Top 5 Maintenance Tips for your Home Oxygen Machine
Undergoing oxygen therapy is a life changing event. You as a patient with a lung condition, now needs to have oxygen with you at all times. This means that your Home Oxygen Machine is going to be running every time you are at home and so over time, as we know, things can start to get old and out of shape. Therefore, we are giving you our Top 5 maintenance tips to keep your Home Oxygen Machine fresh and working like a new one.
Our first tip:
1. Well-ventilated Areas
An Oxygen Machine pulls air from the surrounding environment to create the medical grade concentrated oxygen, therefore you need to avoid crowded spaces. The machine requires at least 6 feet of space around it to properly pull and exhaust the air. To achieve the best performance out of you home oxygen machine, avoid small corners, bathrooms and closets.
2. Bust the Dust
Keeping your home oxygen unit clean is extremely important, you can’t expect medical grade oxygen if there is dust going in to your machine. The outside of your machine needs to always be clean of dust and pet hair. Keep in mind that if the unit itself needs to be cleaned frequently, it is a sign that the filters may need to be cleaned more frequently as well.
3. Run for at least 10 Hours a Month
As a Home Oxygen Machine user, you need to ensure that your device is running for at least 10 hours per month (These do not have to be consecutive). Running the device ensures that the lubricants keep moving and that the sieve bed doesn’t get hard. The purpose of your device’s sieve bed is to filter out the nitrogen and other trace gases from the air and deliver you with medical grade oxygen.
4. Cannula Cleanliness
It is extremely important to remember about your Nasal Cannula and tubing. We suggest weekly cleans of the Cannula with mild soap and water (Don’t let the water enter the tubing). Your device’s tubing does not need to be replaced monthly, although we suggest replacing your Nasal Cannula on a monthly basis. Be sure to check for any punctures or twists in your tubing that can hinder your oxygen delivery.
5. Filter Cleaning/Replacing
The majority of Home Oxygen machines have either a Gross Particle Filter (GPF), a HEPA
filter, or both. The GPF catches larger particles, such as pet hair and dust. Patients should inspect their GPF at least once a month and if dirty, washed with warm soapy water. These filters only need to be replaced once they will not rinse clean or if they get deformed. The HEPA filters are there to catch the finer particles and typically look like white paper housed in clear plastic. We suggest inspecting these filters quarterly and replacing them once the paper appears to be dirty.
There we have it, our Top 5 Maintenance Tips for Your Home Oxygen Machine. We hope that through reading this guide you have learned something and can use these tips in order to achieve your Oxygen Machine’s full potential.