Respironics Dreamstation problems

[pgoo]

Happened to me too and turned out to be due to the humidifier running out of water. When that happened, the plate sortof overheated and I guess sortof burnt due to it heating with no water. When I put water in the humidifier, the smell did not go away. Once I replaced the humidifier and made sure it never ran out of water, that smell hasn't recurred.

[legrunt]

Happened to me too and turned out to be due to the humidifier running out of water.  When that happened, the plate sortof overheated and I guess sortof burnt due to it heating with no water.  When I put water in the humidifier, the smell did not go away.  Once I replaced the humidifier and made sure it never ran out of water, that smell hasn't recurred.

Strange... its supposed to have a temperature sensor to prevent thermal overload...

[racerjack]

Hello,
I experienced the same situation where the reservoir was completely dry and this pungent odor filled my lungs and I woke up coughing and suffering from Vertigo.  
The plastic water tank was dry, hot and the odor was of burnt plastic.

I have attempted to contact Phillips and they are nearly impossible to get through to. If any one has a way to do it please let me know.

I will meet with supplier tomorrow and most likely get replacement as I have had this unit for 6 weeks.  Definitely did not have heating element turn off when reservoir went dry.  

What unit have people used that may not have this problem?

[ragtopcircus]

Please! Other than externaly created surges, like lightning, no such variations occur within our home circuitry. Hardly a possible source of noise.

That is totally false. Surges occur anytime a major appliance switches on or off. HVAC, ovens, water heaters, refrigerators, and washer/dryers can all cause surges.


Granted, it does not seem to be the problem in this case.

[encourage]

For what its worth, modern electronic equipment, especially medical equipment, will be immune to typical household surges and lags in AC supply voltage. A nearby lightning strike might cause a problem in that it may permanently damage the device, but not anything that typically happens in a home. The other thing to keep in mind is that microcontroller-based devices, especially medical devices, monitor internal DC power supply voltages and power levels (current * voltage). The electronic device will typically reset, or shutdown, or sound an alarm (based on design use) if any of the operating parameters of its internal DC power supplies fall outside of a narrow range of operating conditions.

The humidifier heater itself could be the source of the problem, or since the humidifier in the Dreamstation is ultrasonic based, I wonder if there could be excessive heating from the ultrasonic energy expended between the metal plate on the bottom of the reservoir and the plastic of the reservoir when the tank is empty.

I once had a sinus infection that caused me to smell an odor associated with the overheating of electronics components. As a consultant with an electronics lab at home, you can imagine my distress. I spent a couple of days searching for the source of this odor, unplugging equipment, smelling power bricks, etc. It's best not to take chances with these things. Especially with a device that's pushing air into our lungs... I hope your issues now resolved.

[Pearlkc]

I have had my machine less than a month. We have switched out the tubing and changed masks - the smell was reduced in intensity, but it still wakes me up after I’ve been asleep for a few hours. I’ve tried turning off the humidifier and I still wake to a nasty burning smell.

[Hydrangea]

Definitely return it! Surely it's a manufacturing defect.

[jaswilliams]

I have had my machine less than a month. We have switched out the tubing and changed masks - the smell was reduced in intensity, but it still wakes me up after I’ve been asleep for a few hours. I’ve tried turning off the humidifier and I still wake to a nasty burning smell.

Make sure the power brick is on the floor well away from the air intake of the CPAP machine.

[Pearlkc]

I have had my machine less than a month. We have switched out the tubing and changed masks - the smell was reduced in intensity, but it still wakes me up after I’ve been asleep for a few hours. I’ve tried turning off the humidifier and I still wake to a nasty burning smell.

Make sure the power brick is on the floor well away from the air intake of the CPAP machine.

Thank you. The machine is on my nightstand and the brick is on the floor about 3ft below the machine.

[SorryIamNormal]

the humidifier in the Dreamstation is ultrasonic based,

Is that why you can only use an inverter if it is a pure sine wave?  I thought I remember reading something along the lines that the Respironics units humidifier works different than most, and a square wave inverter will break it.