Airtouch/Airfit F20 relief holes

[Marcusstephen]

Marcus: Where did you drill the holes--through the --plastic? Did you drill them at the bottom (over the lip)? or all around the opening? How many holes? 1/8" or 1/16" perhaps?-can you find out so we can calculate the area? What about the leak rate according to Oscar--did it go up. This is an interesting experiment; I think it would be helpful to get the data.

They were 3/64 size holes and i drilled 3 either side of the nose bridge area

[Dzyan]

I just noticed in my new airtouch attachment
that I couldn’t feel any relief (air) from the mask or the elbow and i think it explains why i’ve been waking feeling
not up to par since using it. I’m thinking that it’s likely i’m retaining too much carbon dioxide. I drilled a series of tiny holes either side of the disposable airtouch and it made therapy feel much more comfortable. I drilled 3 holes either side using the smallest drill bit that comes in a drill set .
Hope this may help someone
any advice welcome

You are 100% correct. When I first put on the AirTouch F20, I immediately noticed condensation in the tube from my exhalation. I, like you, lacked oxygen. Before the AirTouch™ F20 mask, I used the F 30i mask, it had a lot of holes in the mask itself and the knee, and I did not have enough oxygen. When I removed the seal from my AirTouch F20 mask, there was enough oxygen, but there was an unpleasant sound of air leakage + the air leakage became too large, due to the large holes in the knee of the mask.


I couldn't get this air dispersal seal to fit in the same place. Therefore, I found a way out of the situation. I took a regular disposable mask and cut a strip from it, which I placed in the middle of my knee. It worked and the filter can easily be replaced daily. It is only necessary to choose a sufficient thickness of the strip to find a balance between air leakage and noise.



Although I managed to return the original functionality of the AirTouch F20 mask, but for me the oxygen level in this mask is not enough for me. I wish the AirTouch F20 had openings like the F 30i masks. So I'm getting my dental equipment ready for tomorrow to make the little holes. I plan to make holes in this part of the mask so that air does not blow into the eyes.

[Dzyan]

For an experiment, I drilled holes in my old and unnecessary Cara mask. I didn't like it because the air passing through these holes makes too much noise for me. So I won't be drilling holes in my beloved AirTouch F20 mask.
As soon as I spent one night with a closed exhalation (the one on the right side in the photo), I realized that I was not getting enough oxygen and immediately ordered a knee with an open exhalation (the one on the left side in the photo). I tried sleeping with my knee open that night but was disturbed by a lot of noise from the air + I woke up in the middle of the night to a hurricane in my mask. The air leakage from the open exhalation knee was too strong. I carefully read the topic and understood that there is a seal under the plug in the knee of the closed exhalation, which prevents the air from going out. I picked it up but without the seal the air noise became unbearable. Then I guessed to install the seal from the disposable mask from the middle of my knee. And it worked, now I have enough air flow from the mask so I don't breathe my own CO2, and I don't hear too much noise. In my personal opinion, in the knee with open exhalation (on the left in the photo), the air flow is too strong, and in the knee with closed exhalation (on the right in the photo), the air flow is too weak. With the width of a strip from a disposable mask, I can adjust the air flow I need. It is necessary to connect the edges of the strip in a circle from below, where there are no holes. Because if you connect the edges of the strip where there are holes, you will hear an unpleasant squeak.
I also noticed that in the F 30 mask, the holes from the middle of the mask seemed to me to be smaller in diameter, or that mother's hole from the outside of the mask. Perhaps this structure of the hole allows you to get rid of excess noise when the air comes out.

