ResMed AirSense 10 issue

[Fred Pfeiffer]

Greetings:

I work for Lincare in Fort Collins, Colorado. My job is to set folks up with PAP, perform mask fittings, troubleshoot, etc.
The ResMed AirSense 10 is my most popular machine - I also handle the Respironics Dreamstation as well - and I move quite a few of them through here.
I've been noticing an issue, though, in some of the older units and I am wondering if anyone else has noticed it.
It seems like I've had quite a few machines come in for repair with an identical issue - they won't hold pressure.
I've observed multiple units start up normally, at say, 7 CM/H2O, and within 2 or 3 minutes they jump up to 10 cm/H2O or so. The set pressure (the white numbers on the display) doesn't change but the actual pressure (the big green numbers) does. Further, AirView (the clinical software that I use) doesn't seem to realize that anything has changed - a patient with a fixed pressure of 7 shows that the machine is running at 7 even though the unit is actually secretly running at 10.
I've sent them back to ResMed for repair, and ResMed inevitably finds a failed circuit board, and I have to charge these people on average $235 for a repair
Neither the folks at customer service or my rep tells me that this is a trend of any kind, but I've personally had seven machines in my office since January
all exhibiting the same behavior. The one thing that they all have in common is that they are all ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet manufactured in 2015.
I've figured out that the 3rd and 4th digits in the S/N are the year of manufacture and the 5-7th digits are the Julian date so it seems like this issue is hitting
machines made from May to October of 2015.
I have searched on the net for posts/complaints/observations about this issue but am coming up empty. I figured that I would reach out and see if anybody else is seeing what I'm seeing.
Thanks for your help

[John57]

My issue with the ResMed AirSense 10 is that the humidifier in manual mode or 2 or 3 does not always give a constant temperature on the heater plate. Sometimes the heater plate is still cold or really hot and the water runs out. Not sure if this is related to the extra pressure you describing.

[Sleeprider]

Fred, thanks for bringing this to our attention. Does the issue also occur in Autoset mode? Have you checked the pressure against a manometer (water gauge pressure)?

We have two repair facilities listed in our Supplier List, Supplier #27 Acbio, and Supplier #28 Advanscpap. You might want to call them and ask if they offer a more competitive repair cost, and ask what frequency they are seeing these repairs. If the malfunction is widespread, Resmed should make good on replacements.

[Reznik]

Greetings:

I work for Lincare in Fort Collins, Colorado. My job is to set folks up with PAP, perform mask fittings, troubleshoot, etc.
The ResMed AirSense 10 is my most popular machine - I also handle the Respironics Dreamstation as well - and I move quite a few of them through here.
I've been noticing an issue, though, in some of the older units and I am wondering if anyone else has noticed it.
It seems like I've had quite a few machines come in for repair with an identical issue - they won't hold pressure.
I've observed multiple units start up normally, at say, 7 CM/H2O, and within 2 or 3 minutes they jump up to 10 cm/H2O or so. The set pressure (the white numbers on the display) doesn't change but the actual pressure (the big green numbers) does. Further, AirView (the clinical software that I use) doesn't seem to realize that anything has changed - a patient with a fixed pressure of 7 shows that the machine is running at 7 even though the unit is actually secretly running at 10.
I've sent them back to ResMed for repair, and ResMed inevitably finds a failed circuit board, and I have to charge these people on average $235 for a repair
Neither the folks at customer service or my rep tells me that this is a trend of any kind, but I've personally had seven machines in my office since January
all exhibiting the same behavior. The one thing that they all have in common is that they are all ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet manufactured in 2015.
I've figured out that the 3rd and 4th digits in the S/N are the year of manufacture and the 5-7th digits are the Julian date so it seems like this issue is hitting
machines made from May to October of 2015.
I have searched on the net for posts/complaints/observations about this issue but am coming up empty. I figured that I would reach out and see if anybody else is seeing what I'm seeing.
Thanks for your help

I recommend that you open a complaint with the FDA on each unit, referencing the serial number AND date of manufacture.  Multiple complaints like this will likely yield a recall on all affected units, and refunds to those who have paid for repairs.

[Fred Pfeiffer]

Fred, thanks for bringing this to our attention.  Does the issue also occur in Autoset mode?  Have you checked the pressure against a manometer (water gauge pressure)?  

We have two repair facilities listed in our Supplier List, Acbio, and Advanscpap.  You might want to call them and ask if they offer a more competitive repair cost, and ask what frequency they are seeing these repairs.  If the malfunction is widespread, Resmed should make good on replacements.

I have seen the failure in both CPAP and Autoset mode. I have also seen it in one AirCurve VAuto so far. When I evaluate machines I always compare the data on the screen to my manometer and it confirms what I am seeing.  The deviation is less extreme at higher pressures than lower - basically, what I am seeing is that any setting under 10 cm/H2O jumps up to 10 -10.5 cm/H2O and higher pressures also increase somewhat, but not as dramatically. You might not even notice much if you were running say, at 15 cm/H2O.

So far I haven't seen the issue in any other unit besides the 2015's.

Here where I work I don't have the luxury of being able to choose vendors because corporate in Florida dictates who I do business with. And, that said, ResMed customer service has been very easy and friendly to work with. No complaints about either them or Respironics, for that matter.

[Hydrangea]

I will have to check the year on my Autoset 10. I primarily use a DreamStation. But when I do use the ResMed Autoset 10, I feel a definite difference in pressure despite it being at the same setting.