Sorry to Say....PureFlow has problems!!

[MJB]

This is my first post. I hate to be negative. There are problems with the PureFlow. I have had my Pureflow since September '06. I too was so excited not to have to hang 5 - 5 liter bags a night. Don't get me wrong....I love the PureFlow but there are way too many problems with this component.

At first I had only experienced some of the little annoyances such as placing the pure pak in its compartment and finding the ethernet type connection. My first two paks failed ( one due to user error ) the other one had a leak which was a slight mess. My next big mess came when I didn't connect the waste line correctly and had a dialysate tub and carpet full of waste. I know this was my fault but the connection is misleading. You may think it is on tight....but it's not !! I have had 3 or 4 bags leak in the tub. All and all those things I can live with. I saved the worst for last. On Wednesday of last week I was completing a routine treatment with a little more than an hour to go and I received an alarm that indicated that there was a fluid leak in the dialysate tub. I was unable to clear this alarm and was forced to abandon my treatment with over an hour left to go.

Once I finished my disconnection from the system, I started to investigate. I noticed that there was a significant amount of fluid in the tub. I proceeded to drain the remaining dialysate with no success. I was now forced to lift out over 18 liters of fluid from the tub in a very awkward bag. I cleaned the tub out and called NxStage technical support.  We discussed all the possibilities and I was asked to return the Sak for analysis. I did convey that I felt it was not the sak, but the control unit that was leaking because I saw a drip come from the bottom of the control unit after I dried it out.  I was told this was highly unlikely and most likely the  sak or possibly condensation from the fluid that was in the tub. I agreed to send the sak back to NxStage and the call ended.

I then proceed to load a new PureFlow Pak because I had received the last batch warning while making the last batch. I completed the connection and left to return an hour later to an alarm that indicated a Phase 2 pak failure. Once again I contacted NxStage technical support. I was told that once you get a phase 2 alarm it usually means death to the pak. They suggested I give it one more try and let them know. This time I got a pak leak alarm which I confirmed.  I asked for an explanation of what went wrong and was told the the “New” pak’s were not having this problem because they were fixed to help eliminate this. Tech support asked me to load another pak and start over. I told Tech support that I did not have another pak because it is  NxStage’s policy to only send one pak at a time. Tech support informed me that he would send two out the next day. The call ended.

I contacted my Davita center for support and they said they had a extra pak that I could have if I could get it. I drove into Chicago to fetch the pak and do my monthly check up to save some time. I returned home to load the new pak. I plugged the machine back in and I got a fluid leak alarm in the tub alarm. I thought what's this??? I proceded to slide the tub out to find it 1/4 fill of water!!! I again contacted tech support and they assured me that a new control unit would be at my house in the early am the next day. Sure enough, the unit arrived at 7:30 am. I loaded the new control unit and then a new pak waited 2.5 hours and started what I thought was the end of my problems. At 3:30 am I woke to hear a BEEP...BEEP...BEEP and I had a new alarm I believe a A43 which is batch did not pass conductivity. I contacted tech support and woke them up to be told there was nothing I could do but drain the batch and try a new one the next day. I completed the drain and started a new batch around 12 Noon the next day. I let everyone know what was going on and we all waited with our fingers crossed. I  came to realize at 7 pm that it was not the saks but the control unit once again. It was the weekend to boot and nothing could be done until Monday morning. I stuck it out with the bags I had on hand and was to receive the unit today at 7 am. Around 10 am I had a delivery but it was only a new pak...where is the control unit? I again contacted NxStage to find out around 4 pm that it did not ship. It will now be delivered by courier at 8 am tomorrow. Pray for me....

This is what made me tell you why I feel like I do. I do not want to discourage anyone from NxStage because I love this company for what they have done for my life. They are truly innovating the home dialysis market with products that allow me to do things like go on a cruise and vacations. I know that I have to realize that this is such a new product and there are going to be glitches. I will say that the staff at NxStage has done the best they could with the most courteous support available. I Just want people to realize that it not a cake walk..

Sorry for being so long..

Mike

[Black]

Thank you, Mike, for giving such a detailed account.

My husband Mike will be starting on the NxStage very soon, but we will be using the bags for many months, maybe over a year.  The center where he will be training told us that up front.  Maybe by then the "bugs" will be out, thanks to the patience and hard work of people like you. 

[jbeany]

Hope it gets fixed soon!

[BigSky]

I have heard they have had some problems with the pureflow.

