Alarm Red 38 ?

[Black]

Sometimes when we first start we get a red 38 alarm but we can find nothing wrong -- so we've learned to just hit "mute", "stop" and then "treatment",  and treatment goes on with no other alarms.  Today, almost 2 hours in, we got the red 38 over and over, and finally stopped treatment almost an hour short.  We could find nothing wrong!! 

Mike called NxStage after he got off the machine and they said to have another drain line handy to change out of it happens again tomorrow and to call them when it alarms the first time so they can troubleshoot through the phone line on the back of the machine.

Anyone else getting these red 38 alarms?

[MJB]

Lorelle,

You know ...I had these problems too when I first started on PureFlow. I have solved this problem by leaving the door on the chasis cracked open rather than closed during teatment. I know that some have found the even the slightest kink in the drain line can cause this alarm. I am assuming this is a PureFlow drain. If not it just might be a flaw in the drain line. It really stinks when you cannot diagnose the problem. Good luck and let me know what happens.

Mike

[Black]

Thanks, Mike.  Will try that today.  My husband said he is going to take off that long, long black drain line and put on the short, clear one that just reaches the floor of the shower -- maybe pressure is building up because the current black hose is over twice as long as it needs to be?  He may cut that black one later but until we see what the set up in Miami will be, he's leaving it long.

Just seems strange that we got only one red 38 right after treatments started, and then nothing until two hours into treatment -- got more than dozen red 38 in the last 15 minutes, so we gave up and took him off early.  Oh well, we'll see today.

[Don]

I too get the 38 alarm and I do exactley what you do with the same results.

Don

[Black]

Took a while but finally got a cartridge that wouldn't prime and we figured out that there was a bad lot of cartridges!  Tech sent us a box and label and we sent it back for them to examine -- we'd already disposed of the rest.  No problems since.

[Bill Peckham]

I keep a 30cc syringe with the peanut attached (male to male coupler) and after the second R38 I disconnect the drain line at the PureFlow and blast air into the tube once or twice. This seems to clear the problem.

After a treatment with a R38 alarm, I'll squirt a few syringes of bleach solution into the drain line via the port on the PureFlow.

[Black]

I keep a 30cc syringe with the peanut attached (male to male coupler) and after the second R38 I disconnect the drain line at the PureFlow and blast air into the tube once or twice. This seems to clear the problem.

After a treatment with a R38 alarm, I'll squirt a few syringes of bleach solution into the drain line via the port on the PureFlow.

Yes, that was suggested, so apparently the drain line is a common cause of the R38.  We tried that, and Mike even requested a new drain line, which they sent, but it made no difference.  Since we got through that lot of bad cartridges we've had no more problems. ::knock on wood::

[cev]

We too have had red 38 alarms, usually because the line is clamped, or we are standing on it.  We are still using the bags so I am not sure if the drain line is the same for the pureflow.  I have our drain line going to the toilet,  I tape it to the rim just under the back of the seat  One line is too short so we cut a line and attach the end to the original drain line.  the other end will not attach (and NxStage says there is not an adapter) so we cut the ends off and use a cover from the buttonhole needle as an adapter, take the little spongy thing out (with a toothpick) and slide it into both ends of the drain line,  I have not had a leak yet.  Also I found little clamps used for computer/telephone lines and stuck them to the floor and use these to hold the drain line in place on the floor,  I leave it in place until I change it.   After each treatment, I use what is left in the saline bag to flush the drain line  I attach it to the blue line (red is the same) from the saline bag and attach to the drain line (connectors match) and then I inject 10cc of bleach into the bag and drain away