Is my Philips Remstar Pro System One working?

[alanbc]

I have a Philips Remstar Pro System One CPAP machine.  (It's one of the machines affected by the recall and apparently, one of the 1% "not yet remediated".)

I've recently noticed something and can't say whether this is new or if it's always been there, but I think it's new and it has me worried.

I wear a half face mask that covers my nose and mouth, as I find myself breathing through my mouth frequently.

When I first lay down, I take a breath or two through my nose, then an inhale through my mouth.

Upon exhale, I notice resistance! The pump seems to be fighting back!

This seems good to me, it seems (to my little mind) that this is what the machine should be doing.  

I also notice that there's a lot of noise from all the air coming and going, an annoying amount, requiring me to turn my radio up for the late night news.

In the morning, things are different.  Indeed, even several hours after first putting my mask on, things are different.  It's a WHOLE lot quieter .. nice, but different.

More importantly, my inhale/exhale test encounters NO resistance.

The machine is still pumping .. I can hear the compressor squeaking away.  And there's still air coming out all the overflow holes in the mask and headband.

But there's NO resistance to my exhale.  I cannot imagine how this could be helping me.

And, anecdotally, I'm not sleeping well any more.  Indeed, I wake feeling more tired than when I went to bed, rather like I did before I got the machine.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Alan

[Sleeprider]

My thought is get a modern, good machine. My last System One was retired in 2013. You could buy a ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet CPAP Machine Card-to-Cloud from TheCPAPshop for $359 and revolutionize your therapy and how you feel. Ask for a coupon or discount and get it cheaper. Why would you continue using the Philips System One, let alone use it with an obvious failure. It's not worth repairing. Buy a new machine and dump this albatross.

[alanbc]

My thought is get a modern, good machine.  ...  ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet CPAP Machine Card-to-Cloud from TheCPAPshop for $359 ...  It's not worth repairing. Buy a new machine and dump this albatross.

Thanks for the reply!

It had occurred to me that this might be the plan, but whatever the age of my machine, it's got MAYBE three years of use, and I was hoping for more hours than that.  I did get it a while ago, no doubt, but then it just sat in the box for many years.

A couple of years ago, I got a heart scare and the ER doc made it VERY clear I needed to do something about my apnea.  Back to local sleep clinic, one night spent covered in wires, data sent away to the local university.

The researchers there examine the data and boil it all down into a single number, easy for people to understand.  1-3 is normal, 4-6 needs CPAP therapy, 7 and up is SERIOUS.  I scored 49.  I was able to read the margin notes upside down.  "How is this guy still alive?"

So I started to use my CPAP machine!

And I guess I'll just buy another.  But your price seems to be for a MASK, not a MACHINE.  Best price I found after a quick search was $1,099 in US dollars, ~$1,500 of my dollars, or a whole month of pension and then some.

Still, my heart episodes are increasing in frequency and severity ...

Thanks again.

[Sleeprider]

I'm looking at the price right now. Just call them at 1-866-414-9700 and ask for the best price on the Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset Card to Cloud CPAP Machine. You may have found the price for an Aircurve 10 Vauto bilevel.

[alanbc]

I'm looking at the price right now. Just call them at 1-866-414-9700 and ask for the best price on the Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset Card to Cloud CPAP Machine.  You may have found the price for an Aircurve 10 Vauto bilevel.

I'll do that.

But why wouldn't I buy an 11?

[Sleeprider]

That's up to you. The 11 does not offer any advantage other than smaller size. Some have found it not as quiet at the 10 or that the angle the hose attaches is not as convenient, but it is the latest model and just fine if you have the extra money. . I guess I just get used to people with old machines looking for a bargain price, and the 10 card to cloud is about half price of the 11.

[alanbc]

Well, I bought an AirSense 11.  Big mistake, it's turning out to be a seriously cheap piece of gear.

(I'd call it crap, but genuine crap would be insulted if I did.)

Haven't had close to a good night's sleep since I got it.

One night it goes through a whole tank of water in about 4 hours, the next night it leaves a completely full tank and a "Heater Error" message, next night a whole tank in a few hours, then a full tank and an error message ...

Auto-on is unreliable and auto-off is worse, shutting the unit off randomly, leaving me gasping for air in the middle of the night.

Auto CPAP seems to think 4 PSI is enough one night, 12 PSI the next.

Ramp doesn't seem to do anything, no matter the setting.

I thought my Philips was bad, but it gets 5 stars compared to the ResMed!  Thank goodness I still have the Philips; it goes back into service tonight and the ResMed goes to recycling.

[Sleeprider]

Hey Alanbc, I tried. The Airsense 10 is better, but you ignored me. If you use any machine at default settings, that's operator error. Start a thread and show some charts. We can make it better.

[alanbc]

You didn't say the 10 was better!  You said the 11 wasn't better, just smaller and more money.  Since smaller would be nice and since the 11 wasn't much more at all (twenty bucks, once all was said and done), it seemed like an easy call.

My question remains though; why should the unit blast out the water one night and not send out any the next two nights, just give an error, then blast out the water again for another couple of nights?

What setting, default or otherwise, could cause this?

I understand the auto-start and auto-stop failures .. a poor sensor or poor programming.

I understand the crummy auto CPAP performance (the setting strongly recommended by both my provider as well as ResMed); again, poor sensors or poor programming.

What I don't understand is why I get radically different humidity behaviour night to night with (I'm quite sure) no changes on my part.

[Sleeprider]

Are you asking for help. or ranting?n Post a chart.