I cannot say I am surprised though because the NxStage is pretty new to the market and it is only through wide use of its products will all the defects come to light to be fixed.

Hopefully it will be sooner that yours get fixed than later. 

[MJB]

It has been a couple of days since I made my last post here. I did receive the new control unit for the PureFlow. I however still have not been able to make a successful batch. I also had a terrible time getting a good pak to prime. I had another conductivity failure this morning and I think I have figured it out. I hope I have figured it out.I think it it the lot of saks that I was using. I realized after I made this batch that it was the same lot as the two previous. I verified that was correct and now I am in process of making a new batch with an old lot number sak. I am really hoping that this works. I really hate hanging those bags, but at least I can.

[MJB]

I am sad to say until further notice I have to abandon my PureFlow. I am hoping that someone from NxStage can get out here ASAP to help. I will know more maybe tomorrow. I am bummed!!

[Marty1]

Mike,

Did the NxStage Engineer arrive and have you had any success yet?

[MJB]

Marty,

Yes, Gotz Friederichs from NxStage, Manager, System Engineer was here yesterday and confirmed that the control unit was reading the conductivity correctly.  I think the assumption is that the control units (last two) were adding too much water to the batch thus diluting the mix. He stayed for almost 3 hours and left after he installed a new control unit and started the priming of a new pak. I am sorry to say that this batch failed as well. I used a new control unit and a new pak as well as a new lot of sak's. I have to continue using bagged solution for now. I have not heard from them today as to the time line for the fix. I really hope that it is sooner than later.

Mike

[Epoman]

Marty,

Yes, Gotz Friederichs from NxStage, Manager, System Engineer was here yesterday and confirmed that the control unit was reading the conductivity correctly.  I think the assumption is that the control units (last two) were adding too much water to the batch thus diluting the mix. He stayed for almost 3 hours and left after he installed a new control unit and started the priming of a new pak. I am sorry to say that this batch failed as well. I used a new control unit and a new pak as well as a new lot of sak's. I have to continue using bagged solution for now. I have not heard from them today as to the time line for the fix. I really hope that it is sooner than later.

Mike

I am wondering if it is your water source. Maybe the water is to hard, or maybe filter is bad. Could it be one of those two? It you are on your 3rd control unit it does not sound like it is the control unit that is causing the problem. Did the engineer check your filter (the white sediment filter, not the pak). Did he test the water? Sorry you are having these problems.
- Epoman

[MJB]

Marty,

Yes, Gotz Friederichs from NxStage, Manager, System Engineer was here yesterday and confirmed that the control unit was reading the conductivity correctly.  I think the assumption is that the control units (last two) were adding too much water to the batch thus diluting the mix. He stayed for almost 3 hours and left after he installed a new control unit and started the priming of a new pak. I am sorry to say that this batch failed as well. I used a new control unit and a new pak as well as a new lot of sak's. I have to continue using bagged solution for now. I have not heard from them today as to the time line for the fix. I really hope that it is sooner than later.

Mike

I am wondering if it is your water source. Maybe the water is to hard, or maybe filter is bad. Could it be one of those two? It you are on your 3rd control unit it does not sound like it is the control unit that is causing the problem. Did the engineer check your filter (the white sediment filter, not the pak). Did he test the water? Sorry you are having these problems.
- Epoman

Epoman,

When the engineer was here, he did test the water for sediment and pressure. He said it was all well within the normal limits. He said the sediment filter on the back was never a problembecause ultimately the pure pak will fail if it were to go bad. I still have not heard back from them. I will contact Gotz tomorrow for an action plan. Thanks for the suggestion. I will go over this again with him just to be sure we are clear on this.

Mike

[MJB]

Still no PureFlow!! Trying hard to work it out. Sorry for not keeping this thread up to date. I will post the rest of the story once I have succeeded making a batch. It has been one month now w/o PureFlow and NxStage is sending someone else out to troubleshoot all the problems in our center.

[Black]

Still no PureFlow!! Trying hard to work it out. Sorry for not keeping this thread up to date. I will post the rest of the story once I have succeeded making a batch. It has been one month now w/o PureFlow and NxStage is sending someone else out to troubleshoot all the problems in our center.

Thanks for the update, Mike.  Our PureFlow cabinet arrived on my front porch, along with other various supplies, before I got home last night.  Our control unit is still in the cabinet we're using at the training center in Charleston.  So far, just that one batch failed, but we haven't made another batch since, due to scheduling (training nurse out of town for medical conference).  Hopefully, she and Mike will try another batch on Monday.

