I have been using a new CPAP machine from Philips Respironics for 28 nights. It is designated as "REMstar Pro C-Flex +". Last night the machine exhibited cranky behavior, so today I have been trying to determine the cause of the problem, and I have been exploring the machine and its manual more thoroughly. I have some comments and questions, and I thought I ought to raise these now, since it appears to me that this machine will soon be very popular among CPAP users.

I think the machine is very quiet. I believe I can't hear it above mask noise (ResMed Mirage Quattro) when it is operating normally, and my hearing is excellent - for a 74-year-old. I sleep well, according to the machine. The display is superior to that on the company's previous machine which had an annoying and pointless cover flap. It provides more information and is more easily read. It would greatly benefit from an LED backlight, however, since it is supposed to be used at a level below the sleeper, and convenient areas located near the floor in a bedroom are seldom well lit.

Today I discovered a very annoying "feature" of this machine. The plug-in power supply is a 120-volt only unit. The power supply on the machine I had before was, like most relatively expensive portable appliances these days, including Philips/Norelco electric shavers, also usable on 240-volt lines found elsewhere. I am told that the machine operates on 12 volt AC or DC. (My power supply output is labeled 12V AC 1.6A. Curiously, it is not labeled "made in China"!) I must now obtain a suitable dual voltage power supply with a proprietary connector, not a readily obtainable beast. I am very glad that I did not discover this "feature" while traveling! Philips should correct this. (I have a phone call message in to customer support now.)

Last night the machine went into a strange mode. It stopped cycling altogether and blew steadily, making additional noise, perhaps due to increased air flow. This happened when I reconnected my mask during the night and breathed for an automatic startup. I cured it, at least for the time, by turning the machine off and then on, after which it functioned normally. This morning I cleaned the air filter for the very first time, but on visual inspection it did not appear to need cleaning.

The SD card is an attractive feature, at least potentially. I haven't had a look at the SD card yet, but I will buy a USB adapter and have a go at it. The adapter will at least be useful in downloading photos from my camera.

I went directly to the web to investigate my problem, with little success. Philips has not yet put the manual for this machine on its site, but of course I have a printed one. The pdf would be handy to have on my laptop when traveling. I have not perused the manual, but the machine operation is quite intuitive. Philips has no "contact us" button on their web site so I will have to send my comments to them by snail mail. It would seem to be in their interest to provide an email portal to technical support. My local provider is busy getting information on this machine and has been very helpful.

I also have the System One Heated Humidifier, but though I have filled its tank, I have not set it above zero at night.

Any comments or assistance will be gratefully accepted.

Sounds like C-Flex was turned off for whatever reason. Some sort of glitch. I would keep an eye on it because you may have some sort of defect or something going on.

You should try to pin point what you did when it went wrong. I assume you got up to use the bathroom or something, and you took off your mask or hose... Did you turn off the machine manually? or did you alow it to detect your disconnect and it shut itself off? This in combination with you turning it back on by breathing into the hose rather than manually restarting it might have something to do with it.

To be honest, anything computerized can have strange issues like this. It could be a glitch that only happens if you have a very specific set of circumstances like if you have your pressure set to 12 and you take off your mask at 2:00am and the machine shuts itself off by its self and you restart it with some puffs of air at 2:05am the machine glitches and turns off the c-flex until you "reboot" your machine by turning it off and on. Then, if you do the exact same thing again but chance one thing just a little, it wont hit the same glitch.

This is all just speculation at this point, but it would benifit you to document as much as possible about the incident while its fresh in your mind. It would be interesting to see what the memory card recorded about the whole thing.

go into the setup and shutoff the auto off....................
BERT

BONEHEAD ALERT

How embarrassing! I unplugged the wrong wall-wart, the one that supplies a lamp on my nightstand. The power supply provided with the Respironics machine is indeed a variable voltage input unit that I can use traveling. It has a 12 V 5 A output to a standard connector. It can be easily replaced.

My apologies to Philips!