[Equipment] Use of AirSense 10 Tubing Elbow

[dapster]

Being new to sleep therapy and to this forum, permit me to apologize up front should I transgress. Having said that, I'm puzzled by the tubing elbow that came with my ResMed AirSense 10. That is, the User Manual depicts the packaged Slimline tubing connecting directly to the machine. I'd think that pressure levels would be compromised were the tubing elbow used between the two so as to facilitate the tubing orientation.     There is clearly a pressure drop across an elbow as opposed to a simple through flow.

So, question: to use the elbow, or not to use the elbow?


Thank you in advance.

[NotADr]

I’d bet the elbow increases noise as well. I don’t see any reason to use it, unless you need the extra length it will provide vs a sweeping curve of the tube,

[Sleeprider]

I'm not familiar with an elbow for the machine outlet. I use a heated tube and it clicks into the machine outlet parallel with the back of the machine, so there is a 90-degree angle on all heated tubing. Without the heated tube, you probably need an adapter to connect the tubing, and a 90 degree swivel elbow would be functionally equivalent to the design of the heated tube. Pressure drop will be negligible because the flow rate is relatively small for the tube size. The design of the system is to maintain pressure through the circuit, not to flow lots of air, which should only happen when there is a large leak.

[Gideon]

No adapter is needed, but let's assume the front of the machine is facing you, the worst possible position without the elbow. The hose MUST go completely away from you before coming back to where you need it. The elbow rotates to verticle and the sides and only requires 90 degrees of bend to get to you. IMHO the convenience is worth it.

[sleepyp]

A CPAP is not an open system.
Air flows from the machine to reach a target pressure, and is mainly just maintained from there.
As long as airflow isn’t restricted the pressure will be maintained even with 10 elbows.
The machine is controlling for pressure, not flow. It measures flow simply to analyse your breathing pattern.

[jaswilliams]

I used the elbow with a slimline hose it reduces the space needed behind the machine as the hose does not stick out so far

[dapster]

As the original poster, I'd like to thank those who replied. No longer being Sunday with ResMed beyond reach when I posted, I just got off the phone with them and learned the elbow is simply offered as nothing more than a convenience for the user to set up a desirable tubing orientation. There's nothing otherwise special about it. Thanks again.