Respironics Dreamstation runs out of water...

My wife's BiPap Auto Dreamstation runs out of water every night. We called the company and the so-called Therapist gave her the spiel that it is because her pressures are too high. What? Why would a company design a machine which could not retain enough water for the entire night of sleeping under the worst case scenario? It is absurd to think that they put out a machine without taking into consideration the size of the water chamber needed for someone who uses the highest pressure of the machine. And my wife does not even use a full face mask; and the humidification setting is on 2, when it actually goes to 5! She also uses a heated tube which helps warming the air and keeps back a lot of the water condensation. In our minds, this appears to be complete incompetence on the part of the company. Does anyone have a solution which might help her?

You are probably leaking or mouth breathing. Get a sleepyhead chart up for opinions

companion wrote:And my wife does not even use a full face mask;

That's probably the problem - she is losing air out her mouth.

We can give you some advice if you post a Sleepyhead chart of a typical night. Otherwise, we are guessing.

Even a big company like Respironics can't fool Mother Nature, all you have to do is follow them. Stop leaks (mouthbreathing) ect, raise room temp or turn back the HH. Or do all of them. Jim

companion wrote:My wife's BiPap Auto Dreamstation runs out of water every night. We called the company and the so-called Therapist gave her the spiel that it is because her pressures are too high. What? Why would a company design a machine which could not retain enough water for the entire night of sleeping under the worst case scenario? It is absurd to think that they put out a machine without taking into consideration the size of the water chamber needed for someone who uses the highest pressure of the machine. And my wife does not even use a full face mask; and the humidification setting is on 2, when it actually goes to 5! She also uses a heated tube which helps warming the air and keeps back a lot of the water condensation. In our minds, this appears to be complete incompetence on the part of the company. Does anyone have a solution which might help her?

I complained about this problem to the Sleep Dr. that prescribed the machine and he told me I must be having a lot of leaks. When the humidity in the house is low (like now in winter) I find that sometimes my chamber is empty in the morning with the setting on 3. I agree it could be mouth leaks. I haven't tried running a humdifier in the room but I am sure that would help too.

How many hours of sleep using the machine is she getting?
What is the ambient humidity of your household?
What are the leak numbers? Don't know.....get available software. https://sleep.tnet.com/equipment
What pressure is being used?

All the above will affect water consumption.

A setting of 2 even in the most driest of ambient humidity households should last 7 to 8 hours or more before the water is used up assuming filled to max fill level.
Something isn't right...either she's got some massive leaks going on (it will affect water consumption) or there's maybe something wrong with the unit.

Rule out the obvious usual stuff first though.

companion wrote:My wife's BiPap Auto Dreamstation runs out of water every night. We called the company and the so-called Therapist gave her the spiel that it is because her pressures are too high. What? Why would a company design a machine which could not retain enough water for the entire night of sleeping under the worst case scenario? It is absurd to think that they put out a machine without taking into consideration the size of the water chamber needed for someone who uses the highest pressure of the machine. And my wife does not even use a full face mask; and the humidification setting is on 2, when it actually goes to 5! She also uses a heated tube which helps warming the air and keeps back a lot of the water condensation. In our minds, this appears to be complete incompetence on the part of the company. Does anyone have a solution which might help her?

As previously noted, maybe she DOES need to use a full face mask.
Losing therapy air out one's mouth will take humidity with it. Plus, mouth leakage also increases the airflow which exacerbates the air/water loss.

Uhhhhh.......not really! Or, at least, not recently. It's been about the same for the last 12 years.

But, the manufacturers have made the HH tanks somewhat smaller over the years ( about 11 - 13 ).


Legacy Models Manufactured 2001 - 2007.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... #specs-tab

Water Capacity: 1 2/3 cups (400 ml) at recommended water level


M Series Models Manufactured 2006 - 2009.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... #specs-tab

Water Capacity: 1 1/3 cups (325 ml) at recommended water level


System One 50 and 60 Series Manufactured ~2010 - 2014

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... #specs-tab

Water Capacity: 325 mL (1 1/3 cups)


DreamStation Manufactured ~ 2015 - present

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/pr-dre ... #specs-tab

Water Chamber Capacity: 325mL (11 oz)


Den

.

Thanks for posting the capacity Den. I found that very interesting!

I keep a humidifier on in my bedroom in the winter (Walgreens cheap model) and my machine humidity setting is at 5 all the time. My DreamStation tank will last me about 7 hours no problem.

MrsRinPDX

My Dreamstation tank is dry at about the six-hour mark. I'm only 40+ days into treatment. Probably because of OSA, it's been years since I've slept longer than 5-6 hours, attributing it to age insomnia. Limited tank time isn't really a problem for me right now because my sleep is so much better (uninterrupted by several complete wakeups), but it does seems like a night's sleep should be longer. A couple of times I've added a some water, but then I'm wide awake and that sleep session is done.

Well it sounds like you need to get a room humidifier. I bought one of the Vick's cool air humidifier: https://vicks.com/en-us/shop-products/h ... humidifier

When the furnace is running constantly during the bitter cold, I can get through 8 hours, no problem.

This is a very annoying problem and it disturbs your sleep which is a terrible thing. I have high pressure and NO issue with leaks I go through the water.

I understand the Intellipap's have a larger humidifier tank. I am thinking now that my machine is 5 years old I may purchase one to replace my PR System One.


I wish you well

Nope, she uses a nasal interface and is probably breathing through the mouth.

If one is mouth breathing would their machine report low AHI's like 1.6? I ask because my Dreamstation runs dry too. But then I sleep for 10 hours a night.

I am having/had a similar problem with my Philips Dream station BiPap.

Machine: 2018 Philips Dream station BiPap, Script: IPAP:17/ EPAP:8
Current Mask: ResMed Swift nasal pillow (very small flow through vent holes)

With my current nasal mask and a humidity setting of '1' makes it barely 8 hours with no leaks.

Changing to a face mask or raising the humidity level substantially decreases the time.
If I run a full face with a humidity setting of 2 it makes it about four hours.
My original mask was a full face and I couldn’t make it 6 hours on a humidity '1' setting.
Another full face I tried the air was so loud coming out of the vent holes I couldn’t sleep (high pressure script)

I have talked to my sleep tech about this. In looking at my Cpap printout he determined it’s my high prescription, as my leaks are minimal with a full face and nonexistent with the nasal pillows.

When my nose is congested and I must use a full face, I can’t use the humidity on the machine, unless I plan on adding water to it every 4 hours.

I do wish they had a bigger water tank to accommodate us outliers. I have been thinking about ordering another tank and modifying the inner tube upward, to allow 3-4 more ounces.

Karl 1

The Phillips DreamMachine humidifier straight up holds half as much water as my old cpap period. It is a bad design. I use nasal pillow for 14years perfect seal setting of 3 water runs out in 3 hours setting of 2 maybe lasts 5 even at one I have to fill twice a night if I sleep more than 6 hours. I have tested this side by side with my old cpap and my old I can go 12+ hours on level 3 which very moist air. Dreamstation On level one is too dry and still does not last the night it is BS. I have complained to my local supplier who finally admits it is a problem they get a ton of complaints and they have complained to Phillips but still no fix because they made the tank too small

Question - how do you know you have run out of water if it is during the night? I have a DreamStation, also, and I have run out a couple of times when I was in bed longer than 8 hours, but I was not aware of it until morning when I took the humidifier tank out to be filled. Is that a problem or a danger to the machine if the humidifier is running and there is no water in the tank. No alarm went off - at least nothing that I heard.