RESMED POWER SWITCH problems

[MRIBOB]

Have a RESMED EXCAPE II 4 years old
Just have new RESMED S9 or so model


Power switch on Escape 2 hard to work. Hard to get on or off


Now that I have new machine I wanted to fix old escape II to leave at grandma's house for me when I visit. Or so the big bag wolf will not snore so loud when he wants to sleep in grandma's bed and eat Red!


Was going to try to take apart and use Electric contact cleaner on switch.
1. Does it need to be taken apart?
2. Anyone have other advice?
3. Contact cleaner drys really fast. But I do not want chemicals in air.

Any thoughts on using another product?
Thanks

[trish6hundred]

Hi MRIBOB,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for answers to your question and best of luck to you as you continue CPAP therapy.

[surferdude2]

I have fixed similar problems on mini switches by using a cotton swab to douse them with lemon juice (vinegar will also work but smells worse) to the point of saturating them enough that it surely runs inside. Then physically cycle them several times to allow the normal friction of the mechanism to assist the acid in the process of removing any oxide that may be causing the problem. Then I use another swab to douse an alcohol rinse on the switch and surrounding area to disperse and remove the lemon juice. Finally I use a blower to dry the area fully before applying power for testing. All the while you must use proper procedure to avoid touching any of the circuit board conductors or components to avoid any possible damage from static discharge. This is especially important when using the air blower since the friction of the air on the board can generate a static charge. Just avoid touching anything but the switch itself and you'll be OK. You can use a wooden dowel or the eraser end of a pencil to cycle the switch if you want to be extra careful.

This assumes the switch is actually making the necessary clicking sound when depressed to cycle it. Listen carefully and you should hear it. If it doesn't click every time, it will not normally be possible to fix it and will require a replacement switch. If you are adept at component level repair it's not a big job. It's not an expensive job for a bench technician so consider that if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself. Any competent T.V. or computer bench technician can handle it.

[surferdude2]

BTW, It's possible that your machine may not be using a discreet component type switch but may have an "on board" foil poles type which is actuated by touch from a conductive silicone/rubber armature that is part of a switch pad array. Clean it with the same fluids as before and dry it before putting it back together. Test for effect before buttoning it all back together, repeat the cleaning process if need be. The lemon juice will normally make the foil shine like new in just a few seconds.

Not to worry that it sounds somewhat hokey to use lemon juice on a circuit board, the manufacturers do it all the time. I use the "Real Lemon" brand as opposed to the natural fruit but either way works fine. The natural ones are much better for Margaritas though...

http://www.ehow.com/how_6200115_clean-ci...juice.html

[PaytonA]

Surferdude,

Have you tried 'Ritas in your humidifier??
Just a thought instead of bourbon.

[archangle]

Does it appear to be stuck from gunk around the switch or does it seem like an internal problem?

If it's gunk around the the outside of the switch, anything you use to try to spray on and wash out the gunk may cause the gunk to run down into the insides of the switch and and make things worse. You might make it work, but you might ruin it, too.

Don't worry too much about chemicals from the contact cleaner. Except for a few minutes after you spray it, the amount of similar chemicals from other things in your house 24/7 is so much greater than what the contact cleaner has, that you don't need to be concerned. Air the room out or do in in the garage if that makes you feel better. Try not to breathe the fumes when you spray it, but unless you concentrate it or use it all the time, they're fairly harmless.

[woozie38]

Power switch on Escape 2 hard to work. Hard to get on or off
Was going to try to take apart and use Electric contact cleaner on switch.
1. Does it need to be taken apart?
2. Anyone have other advice?
3. Contact cleaner drys really fast. But I do not want chemicals in air.

I believe your machine belongs to the Resmed S8 series. I had the same problem & Google tells me it is a very common fault. Although the machine has an on/off switch, it's not a switch in the true sense of the word. It a set of gold contacts on a circuit board which are closed momentarily by a carbon contact attached to a silicon rubber membrane. This membrane holds contacts for all the other controls the machine has too. The problem (on mine) is caused, not by dirt or oxidisataion on the contacts, but by the carbon button wearing away causing the buttons to make contact unevenly. I had no success replacing the carbon buttons and scrapped the machine instead. My advice would be to persevere as it is until it eventually fails. Resmed (bless their heart) will not supply replacement parts requiring instead the machine to be sent to them for repair. This I did and their quote to fix it was AU$650.00. The price of a new Icon! I told them "No thanks" and bought a New Icon. BTW the top is easily prised off with a flat screwdriver.

[Galactus]

Take a look on your local CraigsList, around here you can find those units for less than $100 might get you the parts you need at an affordable price.

[dbboldrick]

Power switch on Escape 2 hard to work. Hard to get on or off
Was going to try to take apart and use Electric contact cleaner on switch.
1. Does it need to be taken apart?
2. Anyone have other advice?
3. Contact cleaner drys really fast. But I do not want chemicals in air.

I believe your machine belongs to the Resmed S8 series. I had the same problem & Google tells me it is a very common fault. Although the machine has an on/off switch, it's not a switch in the true sense of the word. It a set of gold contacts on a circuit board which are closed momentarily by a carbon contact attached to a silicon rubber membrane. This membrane holds contacts for all the other controls the machine has too. The problem (on mine) is caused, not by dirt or oxidisataion on the contacts, but by the carbon button wearing away causing the buttons to make contact unevenly. I had no success replacing the carbon buttons and scrapped the machine instead. My advice would be to persevere as it is until it eventually fails. Resmed (bless their heart) will not supply replacement parts requiring instead the machine to be sent to them for repair. This I did and their quote to fix it was AU$650.00. The price of a new Icon! I told them "No thanks" and bought a New Icon. BTW the top is easily prised off with a flat screwdriver.

my S8 simply failed on a flight to Europe the other day. It had been running for 6 hours on 12 volt and on 120 the day before It will not power up anymore. do you have any suggestions ????
I cleaned the switches as suggested is there anykind of circuit breaker or reset ???
Bruce
I have cleaned the seitch as noted

[dbboldrick]

Hi all

I have a res med S8 elite 11
it stopped working on a flight to Europe last week running on 12 volt lithium
it was running for 6 hours no problem then stopped.
It had been running on 120 volt the night before no problem.
Now nothing works and nothing light up
I did the cleaning of the switch as in another post--- no luck....
any suggestions ???
is there a reset or a circuit breaker, fuse etc. internal?/

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
It was terrible for a week without the unit.
Bruce