Phillips Respironics low pressure
I have a Phillips Respironics System One. My pressure settings are 4/10. Normally, when I wake up at night, the pressure is around 6-8, and I can tell just by breathing that the machine has increased the pressure. For those that use these machines, you know what it is like when the machine increases the pressure. When I roll over onto my back, my throat closes and the machine ups the pressure to 8-9. When i wake up, I usually push the ramp button to drop the pressure back to 4, roll over, and go back to sleep.
But for the last week I've noticed what when I wake up, this hasn't happened. I wake up, and the machine is idling, no pressure increase. And the low pressure feels lower than usual. I've been using this machine for five years, and I'm very familiar with how it feels at low pressure, and the low pressure is not lower than it should be. I don't have a pressure guage, but I'm thinking of getting one. We have moved recently, so we don't have a supplier or provider here to check it for us.
If I look at the "info" display to see what the 80% pressure is, I see it has dropped from the usual 8.x to 6.x. AHI remains unchanged at about 2.5.
Is this a sign of the machine approaching the end of its life? It has about 5000 hours on it.
RE: Phillips Respironics low pressure
You can make a simple water manometer to measure pressure. It's convenient that cpap pressure is measured in cm-H2O.
Just get some clear tubing; make a U-shape bend; put water in such that it will support about 25 cm of water.
Hooked into a tee in your cpap line, the manometer will indicate the pressure by the difference in water column height in cm.
Be sure there is plenty of tubing on the open end to prevent a pressure transient from blowing water out the open end.
Machines are usually replaced at about 5 years; but their design life is about 10 years.
Perhaps you just don't need as much pressure.
RE: Phillips Respironics low pressure
(03-12-2015, 10:47 AM)justMongo Wrote: You can make a simple water manometer to measure pressure. It's convenient that cpap pressure is measured in cm-H2O.
Just get some clear tubing; make a U-shape bend; put water in such that it will support about 25 cm of water.
Hooked into a tee in your cpap line, the manometer will indicate the pressure by the difference in water column height in cm.
Be sure there is plenty of tubing on the open end to prevent a pressure transient from blowing water out the open end.
Machines are usually replaced at about 5 years; but their design life is about 10 years.
Perhaps you just don't need as much pressure.
I've lost some weight recently, but I would not think it would make that much difference. I think I'll drop by a hardware store and get some plastic tubing and have a go at a home made manometer...how hard can that be?
RE: Phillips Respironics low pressure
(03-12-2015, 11:07 AM)zootal Wrote: I've lost some weight recently, but I would not think it would make that much difference. I think I'll drop by a hardware store and get some plastic tubing and have a go at a home made manometer...how hard can that be?
Here is a link to a how-to build a manometer published in 2012:
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...ew-dollars
RE: Phillips Respironics low pressure
Hi zootal,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for more responses to your post and much success to you as you continue your CPAP therapy.
trish6hundred
RE: Phillips Respironics low pressure
So I built an improvised manometer which consisted of my daughter holding some 1/2 plastic tubing in a big U, with a couple of inches of water in it. Mark the water level. Other end of tube goes into cpap hose, holding it with my hands so it doesn't leak. Set cpap to 4cm. Mark water level. Set cpap to 10cm. Mark water level.
Measure water level and much to my (pleasant) surprise, the first two marks were exactly 2cm apart, indicating that when it says 4cm, it really is putting out 4cm. The last mark was exactly 5cm from the first, indicating that when it says 10cm, it really is 10cm. Crude but surprisingly accurate.
So it looks like it really is putting out the pressure it says it is. Which leaves me at a loss as to why it doesn't ramp up the pressure while I sleep. I think I'll watch it a while longer and see. Maybe I really don't need as much pressure now that I've dropped 25 pounds?