The training nurse had previously not anticipated getting the PureFlows for many months and is now really excited about them and is looking forward to getting her other NxStage patients trained on it as soon as we leave for home.

I hope ours works as it is so much easier and quicker to get started than using the bags.  Plus, Mike is already bitching about the amount of garbage we will be generating, and we aren't even home yet!

[MJB]

I am happy to report that after four long weeks w/o PureFlow I have made a successful batch.

After several control units and visits from NxStage we agreed that it would be a good idea to take my control unit back to my center to have them attempt to make a test batch. After I set up the PureFlow at my center my training nurse asked if I would like to try one more control unit. I asked where it came from and it was from a patient that quit the Pureflow out of frustration. I figured that I had nothing to lose and NxStage strongly agreed. I woke up Friday morning expecting to hear that ominous beep...beep. I actually thought I heard it for a second until I checked and saw that it had passed conductivity. Yes, this was a good day in my dialysis world. I contacted my center to check the results of the test we performed and I found out it failed conductivity. I was so happy to hear this. I called Scott at Nxstage and he and the rest of the R&D staff were so relieved that I finally had success. I was told that this is a problem that is receiving their highest attention. It seems to be a problem with the combination of cold temperatures (shipping) and high water pressure. As I have said before that the entire staff at NxStage has been extremely helpfull and very attentive. I could not have asked for more. I hope no one else will have to experience this as they seem to have a grip on the problem.

Thanks to all who listened to my saga.

Mike

[Epoman]

I am happy to report that after four long weeks w/o PureFlow I have made a successful batch.

After several control units and visits from NxStage we agreed that it would be a good idea to take my control unit back to my center to have them attempt to make a test batch. After I set up the PureFlow at my center my training nurse asked if I would like to try one more control unit. I asked where it came from and it was from a patient that quit the Pureflow out of frustration. I figured that I had nothing to lose and NxStage strongly agreed. I woke up Friday morning expecting to hear that ominous beep...beep. I actually thought I heard it for a second until I checked and saw that it had passed conductivity. Yes, this was a good day in my dialysis world. I contacted my center to check the results of the test we performed and I found out it failed conductivity. I was so happy to hear this. I called Scott at Nxstage and he and the rest of the R&D staff were so relieved that I finally had success. I was told that this is a problem that is receiving their highest attention. It seems to be a problem with the combination of cold temperatures (shipping) and high water pressure. As I have said before that the entire staff at NxStage has been extremely helpfull and very attentive. I could not have asked for more. I hope no one else will have to experience this as they seem to have a grip on the problem.

Thanks to all who listened to my saga.

Mike

Glad to hear it finally worked out for you. Scott from NxStage is a nice guy. He has helped me many of times with various NxStage issues. 

- Epoman

[Black]

I am happy to report that after four long weeks w/o PureFlow I have made a successful batch.
...
Thanks to all who listened to my saga.

Mike

No, thank you for posting this.   If we have problems with the PureFlow when we get home we won't be upset because, thanks to everyone posting, we'll know that problems are routine right now, and that they are being worked out.

[Don]

I had problems with the pureflow too. Two times it developed a leak from the waste line - the bag had sealed the alarm so the tub filled up. And boy was it kicking from the waste Ye Ha !!!!

Yesterday it started leaking from all 3 connections - still the alarm was sealed by the bag - by the time it did go off I had a considerable amount of water in the tub - and only 28 minutes to go on the treatment. I covered the alarm in the tub and put a plastic container to catch the water - finished the treatment. Tech support is sending a new unit out Monday.

Don

[goofynina]

Sorry your having problems with that Don, hopefully they have done something to improve all the "glitches" this machine seems to be having.  Hang in there and let us know how the new one is working out for ya.   



Goofynina/Admin.

[kitkatz]

From what I have read here on this board Pure Flow is having some problems.  I hope they wrok it out soon.  Good luck with yours.

[Don]

After 3 calls to Tech Support over the weekend , no return calls, finally talking to a live Support Person It was decided my unit was bad. One would arrive on Monday morning.

About 12 Monday I called Tech Support to verify one was on the way. I did bags that morning. Nothing to be shipped ? I spoke to yet another Tech Support person - did the same drill with the machine as before - yup the unit is bad and one will be shipped by 10:30 am Tuesday. Am I in a version of Ground  Hog Day ?

I had two other occasions that waste was leaked into the tub - trust me when I tell you it stinks

Don

[MJB]

Hey Don,

I sent you a PM let me know if you received it.

Mike