Emergency CPAP Failure
Couldn't happen at a worse time. I'm on vacation and my ResMed A10 stopped working last night. When I looked at the display I saw what you'd normally see if you pushed the knob, which is the display showing the pressure going up and down as I breathe. But there was no air flow. I pushed the button on top to turn the machine off, and pressed it again to turn it back on but no luck. The light on that top button is on, and the light on the power brick is on, but otherwise no sign of life.
I tried unplugging the power brick from the wall and from the back of the machine. Checked the connection where the cord plugs into the power brick. Checked the filter. Left it unplugged for awhile. Power brick is not warm. Tried a different outlet.
Anybody have any suggestions as to what I might try?
Sleepster
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
RE: Emergency CPAP Failure
I do recall reading a thread from someone who had similar problems which turned out to be power at the location being insufficient to drive the CPAP machine. Enough to turn on the machine, but not enough to drive the blower. If there is some place close by like a Starbucks or other location where people may work from, take your machine there and give it a go. If it works, Bob’s your uncle.
It could also be the power brick is no longer working at spec. No idea how to diagnose that though.
RE: Emergency CPAP Failure
That's a rough one-nobody really thinks about taking a backup machine on a vacation-are you in the states?
RE: Emergency CPAP Failure
I'm in Alaska on a cruise ship. I actually did think about taking a back up machine with me, and on future vacations I definitely will. This is a real bummer. Machine worked fine the first few days, but quit in the middle of the night last night.
The issue of the ship's voltage may be the reason. It makes sense. The ship's technician has the machine now and is checking it out. That's really my last hope.
Sleepster
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
RE: Emergency CPAP Failure
Ah shoot
I do not think it would be a problem with voltage on the cruiseliner though, but it's a hope.
RE: Emergency CPAP Failure
The technicians checked it out and it's not the power supply. It's the CPAP machine itself. This really sucks!
Sleepster
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
RE: Emergency CPAP Failure
dang
RE: Emergency CPAP Failure
I, for one, would like to know how the story ends and what caused the fault.
Meanwhile, you might ask the ship's doctor if they have a CPAP machine available?
Best, Steve
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius
RE: Emergency CPAP Failure
The ship's doctor did not have a CPAP. The machine is about 7-8 years old, and had displayed the message about the motor life being exceeded every time I turned it off. I believe the problem may have been caused by lousy electricity from the ship, but there's no way to know, and certainly no way to prove that.
The story ended after four nights of torture when I got back home and slept with my primary machine. (I still have a S9 as a back up machine).
For my next vacation I will take along my back up machine. If I ever go on a cruise ship again I will take along not only an extra machine, but also a battery that I can charge off the ship's mains during the day, and use to run my machine at night.
I've never been on a cruise ship before but I grew up riding in power boats for water skiing, and did a bit of flying in a small airplane and a jet. And I've done a fair amount of flying in commercial airliners all my adult life. I never got sick doing any of these things, just a bit of car sickness on occasion. But the cruise ship made me sick. The first couple of days I seemed to be adapting and doing better, but after my machine broke things went downhill. I was still able to "enjoy" the cruise, but it would have been so much better if I had felt better. It seems the lack of sleep made the sea sickness worse, as when we docked in harbors I felt much better, despite the chronic lack of sleep.
When I got home I fell into a deep sleep within five minutes of going to bed.
Sleepster
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
RE: Emergency CPAP Failure
Did you try the faulty machine at home. Some sea going vessels run a 3 phase ungrounded system that has a funky !20 VAC system that actually runs two legs of 60 cycle 60 VAC 180 degrees out of phase to create the 120 VAC. Some power bricks will put out low voltage, wimpy current if an input phase is blown.