[Marcusstephen]

For an experiment, I drilled holes in my old and unnecessary Cara mask. I didn't like it because the air passing through these holes makes too much noise for me. So I won't be drilling holes in my beloved AirTouch F20 mask.
As soon as I spent one night with a closed exhalation (the one on the right side in the photo), I realized that I was not getting enough oxygen and immediately ordered a knee with an open exhalation (the one on the left side in the photo). I tried sleeping with my knee open that night but was disturbed by a lot of noise from the air + I woke up in the middle of the night to a hurricane in my mask. The air leakage from the open exhalation knee was too strong. I carefully read the topic and understood that there is a seal under the plug in the knee of the closed exhalation, which prevents the air from going out. I picked it up but without the seal the air noise became unbearable. Then I guessed to install the seal from the disposable mask from the middle of my knee. And it worked, now I have enough air flow from the mask so I don't breathe my own CO2, and I don't hear too much noise. In my personal opinion, in the knee with open exhalation (on the left in the photo), the air flow is too strong, and in the knee with closed exhalation (on the right in the photo), the air flow is too weak. With the width of a strip from a disposable mask, I can adjust the air flow I need. It is necessary to connect the edges of the strip in a circle from below, where there are no holes. Because if you connect the edges of the strip where there are holes, you will hear an unpleasant squeak.
I also noticed that in the F 30 mask, the holes from the middle of the mask seemed to me to be smaller in diameter, or that mother's hole from the outside of the mask. Perhaps this structure of the hole allows you to get rid of excess noise when the air comes out.

Well I’m very happy to see that someone else was conscious enough while using this mask to 1. realise that the seal is good 2. that something wasn’t right with regard to how you felt upon waking .
Definitely not enough oxygen once that filter/noise abatement fluff blocks .
Do you have to replace the strip every day ?
Please let me know how the drilling goes?
what size holes will you drill? how many ?
I do feel this issue needs to be shared amongst other users and potential users of this mask
cheers

[ozij]

Definitely not enough oxygen once that filter/noise abatement fluff blocks .

How long did it take for the elbow to get blocked?
Did you ever wash it?
Most of us don't follow cleaning instructions religiously, but when ResMed says:
https://document.resmed.com/documents/p ... er_eng.pdf

Cleaning your mask
After each use: Elbow, frame, cushion

It does make sense to to wash the elbow when the diffuser it looks blocked. Hold it against the light, and you'll see the difference between a blocked filter and a clean one.

[Marcusstephen]

Definitely not enough oxygen once that filter/noise abatement fluff blocks .

How long did it take for the elbow to get blocked?
Did you ever wash it?
Most of us don't follow cleaning instructions religiously, but when ResMed says:
https://document.resmed.com/documents/p ... er_eng.pdf

Cleaning your mask
After each use: Elbow, frame, cushion

It does make sense to to wash the elbow when the diffuser it looks blocked. Hold it against the light, and you'll see the difference between a blocked filter and a clean one.

thanks
that makes sense . I could wash the elbow regularly but not every day as is suggested.
I’ll certainly give it a shot and see how it works
cheers

[Dzyan]

Do you have to replace the strip every day ?

You don't need to change the strip every day, only when it's necessary or if you want to.

Please let me know how the drilling goes?
what size holes will you drill? how many ?

I drilled holes in Sara's mask, it didn't work. The air coming out through these holes made a lot of noise and I was not satisfied with it. I was able to create the flow I needed, with the help of a part of the disposable mask, and at the same time get rid of the unpleasant noise from the air leakage.


The material that was in the plug is very similar to the material from which the filter in the AirSense 10 and 11 machines is made. If desired, it can be cut into similar strips.


Do I understand correctly that this plug is not removable? It seems to me that it is impossible to remove the plug without breaking it.

[Marcusstephen]

Do you have to replace the strip every day ?

You don't need to change the strip every day, only when it's necessary or if you want to.

Please let me know how the drilling goes?
what size holes will you drill? how many ?

I drilled holes in Sara's mask, it didn't work. The air coming out through these holes made a lot of noise and I was not satisfied with it. I was able to create the flow I needed, with the help of a part of the disposable mask, and at the same time get rid of the unpleasant noise from the air leakage.


The material that was in the plug is very similar to the material from which the filter in the AirSense 10 and 11 machines is made. If desired, it can be cut into similar strips.


Do I understand correctly that this plug is not removable? It seems to me that it is impossible to remove the plug without breaking it.

