Phillips Respironics Remstar CPAP Dissasembly, Repair and Cleaning. Recall info in description.

EDIT and UPDATE 6/22/21 - I was misinformed with my previous call with Phillips and the A-Flex and C-Flex units ARE recalled. My units are from 2009 and 2010 FYI. If you put your serial number in the recall site below make sure to include the number with the additional 4 number/digits after without any spaces. If you write it with a space or incorrectly it will come back as "Not Affected By Recall" which I think is misleading as it should say this is not a proper SN and please re-enter. My machine SN starts with the P025..... and that is a Zero and not the Letter "O". Please enter this in correctly or you will think your machine is safe from the recall when it is not.

Best of luck!

This video is to show how I (a novice) cleaned, inspected and lubricated my machine. This is how the Remstar A-Flex and C-Flex units are assembled and other Remstar units may be the same. This was made prior to the Recall of some units but it's a good way to diagnose if a unit has foam that is breaking down. I am not a repair tech and this is for entertainment purposes. Please contact Phillips Respironics if you need assistance but they will not encourage you to do what I have done here as there is a liability issue.

The foam a the bottom of the machine should be inspected for deterioration of the material. If you notice and issue contact Phillips for advice. I also do not use an ozone cleaner which may add to deterioration of some materials per Phillips.

[richardflaherty]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. I was able to fix my machine after watching it.
Doug, my wife, and I have agreed that IF we ever have another baby boy, we will name him Doug. However, since we are in our seventies, that might not happen, so we are getting a new puppy and will name him Doug. Thanks again.

[onerednail]

I have an 8 year old model, the circuit board was red and the intake setup was reversed, but the parts and steps were exactly the same. I'm so happy I found this video. I literally could not get thru to Phillips tech support to find out where to take this to be repaired. The motor was getting noisy, just needed oil and a good cleaning. System is silent like it's new again. THANK YOU THANK YOU!

[peterc]

I still use one of these as my travelling machine.A few years back it started making a high pitch whine so I took it back to the hospital that provided it. They provided a new, more modern machine but let me keep this one. When I got home, I took the thing apart and placed one single drop of light machine oil on the axle of the spinning thing - problem solved. It still works fine and quiet and yes, I have taken the foam out even though it was in good condition.

[fogodechao]

Doug, you saved my butt with this fix! Have the exact machine and I haven't used for years because of this issue. Wouldn't you know it my back-up machine that I started using instead for years had a short circuit last night and filled my mask with the smell of ozone and electric burn. I had the worst sleep of my life last night and the other machine is toast. I pulled out this old one and said, "maybe someone else is dealing with the same issue." Found your video and in about 1 hours time, had my old machine up and running.

BTW, the top clear plastic cover was hard to get off as another commenter mentioned ater you take all the screws out. I used a heat gun gently to warm up everything and then it finally came off... Some sticky stuff there so IDK if it was old oil / grime or maybe sealant but it came unstuck. Be careful with heat guns though, can melt plastic easily so use with care.

[tallgrass]

Thx Doug. My foam looked fine but I covered it with one layer of clingwrap for less out-gassing and a better seal as I saw dust in tracks where the case above touched. As the foam is porous, some small amount of dust must have been moving through it. I can't hear any extra noise, so I'm puzzled why the inlet of the base housing is open and relies on sealing against the foam.
More significant are the ridges in the plastic where the foam filter touches at the bottom of its hole. It is smooth on the other 3 sides so sealing is fine there. The foam conforms to partially fill the areas between the grooves but it is only partial. I levelled the surface with BluTac and expect less dust will be seen next time I open the unit up.

[caringiscuring]

Sir in my case this pump blower having lots of foam particles how to open this pump i am really worried i am just 25 and having chest pain and throat pain and i am worried for cancer now tomorrow i am thinking of buying resmed air sense 10 elite 😭😭,

[javtimestwo]

I once had this machine but after the Philips recall I immediately searched for a replacement. Since the Philips replacement was bound to take many months, I decided to get the AirSense 11 from a local DME at a reduced price.
About 18 months later my replacement arrived and it is the DreamStation 1. I am very confused why they sent the 1 instead of the DreamStation 2. Maybe someone here has had a similar experience to share.
Anyway, Philips has totally chosen profit over the safety of the patients. That has been made very clear this the recall process.
I refuse to once again use the System One in this video

[jpeezy]

As long as you get the foam out will that eliminate risk of having issues? I did this but I’m worried if some foam particles are invisible or throughout the machine would it still be enough to cause any issues. I did try my best to clean the inside near the foam with alcohol clear the particles.

[peztang.]

Doug T .. thanks for showing this. Am thinking of cleaning mine. My Health insurance won't replace after 5 years anymore. Only until it breaks....they don't care if you breath in massive amounts of dirt, apparently.😀😀😀

[spottymaldoon]

A very competently presented video - thank you! On the foam, which is apparently just to give soft, compliant support for the fan assembly (reducing vibrational noise), I cannot see why this had to be included in the flow path - apart from the recall toxicity issues, it acts as a trap for all manner of airborne particles (some harmful eg tobacco smoke) which will offgas into the airflow thereafter. Surely the fan enclosure could have a ducted entry to bypass the foam? Or am I missing something obvious?

[tallgrass]

For what it is worth, recently after eleven years of every day use, my machine started to make resonance buzzing noises. Tapping firmly, especially where the humidifier joins the pump would stop it, sometimes for the rest of the night but sometimes it might recurr. Finally I thought some blu-tac might dampen the vibes so I separated the humidifier and put a thin 2mm strip of blu-tac about 8mm wide, across the top edge, just below the lid (so it is not stuck down), and down the front and back edges. RESULT beyond my wildest dreams. A fortnight later it is still working and has never sounded so quiet.
I think Philips should have a rubber gasket on the humidifier to do the same job and be able to claim at least a 6dB lower noise level.

[marineman]

Are there any concerns about the dead space removing the foam creates? Didn’t know if removing affected the machines performance in any way or if the foam solely acts as a noise dampener and nothing else. Thanks!

[flycorvus]

Great video tutorial, thank you! I'm just cleaning my unit, after 4 years.
(btw your video is mirrored) :-))
Take care!

[mahtabchowdhury]

Very helpful video, thanks.
By the can you please tell me how to replace the screen. My screen doesn’t show any thything

[desivillanueva]

great video i think you scan replace the foam with silicon scar sheets from CVS I am sure u need to build it up... silicon is pretty innert

[ketoasd]

Great video Doug. Is the foam filter at the back of the machine the same as the sound abatement foam? I already took out the sound abatement foam but still hesitant to use the cpap machine because of that small rectangular filter at the back.

[louv]

Hi nice video. Quick question my system one CPAP is throwing very little pressure no matter what number you set it at. Do you have an idea of what could be wrong?

[gregwilson]

great instruction Doug, thanks, do you have any experience with the power supply, mine seems to have a touchy power supply plug, have to move it around, thinking it maybe a break in the cable, although the cable doesnt move much ever so Im doubting this.

[royalfolkspark]

The foam is the problem, and you put it back in ?

[sigfredozepeda]

Hi, I checked my System One (from 2010 too) and my unit was affected. but when I did the registration part, I got this message: Please note the affected device you have registered is now past both its warranty period and useful life, which is typically five years, and may not be replaced. so now what? Am I out of luck? your video is really good by the way. Thank you