How to confirm whether heated tube is working?

[jaojee]

I'm just starting with CPAP therapy. I have a REMstar Auto A-Flex and System One Heated Humidifier system with heated tubing. Is there a sure way to test to see if the heated tubing is actually heating as it should? I was told it doesn't necessarily feel warm when running so... I'm just not confident it's heating at all and am trying to figure out a way to be sure one way or the other.

[Pugsy]

It's hard to measure the temperature but you might try this.
First make sure that the machine is at least seeing the heated hose because when plugged in properly the machine should automatically change to the 15 mm heated hose setting.
You have to go into the clinical setup menu to see and confirm that the machine has recognized the heated hose.

Do you know how to go into the clinical setup menu? If not this explains how and there is a little video at the bottom of the page.
http://www.apneaboard.com/pr-system-one ... structions
Probably wouldn't hurt to go request the provider/clinical manual for your machine here
http://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-p ... tup-manual

Once you have made sure the machine is recognizing the hose you can set the machine for a setting of 1 which is 4 degrees above room temperature...and let it run for maybe 15 minutes and see how warm the air feels..it isn't going to feel very warm.
Then change it to a setting of 5 for about 15 minutes which is the highest temperature setting and should deliver 16 degrees above room temperature. That should be noticeable but it probably will feel far from "hot".
There is also a preheat feature (your user manual should describe how to do the preheat feature) that you can use to test things.

While some people will complain that the higher temperature settings will feel like a sauna to them I have never felt that way myself. Perhaps it is because in the winter when I use the highest temps my bedroom is already very cold anyway so 16 degrees above 55 degrees isn't going to be all that warm to me. Remember our bodies are 98.6 degrees so anything less than that is going to feel a bit cool just because of the difference in temps. 86 degrees is warmer air for sure but still less than our body temp and thus may not feel as warm as it is.

I don't know of any way to actually measure the air temp in the hose. I suppose there is some sort of thermometer or similar measuring device but I have never looked into it.

[jaojee]

Thank you so much for the detailed reply. I do know the humidifier is working because the plate and water get warm. I do know it recognizes my heated tube because it shows 15H for tube type.

My understanding is that your steps are more about the working of the humidifier and I'm not sure if that's a sure test about the tube. I had a lot of condensation last night. It might be just too high a humidity setting, but I also wanted to confirm the heated tube was working correctly, since that is also supposed to help with the condensation. The tech I'm working with didn't know of a specific test to confirm the tube was heating properly, but it seems to me there should be some way.

[Pugsy]

No..my steps were for changing the temperature setting is for the air in the hose and not for humidity to be delivered.

The only way to change the humidity when the heated hose is attached is in the clinical setup menu and the setting choices are 1 through 3.. When the heated hose is attached those setting choices of 1 through 5 that you change by turning the knob only affects the temperature of the air in the hose when you are out of the clinical setup menu.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/pr-sys ... ifier.html
This humidifier offers three levels of humidification (70, 80 or 90 percent) and the heated tube has five levels of temperature available, ranging from 4 to 16 degrees above the room temperature. These two features work together to deliver the optimum humidification level at the mask.

[Tatooed Lady]

Crank the hose setting to 5. Let the machine run for 5 min (approximately), then grab the tube. It should feel relatively warm. That's how I checked mine, anyhow. Works for me.

[Pugsy]

If you had a lot of condensation last night..where was it? In the long hose or at the mask level? If at the mask level which mask are you using.
See this thread second and third posts
viewtopic/t94035/Pugsys-Pointers-3Deali ... -road.html

What humidity setting (1 through 3) were you using (you need to go into the clinical setup menu to see this setting) and which number of 1 through 5 was the temperature setting? And finally about what temperature is your bedroom during the night?

[Guest1]

I have a similar issue. I have the PRS1 60 series auto with heated hose. I set my humidity to 1 and tube temp to 3 and go to sleep.

In the morning, Sleepyhead shows that my humidity is set to "x3" everyday for the last 70+ days. And Heated tubing to "No" every once in a while. Whats going on? Is the tube somehow getting disconnected? The electric points do look quite flimsy and the fit of the electric points is not at all snug in the design. Has anyone else experienced this? Or is it a bug in SH?

[Pugsy]

Sleepyhead shows that my humidity is set to "x3" everyday for the last 70+ days. And Heated tubing to "No" every once in a while. Whats going on? Is the tube somehow getting disconnected? The electric points do look quite flimsy and the fit of the electric points is not at all snug in the design. Has anyone else experienced this? Or is it a bug in SH?

I am pretty sure it's just a bug in SleepyHead because I have found that the settings part of the statistics page is rarely totally correct.

[jaojee]

Crank the hose setting to 5. Let the machine run for 5 min (approximately), then grab the tube. It should feel relatively warm. That's how I checked mine, anyhow. Works for me.

That's what I would have thought, however my tech disagreed. My tube has never felt at all warm to the touch regardless of settings. But I was told this doesn't mean the tube isn't heating, that the tube won't necessarily feel warm even when it's heated. Is my tech just wrong and that that simple test is sufficient to say that my tube is not working properly?

[Pugsy]

When I use my PR S1 with heated hose...humidity set to max of 3 and air temperature of the hose set to max of 5 and the hose doesn't feel warm to me if I just grab the hose.
And BTW...neither does my S9 Climateline hose feel all that warm when I set it to 86 degrees.
Unless my hands are really cold.

[Tatooed Lady]

From what little I understand...The coil in the hose conducts the heat. Or at very least, where it plugs into the humidifier lid. My brains not sure, and I have a cover on the hose to keep me from peeking.
Seems to me though, that if you don't feel SOME warmth through the hose at the warmest setting, something isn't right. Right?

Maybe I grabbed it when my truck was cold. I recall a cozy warm hose.

[palerider]

From what little I understand...The coil in the hose conducts the heat. Or at very least, where it plugs into the humidifier lid. My brains not sure, and I have a cover on the hose to keep me from peeking.
Seems to me though, that if you don't feel SOME warmth through the hose at the warmest setting, something isn't right. Right?

Maybe I grabbed it when my truck was cold. I recall a cozy warm hose.

it doesn't have to be warm, just wamer enough from room temp to prevent the condensation.... which may not take much

[Pugsy]

Seems to me though, that if you don't feel SOME warmth through the hose at the warmest setting, something isn't right. Right?

Mine doesn't really feel all that warm to me but I know it is working because at my humidity settings and my cold bedroom this time of the year...if it wasn't working I would be having rain out all over the place. I have been there with the rain out issues back before the heated hoses and my preferred humidifier settings and my cold bedroom pretty much guarantees enormous amounts of rain out (the noise even woke my husband).

I think how someone perceives the warmth is subjective. Something feels warmer if the hands are cooler than it will feel if the hands are warmer.

People tend to think the hose should feel REALLY warm if things are working but that isn't necessarily the case.
I think how people perceive the warmth is another one of those YMMV things.

[JDS74]

If the room temp is about 70 degrees and the heated tube goes up 10 degrees above ambient, then the resulting 80 degree tube will still be about 15 degrees less than your temp and, for most folks, feel,cool.

Why not drop by a big nox store and get a cheap digital thermometer and measure the temp?

Just a thought.

[chunkyfrog]

I tried the ordinary hose on a cold night. After a bit, my nose felt uncomfortably cold.
I put the heated hose back on, and my nose was no longer cold.
Not very scientific, but close enough for gov't work.