Resmed S9 Humidifier issue

[Mark184]

I'm having an issue with the humidifier on my S9, but I'm beginning to think it's just the way the machine works.

I've got the Climate control turned on under clinician settings, so my choices are 68-86 degrees. I'm well aware I can turn this off, and separately set humidity and temperature, but have no need to do that. (I find that I get moisture in nasal pillows when I separately control this).

At night, I pre-heat the unit to 80 degree setting. It takes about 20 minutes for the progress bar on the screen to fill. I don't necessarily wait, but I let it get more than half way before putting on the mask and then turning on the unit. I definitely feel the heat and humidity when things start.

Cut to 2 AM and I wake to a pretty dry throat. I feel no heat or humidity in air from my nasal pillows. I dip a finger in the water reservoir and it is cool. The ambient room temp is approx 70 degrees.

Is this normal? Here's the kicker- I've returned two humidifiers previously because the sleep tech says it's not normal. Are they wrong? If they're right, how can three humifiers be bad? Perhaps it's just the room temp kicking off the thermostat? Perhaps my throat is just dry because I'm still getting used to the cpap? (I'm in week 5).

Please... I need help.

[Alshain]

Actually they aren't wrong. Your humidifier isn't there to boil the water, it's to slowly evaporate it over time. It's not uncommon for the hot plate/water reservoir temperature difference to barely be noticeable from room temperature.

Your humidifier is probably working, especially if you notice a water drop. You may however be leaking out of you mouth if your throat is dry. You need to have your mouth shut with nasal pillows and masks, if your breathing out of your mouth, the humidity (and the whole treatment) will be ineffective. You could try a chin strap, but first and foremost, check your leak rates on the machine data.

Down the road, the most extreme measure you can take is to switch to a Full Face Mask (FFM) which are not subject to this problem. I recommend trying other options though, as FFM's are not as comfortable. Switching to an FFM should be a last resort to get acceptable treatment.

[mowdoc]

I have the S9 Elite with S5i humidifier and climate line hose too. I use a full face mask so that is our differance.

I can say I have never seen any water, or even any fog, in my hose so if you have water at your nose piece, that would indicate trouble?? I run my unit at 79 degrees and set to auto humidity which is 80% I believe. My understanding is these hoses will warm air if needed but not cool it. If your room is 70 degrees, than you are warming anyway.

I live in the desert so dry noses and mouths are the norm. Since I started using the S9, I have woke up nice and clear, and moist everyday!! So far, that has been the biggest benefit to CPAP for me.

You said your mouth is dry but how is your nose?? If your nose is clear I suspect you may be breathing thru your mouth and that is drying it out. Plus, your CPAP theropy is not working if you are "leaking" the pressure thru your mouth.

I have not checked the humidifier water temp at night with my finger but will if I can remember to. I doubt it gets very warm though?? Maybe just a little warmer than room temp so the water evaporates into humidity.

I know this is not much help but I think three bad humidifiers in a row would be pretty rare.

[Mark184]

Thanks for these replies.

I agree with the fact that it's not likely to be three bad humidifiers. It may very well be one bad user!!

The dryness I feel is not my mouth, but more the back of my throat. It feels like where the nose airways go. My nose itself does not feel overly dry.

I guess a next good test would be for me to take a temperature reading on the water. This will confirm that the water is indeed heating up to what the thermostat is looking for. If so, it's a user getting used to it issue.

Another thnig I've noticed-- It's barely loosing water from the reservoir over night. I can certainly go a week without need to add water. I'm sure this varies from environment to environment, but is that typical for summer time, no heat, no airconditioning? I'm in Seattle- and believe it or not... we're clear and sunny these days! The air is dry.

Again, thanks for your advice and help.

[fiberfan]

The dryness I feel is not my mouth, but more the back of my throat. It feels like where the nose airways go. My nose itself does not feel overly dry.

Download ResScan (look for a post by Uncle_Bob to find a link to download the current ResScan) and look at your leak data. I find the leak data on the S9 not very helpful and use the detailed graph in ResScan to see the leak rate throughout the night. Even when my leak stays under the red line (therapy is affected above the red line), when using a nasal pillow mask I can still have problems with a dry mouth from leaks when the leaks throughout the night are consistent.

[Alshain]

Another thnig I've noticed-- It's barely loosing water from the reservoir over night. I can certainly go a week without need to add water. I'm sure this varies from environment to environment, but is that typical for summer time, no heat, no airconditioning? I'm in Seattle- and believe it or not... we're clear and sunny these days! The air is dry.

Hmm, could be a connection problem with the S9, but I would think then the S9 wouldn't give you the climate control options.

[mowdoc]

I use a lot of water in my humidifier. I fill it nightly to just a hair under the MAX line. After abour 6 hours run time (thats all I get) the water will be almost down to the lowest mark on the yellow tab gauge thingy in the tank. Our outside humidity runs from 3% - 20% this time of year so with my S9 set on auto humidity, which I believe is 80%, I am using a lot of distilled water.

Sorry, I forgot to check the tank temp with my finger last night.

Since you are not using much water, I would guess that your outside humidity is pretty high so the S9 does not have to add much, or, something is wrong with your machine or the connections or the settings??

[Guest]

You say you warm it to 80 degrees. Are you leaving it on 80 degrees all the time? Just trying to establish exactly what you do.

The H5i has an ambient humidity sensor so if your ambient humidity is high, the humidifier may not do anything - or very little. Unfortunately, this means it's impossible to do comparisons between your experience and other people's because their ambient conditions will be different.

