P10 Mask Life Expectancy?

[player]

I am using the Resmed P10 nasal pillow mask. I have no insurance, and with the Canadian dollar as low as it is, they cost 35% more here than in the USA.

What life expectancy can I expect to milk out of the P10?

What part will give out forcing replacement?

Thank you

[FrankNichols]

I have just started with the P10 myself and my impression is:

The pillows will probably fail first they can be replaced separately from the mask. Keep them clean and oil free (oil from your face). Use mild soap no detergents or alcohol, etc. air dry and keep out of sun light or UV rays.

Keep the mask vents clean again mild soap in warm water only. Maybe scrubbing occasionally with soft bristle brush.

Mask frame should last a while, no moving parts or flex'ing parts.

Headgear. This sucks in my opinion - thin and flexible. I expect if it fails loosing it's stretch you could cut it and sew on velcro to allow you to continue using it. If it breaks off the mask I don't know if that could easily be repaired.

All that, I am on insurance and hopefully wont have to push on long I use it, but I will be keeping my old ones in case I lose insurance.

I expect with care probably 6 months before a failure. A quick search online showed a couple sites that sell the P10 pillows for $19.

[sonicboom]

I've used 2 in one year. 6 months is about right. The tightness of the headgear (or lack thereof over time) is what usually causes leak numbers to rise not pillows. In addition to the Velcro solution one might also wash the strap in hot water and then dry it on high heat in dryer.

[Sleeprider]

The "For Her" straps are smaller and will last longer if you don't absolutely need the larger size. I wash pillows with a few drops of Dawn dishwashing soap about every 3 days, and was the straps and frame only monthly unless something seems to require more frequency. I can get well over a year out of them. It's nice to have replacements, and essential to have a standby, but you can make this work economically. Dropping the straps into the laundry and dryer, will shrink them back to original size. I use my disinfecting solution on the mask frame because it leaves no residue, and I don't scrub the vents. I think a lot of people end up making the vents clog by using soaps and abrading the fine screen.

[FrankNichols]

I use my disinfecting solution on the mask frame because it leaves no residue, and I don't scrub the vents. I think a lot of people end up making the vents clog by using soaps and abrading the fine screen.

This sounds like good advice, anything to reduce wear and tear on thin plastic will help it last longer.

[palerider]

I am using the Resmed P10 nasal pillow mask. I have no insurance, and with the Canadian dollar as low as it is, they cost 35% more here than in the USA.

What life expectancy can I expect to milk out of the P10?

What part will give out forcing replacement?

Thank you

I've got about 20 months on mine so far, still waiting for some part to fail.

it's important to clean the mesh, it can get clogged, and that's bad. hot soapy water and a used toothbrush gets it working again.

the pillows are doublewalled, if you're cleaning them vigorously, (I don't) you can poke the inner cone and get it inverted, then the pillow is all loose and floppy. squeeze the pillow along it's long axis and the inner cone will pop back out.

the strap will stretch, washing it in hot water will shrink it.

all these tips are in the p10 use and care video that resmed put on youtube.

I don't clean mine rabidly, I don't have any *evidence* but it seems from what i've heard from others, that the people that clean obsessively have a higher failure rate on their mask cushions and such.

I wipe my masks (both ffm and pillows) with a squirt of hand sanitizer on a tissue, just to clean off facial oils and such, works great. I got four years out of one single mirage quattro cushion, I had a spare, but never had to open it, the old one just kept working. I did have to get several replacement headgears for it! *lol*

I've got spare p10 masks, all the parts, but i'm going to keep using the first one I got until something fails.. or the strap refuses to tighten up enough to give me decent leak numbers.... then I'll replace whatever bit needs it.

[robysue]

The "For Her" straps are smaller and will last longer if you don't absolutely need the larger size.

I want to add that the choice between the smaller "For Her" straps and the larger "Not for Her" straps seems to be pretty personal.

I've got a very small head. (I know this from the cap size I need for academic regalia.) And yet when I first tried the P10 with the For Her straps, I just could not spread the split strap far enough apart to prevent "piggy nose", and I more or less gave up on the mask and went back to my Swift FX for the winter. When spring came and it was time to buy hubby a new mask, I decided I'd also order a new one for myself. I hemmed and hawed about whether to get yet another Swift FX (my headgear is in ok shape) or give the P10 a second trial with the bigger head strap. I have been amazed at how much better that bigger head strap feels for me. I've used it now for about 4 or 5 days in a row and so far it doesn't seem to have stretched too much.

I use my disinfecting solution on the mask frame because it leaves no residue, and I don't scrub the vents. I think a lot of people end up making the vents clog by using soaps and abrading the fine screen.

What do you use for the "disinfecting solution" on the mask frame?

You said you wash the pillows in with a few drops of Dawn. But is that what you also use on the mask frame and those fine vents?

[player]

I would like to know what the "disinfecting solution" is as well. I have used 99% isopropyl alcohol.