I think so, I just prized it up and used a cotton thread tied to the filter material and fed it through and managed to pull it into position.
Not something i would want to do often.
Thanks for the tip re using the material from the AS 10 machine filter.
Its really hard to find a full face mask that I can be happy with consistently. the smaller full face masks like the f30i tend to block my nose once the head gear is tightened.
Is the F20 the only one you use?
The nasal masks were fine for me for a while but i became a mouth breather after a while
Any way best of luck

[Dzyan]

Its really hard to find a full face mask that I can be happy with consistently. the smaller full face masks like the f30i tend to block my nose once the head gear is tightened.
Is the F20 the only one you use?
The nasal masks were fine for me for a while but i became a mouth breather after a while

Have you tried size L in the F 30 i mask? Only with this size did I breathe comfortably in the mask.
I'm currently using Airtouch F20 with homemade Pad-a-Cheek. I had a pretty good leak-free night today with Pad-a-Cheek in nylon tights. I recommend trying it for a more reliable and comfortable fixation of a full-face mask. From Monday I want to test Pad-a-Cheek on the mask F 30i size L.
I liked the nose pads best, but my nose protested and I had to go back to full face masks.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=186487&p=1438052#p1438052

[Marcusstephen]

Its really hard to find a full face mask that I can be happy with consistently. the smaller full face masks like the f30i tend to block my nose once the head gear is tightened.
Is the F20 the only one you use?
The nasal masks were fine for me for a while but i became a mouth breather after a while

Have you tried size L in the F 30 i mask? Only with this size did I breathe comfortably in the mask.
I'm currently using Airtouch F20 with homemade Pad-a-Cheek. I had a pretty good leak-free night today with Pad-a-Cheek in nylon tights. I recommend trying it for a more reliable and comfortable fixation of a full-face mask. From Monday I want to test Pad-a-Cheek on the mask F 30i size L.
I liked the nose pads best, but my nose protested and I had to go back to full face masks.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=186487&p=1438052#p1438052

I didn’t try the Large only the medium.
Did you find the medium size partially blocked
airflow through your nose ?
I’m guessing it probably did which would be why you chose large .
Why do you not use the f30i now.
The pad a cheek would probably send my partner
into a terrified catatonic state. The full face is enough
of a space suit rig for any partner to wake up from a bad dream and be confronted with .
Let me know some more about the f30i please
cheers

[Dzyan]

I didn’t try the Large only the medium.
Did you find the medium size partially blocked
airflow through your nose ?
I’m guessing it probably did which would be why you chose large .
Why do you not use the f30i now.
The pad a cheek would probably send my partner
into a terrified catatonic state. The full face is enough
of a space suit rig for any partner to wake up from a bad dream and be confronted with .
Let me know some more about the f30i please
cheers

The main reason for switching to size L in the F30i mask is air leaks near the nose. In size L, I had fewer leaks and it seemed easier to breathe. I slept that night with an F30 mask, with an elastic bandage, the leaks were present, but thanks to the elastic bandage, the amount was small. In the F30 and F30i masks, I was not able to completely overcome the air leaks near the nose, so today I will sleep with an elastic bandage in the AirTouch F20 mask. Then I will make the final choice for myself.

[Marcusstephen]

I didn’t try the Large only the medium.
Did you find the medium size partially blocked
airflow through your nose ?
I’m guessing it probably did which would be why you chose large .
Why do you not use the f30i now.
The pad a cheek would probably send my partner
into a terrified catatonic state. The full face is enough
of a space suit rig for any partner to wake up from a bad dream and be confronted with .
Let me know some more about the f30i please
cheers

The main reason for switching to size L in the F30i mask is air leaks near the nose. In size L, I had fewer leaks and it seemed easier to breathe. I slept that night with an F30 mask, with an elastic bandage, the leaks were present, but thanks to the elastic bandage, the amount was small. In the F30 and F30i masks, I was not able to completely overcome the air leaks near the nose, so today I will sleep with an elastic bandage in the AirTouch F20 mask. Then I will make the final choice for myself.

Thank you
i’ll be very interested to know your final decision

[Dzyan]

Thank you
i’ll be very interested to know your final decision

My final choice ResMed AirTouch™ F20 Full Face CPAP Mask with Headgear
viewtopic/t187124/Fighting-air-leaks-fr ... -hack.html