This doesn't necessarily help you I guess.

you could try increasing the temperature which will increase the absolute humidity.

[Brenda Myers]

Well I have the same thing going on . The read out showed know leakage. I have also returned one side of the unit it heats up In The beginning in the middle of the night I wake up with a dry mouth and throat and I checked the water and it's cold and I laid in bed and checked this TesMed every hr to see if it heated up by 6am time for me to go to work it never heated up at all not even to look warm. I also turned it up to 86 like the tech told me to then work mu way down because she said I will have to a just the humidity level . She said up high it may get water on nasal pillows and then work my way back down to what works best for me . Well up at 86 there was no moisture. She check unit says its getting warm I tell her it does get warm in the beginning but cuts off and doesn't heat again . Funny thing is it will tell you it's cooling down on read out on face mask will blow air after you take off head gear . Funny it's cooling down cold water ????
Went in complained after a month I got a new heating part to the unit. But this one doesn't do any better . I think it's the other part of the unit . As you can say the heating unit can only work off of the program part of the unit telling it what to do.
Way to many people have complained of this problem.
I video my self to see if I opened my mouth and never did I open my mouth that air leaked out . Also the read out shows know leakage. But yet they say I need a full face mask .
Well I think there is a problem with this S9 series equipment .
Way to many people are complaining .
We the users should know were the ones using this unit . For 8 hrs are less a night .

[DJD52]

I'm having an issue with the humidifier on my S9, but I'm beginning to think it's just the way the machine works.

I've got the Climate control turned on under clinician settings, so my choices are 68-86 degrees. I'm well aware I can turn this off, and separately set humidity and temperature, but have no need to do that. (I find that I get moisture in nasal pillows when I separately control this).

At night, I pre-heat the unit to 80 degree setting. It takes about 20 minutes for the progress bar on the screen to fill. I don't necessarily wait, but I let it get more than half way before putting on the mask and then turning on the unit. I definitely feel the heat and humidity when things start.

Cut to 2 AM and I wake to a pretty dry throat. I feel no heat or humidity in air from my nasal pillows. I dip a finger in the water reservoir and it is cool. The ambient room temp is approx 70 degrees.

Is this normal? Here's the kicker- I've returned two humidifiers previously because the sleep tech says it's not normal. Are they wrong? If they're right, how can three humifiers be bad? Perhaps it's just the room temp kicking off the thermostat? Perhaps my throat is just dry because I'm still getting used to the cpap? (I'm in week 5).

Well I have the same thing going on . The read out showed know leakage. I have also returned one side of the unit it heats up In The beginning in the middle of the night I wake up with a dry mouth and throat.I also turned it up to 86 like the tech told me to then work mu way down because she said I will have to a just the humidity level . Well up at 86 there was no moisture. She check unit says its getting warm I tell her it does get warm in the beginning but cuts off and doesn't heat again.
Went in complained after a month I got a new heating part to the unit. But this one doesn't do any better . I think it's the other part of the unit . As you can say the heating unit can only work off of the program part of the unit telling it what to do.
Way to many people have complained of this problem.
I video my self to see if I opened my mouth and never did I open my mouth that air leaked out . Also the read out shows know leakage. But yet they say I need a full face mask .
Well I think there is a problem with this S9 series equipment .
Way to many people are complaining .

I had pretty much the same issues with the S9 system. I'm happy to go back onto the "other" machine my DME carries even if it is known as "less" machine.
I had no problems with humidification or dryness on my first PR S1 cpap when I started therapy on April 4. I also slept through the night once I got a mask and bed pillow I could tolerate. I had some issues with headaches and vertigo so Sleep doc wrote for an auto. The DME gave me the S9 because I asked for it after reading so many raving reviews here.
From day one I had NO humidification. ResMed sent the dme a new humidifer, didn't help. I purchased a new climate hose (even tho the machine noted the climate horse was connected) and that seemed to help to some degree, tho I never used any noticeable water and I don't live in a rain forest. I don't believe the machine was working as it's supposed to and ResMed wouldn't stand behind it even tho it was a new machine under warranty and the DME and Sleep DR talked to them. What would it have hurt for them to issue another S9 to use while they checked that one out? I had the same issue with preheating, no matter the setting. If I could get the chill off the air and fall asleep, I'd wake 1=3 hrs later due to cold dry air and total discomfort. The machine would NOT preheat again and by that time... who can fall asleep over again anyway? It's too frustrating. Who wants to feel dry and uncomfortable 24/7 when it doesn't have to be that way? I hadn't had these issues for my first 3 months!
I finally got so frustrated due to lack of sleep, feeling exhausted, and achy that I told the dme to come get the machine, exchange it or not, I didn't care at that point. The RT called my sleep Dr.
Sleep Dr called and encouraged me to allow the dme to set me up with a diff auto and stay with it at least 2 wks and call him. You can see what I'm using now, back to Phillips R. It's not as quiet, it's more difficult to breathe when first masked up, (I don't understand that but I remember being SOO impressed with how easy it was to breathe with the S9) the pressure seems different, so I haven't slept through the night with it as yet, but I am using 1/2 tank water a night. (only had it 4 nights and no, the dry discomfort isn't gone yet) I can get a nice air temp through the night so no waking to cold air but the Dr said just the air pressure alone can add to the feeling of dryness so it may take a little time... but even with the heated hose I do get some water in my mask that I never got with the climate line hose.

I agree... way too many people are having these same issues, while others have a perfectly functioning machine.