In order to run at maximum efficiency, an oxygen concentrator needs to be used on a daily basis and for many hours at a time. When you frequently use a piece of equipment it has the opportunity to get bogged down by everyday dirt, dust, spills, and even mold! This is especially true for Home Oxygen Concentrators. Luckily, there are a few simple steps and guidelines you can follow to keep your Home Concentrator in a safe and like-new condition.
Keeping your oxygen concentrator in top working condition not only ensures effective and safe oxygen delivery but it may also extend the lifespan of your unit. Cleaning and maintaining your portable oxygen concentrator is an important step in owning and caring for your unit. By following a few simple steps and guidelines you can easily keep your concentrator in pristine, “like-new” condition!
An oxygen concentrator is a sophisticated piece of machinery, and like all other machines, it will need to be serviced regularly. Luckily, major maintenance outside of cleaning and changing of filters doesn’t need to be done very often. Many modern oxygen concentrators are for the most part, low maintenance. Here are the basics of how and when they should be serviced.
Dirty or dusty environments will cause the need for service quicker than if the air around it was always clean. Animal dander, pollen, everyday dust, and outside pollution will get caught in the filters, requiring it to be cleaned or changed sooner.
The Respironics SimplyGo mobile concentrator is one of the small wonders of the portable oxygen concentrators. It weighs only 10 lbs and can deliver both pulse dose oxygen, which is the usual for all portable oxygen concentrators, as well as continuous flow. Most of the time, the continuous flow models are bigger and heavier. The SimplyGo can put between 0.5 to 2 LPM (liters per minute) of continuous flow in 0.5 increments, as well as 72 ml/min of pulse dose oxygen.
This small and powerful portable oxygen concentrator is like all others, as far as needing to be serviced and maintenance from time to time. Anything that has that much sophisticated technology, and is important to your health should get the maintenance attention that it needs to continue working at its peak performance.
The Equinox is one of the newest and most exciting portable oxygen concentrators to be released by Sequal, the same brand that created the wonderful Eclipse series. Who knew they could improve on something like the Eclipse? The Equinox has the same wide range of oxygen settings as the Eclipse, with more features you’ve never seen before, and at just 14 lbs!
Your Equinox will keep working at peak performance and continue delivering the same high purity of oxygen, but you will need to do a few things periodically to keep it running smoothly. The Equinox is a robust machine, but just like with any other oxygen concentrator, or any other high tech electronic machine, it needs to be serviced and maintained.
You’ll be able to find instructions for taking care of your Equinox in the owner’s manual when you purchase it, but if you were wondering, here are the few and basic things you would need to do to take care of your SeQual Equinox.
It’s easy to keep your oxygen concentrator in good working order as long as you keep it clean and well maintained. Cleaning your portable oxygen concentrator, on the inside and the the filter, will prevent you from needing to buy a new one as soon as you would have, if you didn’t keep up on the maintenance. If you have a portable oxygen concentrator, you’ll also want to keep it clean so that it will look nicer when you take it out in public.
How to Clean The Outside of Your Oxygen Concentrator
Like all electronics, your oxygen concentrator is going to collect dirt and dust, and it will come in contact with substances that will make it slightly sticky, which will make the dirt and dust stick to it. Even if you try to avoid it, these things seem to get on the surface just anyway, just because you are using it. It’s easy to clean the outside, especially if you do it before it gets really dirty.
Humidifiers are not always necessary, and for some people who have to use an oxygen concentrator, they are there for comfort. You may have purchased your oxygen concentrator without a humidifier, only to find that your nasal passages and throat get very dry when you use it. This can cause a lot of discomfort, and even damage to your nasal passages.
You might find that you only need a humidifier during the cold months of the year when the air is very dry, or if you’ve moved to an arid part of the country. You might also require one if you have to use your oxygen concentrator while you sleep. When many people sleep, their throats or nasal passages become dry anyway, and the addition of oxygen therapy (air blowing into your nasal passages) In any case, you can purchase a humidifier bottle that is compatible with your oxygen concentrator.
Despite how dependable and sturdy they are, you have to remember that they are only electronics and need to be maintained from time to time, and protected the way you would protect a cell phone or a camcorder. You also have to make sure you keep it clean and in top working order, because you need it to keep you healthy. Maintaining the right amount of oxygen in your blood is extremely important, because every cell in your body needs oxygen.
Replacing Filters
Many concentrators have gross particle filters that need replaced every 2 years. Read your owners manual that came with your portable oxygen concentrator to see how often it will need changed, so you can purchase a new one and have it on hand when you are supposed to replace it. Some concentrators will have a light or alarm that goes off when it is time to change the filter. The gross particle filter is important because it filters the larger particles that are in the air that you don’t want to breathe in. You can replace this filter yourself, by following the directions in the owners manual.
Your oxygen concentrator, whether it is one that stays in your home or a portable oxygen concentrator that travels with you, you will need to perform some basic maintenance and upkeep. You depend on your unit to keep you healthy and keep providing that oxygen that your body needs to survive, so you must make sure that it will work the way it’s supposed to for as long as possible. Your oxygen concentrator is an investment in your life.
Preventative maintenance is simple, and you can do it yourself under most circumstances. Things like the cabinet filter, HEPA filter and humidifier are all made to be easily accessed and maintenance by almost anyone. Many oxygen concentrators are designed to require maintenance no more than once or twice a year.
Once you have your portable oxygen concentrator, your doctor will most likely go over its functions with you. You will also have a manual to consult when you need to know something specific to your model. Just in case you misplace your manual or you can’t get a hold of your doctor, here is a guide to the basics of taking care of and maintaining your portable oxygen concentrator.
Safety first! Shut the oxygen concentrator off and make sure it is not plugged in or charging before you start cleaning it.
