiccating them. It is non-toxic to humans and pets. It should last a long time, and any roaches that move into your apartment won't last long. It's funny, many exterminators don't use this product because they would rather generate return calls. Borax is safe, and will last as long as it is in place where the insects will come into contact with it.

[Beej]

If you add just a bit of flour to the borax, the roaches will eat it.

[Thelgow]

Thelgow, I had my last sleep test in 2008. If a doctor thinks your sleep apnea is suddenly going to go away, you need a new doctor. Many prescriptions are written for life, and the users then use an auto CPAP and data to maintain a good workable pressure. Once you get a prescription, you can file a copy with someone like Supplier #1, and they will continue to honor that script indefinitely.

With regard to your roach problem, I think it would really help if you just got some Borax powder and distrubuted it in all the corners and edges of the room, as well as in the kitchen. It is even safe to put into drawers. Borax is lethal to roaches and acts by desiccating them. It is non-toxic to humans and pets. It should last a long time, and any roaches that move into your apartment won't last long. It's funny, many exterminators don't use this product because they would rather generate return calls. Borax is safe, and will last as long as it is in place where the insects will come into contact with it.

These roaches build snowmen out of the borax. We have some around the kitchen.

Any ways good news/bad news.
Good news: I got 2 good nights of sleep.
Bad news: with the old machine and slight scent of roach still present.

My wife couldnt take it watching me sit there and shake during the day, totally unrested. So we proceeded to finish cleaning it. once I popped open the motor area I was relieved to see they didnt get in there.
So the majority of droppings were oddly enough on the power cable for the connected to the humidifier, and the general case area around the motor. The plastic and rubber bits were cleaned normally in the sink and smell fine.
Its the circuitboard I can't get the scent out of. So at least until this is resolved I have something to get through the night.
At least last night I only smelled the faint "aroma" for the first minute or 2. Hopefully thats just the residual scent from the PCB lingering in the unit and once its started up it clears out.

The other oddity worth noting is I had some minor surgery last week to remove a cyst on my scalp. No biggy, ive had it done before, walked out 20 mins after. 2 days after the surgery I was sitting and playing Playstation and my heart starts racing. Later that night the same thing. Thought maybe a side effect of the tylenol and codeine but ive had tha tbefore and that wasnt an effect. Still happening 2 days without the pill. Regular dr checks says hearts fine. Next day still happening and wife worries and I go to ER. stay about 16 hours, they dont find anything. By now the effects diminished from heart racing, to odd sensation to just a louder/harder pulse feeling, to nothing. Coincidentally this started to fade the same time i noticed the bugs and hadnt used the machine.
So used it on Saturday night and had 2 cases of that heart feeling yesterday. So sadly it looks like this is giving me some kind of reaction. its like a weaker adrenaline.

So odd chests pains or no sleep. Hopefully more progress shortly.
my wife has an appt to see this medical supply place.
Otherwise any idea where to get parts? I think just the circuitboard or if I can find a way to clean it, and the humidifiers chassis assembly?