Two bad replacement machines in a row - anyone else have this problem?

[rocker]

So, a year or so ago I got some really weird alarms on the cycler we had (tech support said "I've never even heard of that alarm before!") and got a replacement the same night.  New cycler was fine.

Last week, I got a 71 alarm on startup, which shows as "Scheduled maintenance required."  So I called and let them know, and about a week later they called to say the replacement machine was in.  Great.  When the machine was delivered, I connected everything and powered it up, all seemed fine.  I accepted delivery.

When I went to start treatment (Friday evening, of course) I loaded up the cartridge, closed the door and...nothing.  No water light.  No way to start priming.  Of course I called NxStage, and after the standard try-this-try-that, no change.  So sorry, can't treat tonight, we'll send a new machine tomorrow.  So he went two days without treatment, no big problems.

The new machine was delivered the next day.  I made sure I loaded it up and started a prime before I accepted delivery.  No problem.

During treatment that evening, I got a red 11 near the end of treatment.  Not terribly unusual, I cleared it and finished treatment. 

The next night, I again got a red 11 after treatment was about 80% complete.  Except this time, every time I cleared it, the pump would start for a second or two and then alarm again.  I checked the line for air, there was none visible.  After a minute or two I gave up and opened the saline lines to emergency rinseback.  The machine continued to refuse to run, and I had to do my first-ever manual rinseback.

Before treating last night, I thought "Maybe I should call tech support beforehand in case that happens again."  But, nah, one-off problem, what are the odds?  So of course, the problem recurred, this time after a little over half the treatment.  This time, I decided I would see if there was another option, so I threw hubby the phone and told him to call tech support while I continually reset the machine.

He called the tech support line, was put on hold for a couple of minutes, and then transferred to an answering service.

He started leaving his info, I yelled "Hang up, we don't have time for this!"  We called our clinic nurse, who had nothing to offer.  I tried to do another manual rinseback, but was not successful this time.  So we threw away blood.

I called tech support once he was disconnected, and we went through another round of try-this-try-that, which ended with "I have no idea.  Send us the log files."

The only thing that has changed here is the machine.

So I was just wondering if anyone else had had recent problems with replacement machines.  Maybe they changed their refurbishment guys or something?

Am I the only one having this problem?

  - rocker

[rocker]

So, a couple hours after I sent the log files, they called back and left a voicemail (I was trying to sleep.).  Whoops, yeah, the machine was giving that alarm falsely.  So, call us back and we'll get another machine delivered!

So we're waiting for our fourth machine this month.

If they want hubby to be the guinea pig for testing their machines, I really want to be paid as a QA Manager.

  - rocker

[boswife]

oh yuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND no, we havent had this problem, and im soooooooooo sorry you DID!!  Im really not good with too much of that and am always amazed that like it or not, sometimes we HAVE to go through some things that we really dont deserve    Heres hopping and some  that this next one will be golden for you....  what a pain!!!

[KatieV]

So I was just wondering if anyone else had had recent problems with replacement machines.  Maybe they changed their refurbishment guys or something?

Am I the only one having this problem?

  - rocker

I'm on the same cycler I started with on October 31st.  My problems have been with the Pureflow.  I've lost track of the number of new "brains" we've received.  It's been a big pain - non-existent fluid leaks, etc.  If the !@#$% thing wasn't so expensive, I would have gladly put a couple holes in it!