Noisy internal fan - ResMed AirSense 10

JLROhio · Post by **JLROhio** » Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:10 pm

Well, my CPAP machine, after 14k + hours (and almost 5 years) has finally started to have some issues.

Last night, when I went to put it in Warm-Up mode, I heard a very noticeable internal noise coming from the device.
I narrowed the noise down to the internal turbine fan motor, after removing the humidifier tank, the hoses, and opening the left side door that holds the filter in place.

I then connected everything back up and turned it on and it seemed to run just fine, with no noticeable noise that would keep me up...so I put it on my nasal pillows and slept through the night with no issues. (Note: I sleep with a loud fan on in the room for "white noise"...so that could have drowned out any noise the CPAP was making)

After waking up and the machine going into cool-down mode, I noted that the internal sound noise was still present. I let the machine do it's cool down thing and left it.

Later I came back to diagnose it some more and recorded the below video.

I know this is obviously not a good sound for the machine to have but I was curious to hear from others who may have had the same internal noise as to how long can I expect to get out of the machine before it dies for good. I was thinking of opening it up fully to further diagnose it...and to make sure there's no piece of wayward hair or some other dust that got past the filter but haven't yet gone in.

I know others have reported fan noise on their ResMed's... Was it similar to this...or did the fan just stop working all together soon thereafter?

What a bad time to try and get a replacement machine...Luckily for me, I'll get my replacement through the VA - and the VA does not appear to be replacing their issued Philips machines so maybe I'll get lucky and they'll have a ResMed.

Click this link ----> https://imgur.com/a/ZinN5Fb to hear the noisy fan motor (don't forget to turn on the sound)

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JLROhio · Post by **JLROhio** » Wed Jul 28, 2021 8:29 pm

Quick Update...

I figured I had nothing to lose, plus I was really curious as to what the inside of my machine looked like after 14,000 hours, so I opened it up and disassembled it down to the internal turbine fan motor housing.

I was shocked at the amount of dust and dirt that had gotten inside of the machine - I always use a filter and usually change it every few weeks.
I have a dusty house (thanks to Central heating and air) and if I don't wipe down things, after about a month or two, you can start to see household dust on furniture, etc...
I don't have any pets, nor smokers in the house so it's just plain ole dust that everyone gets inside a typical sealed up home.

Anyway, I've posted some pics on Imgur of what the fan housing looked like after I disassembled my CPAP, including the foam that is inside of the ResMed Fan housing...and frankly I'm still shocked at how much dust was able to get past the inline side filter - frankly, I think we need better filters for our ResMed's (sorta like the Philips machines have)...and the filter needs to be a little bit more air-tight.

Here's the link to my Imgur page of pictures and movie of the dirty fan motor/internals ----> https://imgur.com/a/oCH9y0K

I took everything apart and soaked it in warm soapy water (with the exception of the actual fan turbine motor (which is enclosed in a sealed plastic case). I was able to get some very tiny q-tip ends into the fan to at least get the dust and dirt off of the fan blades. There's also some video's of me running the fan motor, after cleaning it, outside of the fan housing as I was testing it for additional noise, as well as a final video showing that the fan motor no longer makes noise when it's in cool-down mode.

After full re-assembly, everything works fine and the motor no longer makes any noise and is quiet as a mouse. I don't know if I bought myself an extra few nights of this machine or if it will be good for another 14k hours, but I'm happy with the results so far. I'm also hopeful that my machine is in good working order, as I know others need a replacement machine more than I do due to the Philips recall - If another user can get a replacement ResMed - than I'll feel good knowing that I've done my good deed for the day!

I'll post a couple of pics here in case Imgur ever goes down...

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Fri Jul 30, 2021 1:48 pm

Aside from a little "schmutz", that foam looks spiffy!
Kudos to Resmed!

JLROhio · Post by **JLROhio** » Fri Jul 30, 2021 3:00 pm

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑
Fri Jul 30, 2021 1:48 pm
Aside from a little "schmutz", that foam looks spiffy!
Kudos to Resmed!

