I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: Home Dialysis - NxStage Users => Topic started by: melissahumm on August 04, 2008, 08:25:40 AM
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David has been on home hemo for 2.5 months and we have already had three different machines. What is this all about. Each time it is red alarm 38 and nothing gets rid of it. Has anybody had this problem.
Melissa
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Sorry I can't offer any insight, we have had ours for 14 months now and no problems, other than the "jewel box" no longer functions, but it does not effect normal operations......
Tom
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The only time I've had that alarm, it was a problem with the pureflow, not the NxStage. Have you done the bleach clean out of the drain line?
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I've had the same machine since March - no problems. I also thought the 38 had something to do with the Pureflo. Have you tried running on bags? do you get the same error?
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I have been on the same cycler since January...no 38 messages on my machine.
Looking at the error code in my manual...are you clotting off in the circuit? That seems to be the one constant between the three machines...maybe that is causing the problem. (Just a thought)
I have done the bleaching out of the drain line a few times now. About every six weeks or so, I start to get Red 35 (Waste Line) during treatment. That tells me when it is time to flush the line.
Actually, I just called NxStage today to order a new drain line. The dogs decided it was time to get rid of this one and chewed it up into three or four different pieces :oops; :rofl;
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Marvin's had the same NxStage machine and Pureflow since last July (2007). No problems -- except one time (about March, I think), we had to replace the "brain" (some call it the "jewel box"). We ran off bags for the few days it took to get a new one to us; Marvin put in the new one in about 10 minutes.
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It did the same thing when we used the bags. I did flush the line with bleach. I am not sure what else we could have done.
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I've had my NxStage cycler for 1 year without any problems.
I have had the red 38's. In fact I had one tonight. I began treatment without opening all the clamps.
I'm sure tech support walked you through all that and you also checked it.
One thing to look for is crimping the lines somewhere. One of my alarms was caused by my closing the PureFlow door on the drain line (east to do.) I checked the yellow clamps but not the line. I also got an alarm when I stood on one of the lines. This was while traveling and the cycler was closer to the floor. Check that you don't have your manual or something else lying on top of the lines.
Hope this helps
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We have had our NxStage machine for 1 1/2 years. We have had a few 38 alarms, but we clear it and get on our way.
Just curious, why do you need a new machine every time you get a 38? Does it ever clear?
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We couldn't get the alarm to clear. It was the weirdest thing. Crazy! Maybe we have a black cloud over us!!
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Even when you are using bags, are you still hooking up to the pureflow drain line? If you are, the next time you get a red 38, try switching to one of the disposable drain lines that doesn't run thru the machine. If it starts up again, it will at least narrow your problem down to something with the pureflow.
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We did that and kept getting the alarm. Keep the ideas coming!!
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Are you certain they are sending you new machines? Or do they keep tweaking the machine and sending the same one back? Are there different serial numbers. It seems very odd that you would have this same problem with 3 different machines. If they are different machines, then I must suspect that there's a problem in your setup.
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Where is your nurse? Won't she/he come out and watch what you are doing and perhaps spot the problem. It might not be the machine.
On the other hand, I had my machine for almost a year, almost no alarms, and finally had a problem. They sent a new machine that gave me alarms every day. For one week I could not finish a treatment. They sent me a new machine that I love. Buttons are easier to push, runs sooo quiet and doesn't alarm.
Hope your problem gets solved.