S9 serious rainout using Auto Climate System

[SuperSleeper]

[parts of this thread were copied from our old forum]

I have Resmed S-9 auto, heated humidifier and climateline tubing. Last night was first use. Wow what an amazing experience. Stats report AHI 0.9 ! My old machine did no better than 6.5. I had one surprise I want to inquire about. I was using the Climateline hose, Autoset, auto climate control, default hi settings (80deg F). An hour after going to sleep I awoke with with hose full of water. I mean full enough to stop air flow. I lifted hose to attempt drain back into chamber (like i could with my old S8) without success. I had to unplug the hose to drain more water than I ever experienced in my prior system. It was so full the unit struggled to push air through and was bubbling like a boiling cauldron. I moved the temp down to 70 which worked though still some water in the morning. I am wondering what went wrong. I thought the auto climate system was supposed to stop this. How can I tell if the Climateline hose is even heating up?

[SuperSleeper]

Welcome Googull;

You will get "rain out" if there is a big difference in room temp and humidifier temp. This is a simple problem to overcome. Try to get your room/house temp closer. My guess is your don't sleep in a room that is 80 deg. at night. It looks as if we use the same setup. Here is what I sleep with at night. Room temp is 66 deg. and my humid is set to 70 deg.

One other thing you can do is to wrap your hose. You can go buy a nice soft wrap for about $20 or you can go to your local fabric shop, get a couple of bucks worth of fabric (fleece) and velcro and make yourself a nice one. It's easy to do and by using fleece it is a lot nicer to your skin than the plastic hose.

[SuperSleeper]

Just another thought... make sure your CPAP machine is lower than the surface of your bed, so that any water condensation in the hose has a better chance of draining back into the water reservoir.

[SuperSleeper]

I don't have an S9, but I have heard of some people mentioning that the S9 can blow water out of the outlet if the container is filled close to full. This sounds like a lot more water than what would accumulate from rainout.

My F&P has a heated hose and I have never experienced a drop of rainout in a pretty wide variety of humidity settings and room temperatures (some of the places I sleep are REALLY cold).

[SuperSleeper]

I appreciate the feedback. My unit sits on the floor well below the bed. I was about 1/2" below the Max indicator but will try even less water. My room is 60F. I knew exactly how to set my S8 dial to manage rainout. I was under the impression that the climate system and hose sensor would adjust as needed to prevent such. When I attach the hose it is recognized an auto climate settings take over. So, I just didn't expect the flood. Perhaps the air is literally blowing water out. And as for drain back, water trapped just won't return. Bizarre.

[SuperSleeper]

It is a puzzler why you should get rainout with climate control in auto mode as it was designed to prevent rainout regardless of changes in temp or humidity .check the connection that the hose rotate and clicks in place ,fill the water tub to the top line of the marker(don,t over fill).

i use to get a lot congestion with higher temp setting and by turning the temp down it did alleviate the problem .
Edit :once had a fault message displayed "heated tube fault,replace tube" ,since it is been replaced it is working fine and i,m not sure about the fleece or hose cover to the climate line and probably it is to use with standard hose .

[SuperSleeper]

Wow. If the tank is that low, yet you got enough water to stop the flow, that's just weird. Sounds similar to the incident I had a few weeks ago. But mine sits about even with the bed. I have dogs and cats and if it sat on the floor, it would get clogged with fuzz within seconds!

[SuperSleeper]

It is a puzzler why you should get rainout with climate control in auto mode as it was designed to prevent rainout regardless of changes in temp or humidity .

I think you may have a misconception of the ClimateLine and it's true function. It is a "heated" hose that controls the temp and humidity delivered to your mask. To prevent "rainout" it would also have to detect the room temp. Therefore; adjusting the two too match, nullifying the effect of the heated, humid air to your mask.

It is the difference in room temp and inside hose temp that causes the moisture in the air to "condense" out. Kinda like your toilet tank sweating in the summer. Hot - expands, cold - contracts.

Wamer air can hold more moisture than colder air. When you rapidly cool that air the moisture condences out.

This is whats happening inside you ClimatLine. If you have the control set to 80 and your room temp is only 60 that is a serious difference. 80 degree humid air is flowing through the hose and the outside temp is only 60 causing rapid cooling of the air that comes in contact with the hose that is at room temp. It's the toilet tank in reverse. If you add warm water to your toilet tank you eliminate the sweating. If you raise the room temp to 80, you eliminate rainout. If you lower your machine temp to 60 you eliminate rainout.

Putting a cover on your hose will help. Getting your hose temp and room temp closer will also help.

Perhaps the air is literally blowing water out.

Think about how much more moisture is in 80 degree air than there is in 60 degree air. I can see why you would think it is "blowing water"! I would suggest you try dropping your machine temp to about 72-74 and bring your room temp up yo 64-66. And put a cover on your hose.

[SuperSleeper]

Wasn't there a problem or recall with the first production run of ClimateLine hoses?

[SuperSleeper]

That logic only applies if the heating in the hose fails - i.e. the hose is defective. The hose normally heats up so as to keep the air temperature constant at, say 80 degrees. There will only be condensation if the warm humid air is subject to a temperature drop. BTW, I do question the use of a hose cover on the climate line tube. I remember some of the instructions that suggest the tube not be covered with blanket, etc. The reason may be that covering the hose messes with the temperature/climate control. If it were not for that concern, I would happily cover my hose, assuming then it would take less energy to heat the air within. Anybody use a hose cover with the ClimateLine?
Eb

:thanks for clarifying the climate line issue and also have enjoyed reading your other post today .