The foam cleaned up real well too!
After almost 5 years and 14,000 hours of use - there is absolutely NO indication of any sort of foam breakdown or any other issues - it looks like a new piece of foam.

ILoveFlowers · Post by **ILoveFlowers** » Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:57 am

That was amazing. So it was just plain old dust that was causing that annoying whine? Did you do anything besides cleaning, like did you lubricate the fan or anything?

JLROhio · Post by **JLROhio** » Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:27 pm

ILoveFlowers wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:57 am
So it was just plain old dust that was causing that annoying whine? Did you do anything besides cleaning, like did you lubricate the fan or anything?

I honestly don't know what was causing the annoying whine.
Other than cleaning all the other parts, the only thing I did with the fan turbine motor was reach in with an alcohol soaked q-tip end to clean what I could.
I did not take the fan turbine motor out of its enclosed, sealed, plastic housing. So, no lubrication was completed - there was no way to take it apart and hope that it would go back together. The turbine fan motor is very well sealed inside its plastic housing...whereas all the other parts involved in the flow of air are very simple to disassemble for a full cleaning in warm soapy water and allowed to thoroughly dry before reassembly.

Now the bad news...

The annoying whine has returned. I will be taking my machine to the VA this week and ask about a replacement (assuming they even have a ResMed available).
If they don't have one, I'll ask if they at least have a machine in the back with a working fan motor and maybe a bad motherboard...and hope they'd be willing to provide me the replacement motor. I'm sure this is a loooooong shot but I'm trying to plan for Plan C, D, and E...if Plan A & B don't work!

emmetjames3 · Post by **emmetjames3** » Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:35 pm

My 11-month old AirSense 10 suddenly began "whining" with a high-pitched scream that changes pitch with my breathing. I maintain it religiously and clean it more often than required but have never tinkered with the internal guts. I'll try a few experiments and will report results.

JLROhio · Post by **JLROhio** » Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:26 pm

emmetjames3 wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:35 pm
My 11-month old AirSense 10 suddenly began "whining" with a high-pitched scream that changes pitch with my breathing. I maintain it religiously and clean it more often than required but have never tinkered with the internal guts. I'll try a few experiments and will report results.

If you elect to disassemble your AirSense 10, watch this video before doing so...it will help explain what you will encounter and is a good guide to follow.
Of course, take pics yourself as you disassemble it, in case you need to refer back when re-assembling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpI0AVoCG3M

There's nothing that you can really adjust or tweak...there's only cleaning of the internal parts (other than the motor itself)...if you choose to do so.
Recommend, if you choose to do so, that you ONLY use something like an unscented baby shampoo (or very little Dawn) in warm-to hot water for soaking the parts.
Rinse thoroughly and when done rinsing, RINSE again!

JLROhio · Post by **JLROhio** » Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:32 pm

emmetjames3 wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:35 pm
My 11-month old AirSense 10 suddenly began "whining" with a high-pitched scream that changes pitch with my breathing. I maintain it religiously and clean it more often than required but have never tinkered with the internal guts. I'll try a few experiments and will report results.

Was this a one-time event?
Sometimes if my tank does not seat properly when inserting, it will have a different sound (but not a high-pitched scream!

) as I breath in and out.
Reseating the tank usually fixes that.

There is a part, on the back side of your CPAP machine, that channels the air from the humidifier tank to your tubing that you can replace. It's the Air Outlet and our sponsor carries it. It's VERY easy to change.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... air-outlet

I've replaced it on mine, when I noted some black substance on the silicone that would not come off with cleaning.
Even after I replaced mine, I went to town trying to clean that black substance off and it still would not come off.
Only at that point, I then soaked it in a bleach solution and the black still would not come off...
I don't know what it was, but it has never come back on the replacement Air Outlet.

ILoveFlowers · Post by **ILoveFlowers** » Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:58 pm

JLROhio wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:27 pm
Now the bad news...

The annoying whine has returned.

This seems like the one downside of the Resmed, there are so many comments online about it developing a whining sound. I hope you get yours sorted soon!

