S9 Esacpe & H51 Humidifier Strange Happenings

[hlewton]

I have searched these forums but have not found what I was looking for. It may be that I am not good at doing searches but in any case this is what I'd like to post and ask.

I just got a new CPAP machine the ResMed S9 Escape with the H51 Humidifier. I have used a previous ResMed CPAP machine for 5 years and never ran into the problem I am about to describe. Since getting the new machine I have tried various settings for the Humidifier and now am set half way to the maximum at 3.0. (on the old machine I never went above 2.0) I never fill the humidifier with more water than is needed for one night's sleep so when I wake up in the morning the tank is usually totally empty or needs just a few drops drained from it. I still follow this same procedure with my new CPAP machine as far as using only a small amount of water but, and I have monitored this from day one of using this machine, the humidifier only appears to work ever other night. By that I mean every other day I have to drain out almost every drop of water I put into it the night before. After the next time I sleep the next day it will have used the entire amount of water and be bone dry.

My medical supplier has already replaced the H51 Humidifier but this problem still exists. When I called them after replacing the H51 they had me hold the rotation dial down for a few seconds, release it, then in about a minute or two check to see if the humidifier plate was warm and it was so they say it is working properly. If that is the case why then does it only supply me with humidity every other night?

One thing more I should probably mention here is the first time I called the medical supplier they had me set the humidifier at 6.0 and with the humidifier lid closed run the machine for a minute or so before checking the plate to see if it was warm. Again it was warm so they assumed it was working fine. When I lowered the humidifier setting to 3.0 I tried again to run the same test I just mentioned about turning the machine on and running it but I cannot run that test again without getting an error message saying I need to close the humidifier lid and attach a hose to run the machine. I did not have to attach a hose the first time they had me run this test. I don't know if this bit of information is significant or not but my guess is the CPAP machine itself may be defective which the medical supplier doesn't seem to want to admit.

Has anyone else had this experience and if so what is the remedy?

Thanks

HLewton

[retired_guy]

One thing more I should probably mention here is the first time I called the medical supplier they had me set the humidifier at 6.0 and with the humidifier lid closed run the machine for a minute or so before checking the plate to see if it was warm. Again it was warm so they assumed it was working fine. When I lowered the humidifier setting to 3.0 I tried again to run the same test I just mentioned about turning the machine on and running it but I cannot run that test again without getting an error message saying I need to close the humidifier lid and attach a hose to run the machine. I did not have to attach a hose the first time they had me run this test. I don't know if this bit of information is significant or not but my guess is the CPAP machine itself may be defective which the medical supplier doesn't seem to want to admit.

Has anyone else had this experience and if so what is the remedy?

Thanks

HLewton

I think your machine is probably fine and I think your humidifier is probably fine. These things are quite dependent of ambient humidity in your specific environment. In my case I set mine on 4 and just leave it alone. Sometimes I use a lot of water, sometimes not.

I suspect at 3 the machine does not feel the need to warm it up so it simply nags you to hook up a hose and go to sleep.

Try setting it to 4 or 4.5 and see how it goes.

[zonk]

My medical supplier has already replaced the H51 Humidifier but this problem still exists.

Your medical supplier should replace the machine too, the S9 Escape does not report any useful data other than how many hours using the machine each night. No apnea scoring, no leak information or detailed data on the SD card to helps you or/and the doctor to know how is the therapy is working especially since you've been long time on PAP
AutoSet (not Escape Auto) and Elite are data capable machine , preferably the AutoSet (does fixed pressure and variable pressure modes, two machines in one). If you,re on insurance, the medical supplier should give you whatever the doc write/specify on the prescription
Talk to the doc ... asap
As for the humidifier ask for the ClimateLine (heated hose), gives you greater flexibility

[hlewton]

Thank you both for the replies. I'm on a Medicare Advantage Plan and it seems I am lucky to even have them pay anything for the machine. I guess my doctor did not write it to allow me the more expensive machine and I'm sure my plan would not allow him to change the script now. With all the changes that took place this year with health insurance and the way a doctor has to write the script to satisfy my insurance carrier it took about a month and me making about 8 phone calls to get it right just so I could even get the machine I now have. The doctor wrote it as he is accustomed to doing but the insurance would not accept it that way and faxed him new forms to fill out. Then supplies were neglected so it was faxed back and forth again. Then the pressure was not specified so another fax. This was not the doctor's fault because his medical group forced him to use some outside service to do all the scripts once he approved and wrote them. All in all about 4 faxes flew back and forth so if my machine is acting correctly I guess better leave well enough alone.