JLROhio · Post by **JLROhio** » Tue Aug 03, 2021 9:10 pm

emmetjames3 wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:35 pm
My 11-month old AirSense 10 suddenly began "whining" with a high-pitched scream that changes pitch with my breathing. I maintain it religiously and clean it more often than required but have never tinkered with the internal guts. I'll try a few experiments and will report results.

Do you have any updates? I'm curious as to what you found?

JLROhio · Post by **JLROhio** » Tue Aug 03, 2021 9:15 pm

ILoveFlowers wrote: ↑
Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:58 pm

JLROhio wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:27 pm
Now the bad news...

The annoying whine has returned.
This seems like the one downside of the Resmed, there are so many comments online about it developing a whining sound. I hope you get yours sorted soon!

I have not seen many comments online about ResMed's developing a whining sound...I guess I need to get out more often!

Seeing as the insurance industry sorta started the whole 5 year replacement cycle thing with CPAP's...I'm guessing they knew something about the longevity of these things.
My machine is almost 5 years old. Maybe 5 years is the mean time to failure point - some go on longer, some shorter...but 5 years may be the point where CPAP's start to go downhill at a faster pace.

RevRob · Post by **RevRob** » Mon Jan 24, 2022 1:00 pm

I just came across your post from this past July because I've been researching a very similar noise. (Thank you for posting the video/audio -- very helpful). If our house is very still at night (not always the case -- our city's airport runs flight patterns over our neighborhood), I hear this noise and it keeps me awake. I first noticed it in the morning after turning off the machine. I think mine is 5 years old or more. The sounds I hear almost sound like radio transmissions from outer space -- while CPAP is running, almost like voices, and when I turn it off in the morning, it is more like a whirring noise. I guess that's the cool-down mode. I emailed ResMed about this and have heard nothing. Were you able to fix this fan noise, or did you end up replacing your AirSense? Thank you.

JLROhio · Post by **JLROhio** » Mon Jan 24, 2022 7:22 pm

RevRob wrote: ↑
Mon Jan 24, 2022 1:00 pm
Were you able to fix this fan noise, or did you end up replacing your AirSense? Thank you.

I have not yet had my machine replaced - I'm on a Veterans Affairs (VA) waiting list for a machine and I have been since September.
Luckily, my machine has kept going and still works every night. It still makes the same noise during warmup and cooldown periods.
I don't smell any crazy smells that would indicate the motor was burning up or excess friction was causing additional damage.
As long as it still works, I'm ok - especially in light of the shortage of machines; as others may need a machine if theirs breaks or someone is newly diagnosed with OSA.

Frankly, I think the VA has forgot about me!

I have a tele-health appointment w/the VA in March to renew my annual supplies. (they verify my usage, etc...and send me a years worth of supplies)
I'll follow-up then to find out what their supply chain is looking like for a replacement machine.

I'm over 16k hours on my machine (approx. 5.5 years of use) - It's also a CDMA!

cleothetorpedo · Post by **cleothetorpedo** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 7:39 pm

JLROhio wrote: ↑
Tue Aug 03, 2021 9:15 pm

ILoveFlowers wrote: ↑
Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:58 pm

JLROhio wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:27 pm
Now the bad news...

The annoying whine has returned.
This seems like the one downside of the Resmed, there are so many comments online about it developing a whining sound. I hope you get yours sorted soon!
I have not seen many comments online about ResMed's developing a whining sound...I guess I need to get out more often!

New forum user here. Appreciate the time people are taking to talk about this situation. My airsense 10 is 5 years old and makes noise, it varies as I inhale and exhale. Luckily it doesn't keep me awake. I hope to find a day to take it apart and clean everything.

I just wanted to add that until recently, I have been using SoClean ozone cleaning machine daily. With the Phillips recall I have decided to stop. While reading up on it, I seem to recall coming across a "memo" from Resmed saying "we don't recommend using SoClean, it isn't dangerous but we think it can cause a noisy motor, it's up to you if you think it's worth using it."

Out of curiosity are you using SoClean ozone cleaning machine on your Airsense 10?

Noisy internal fan - ResMed AirSense 10

Noisy internal fan - ResMed AirSense 10

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