oxygen concentrator. i just purchased a concentrator and having a hard time with it. mostly it keeps beeping. Any help or someone to contact would be helpful. Thanks Jim
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Is it new, used or reconditioned? The beeping may mean that it isn’t making O2.
Mine beeps when I first turn it on and then it usually doesn’t beep while using. I believe Rob is correct in saying it’s not producing enough O2 as it’s a medical devise and it’s important to know if levels are too low.
I’m using a Smith Little with propane and have done casting with the rosebud tip. No beeping.
There is an adjustment on the concentrator that I believe sets the volume of O2 produced. Mine is set to 5, the highest setting. You may want to check this? Perhaps you’re trying to use more O2 than it’s set to produce?
There’s little technical info on most manufacturers websites as I think they assume it’s a medical device and you have access to medical tech. An email or call to the manufacturer might be in order.
Pam
I bought a reconditioned generator for my son. It had the same complaint until I dialed up the pressure to greater than 3. When I was in the DME business Invacare had a site with a good FAQ section. Of course I never asked them about my concentrator as a jewelry tool but a machine that is beeping can only have a few issues.
Bio-Med in Baldwinsville NY sells reconditioned units. I have bought two units from them and knowing how I used them they still have always answered my questions about the machines. 1-315-635-7050.
Don
Hi Jim,
I think you can find a manual and troubleshooting guide on line and check that. Could be that one of the filters needs to be changed or something like that. However, I think that Rob is right and that the O2 level has fallen below the ~93-95% that the machine is set to warn of. I had this problem with mine…probably because I left it sit for a long time without running it. The beds go bad if they are not run consistently. If I recall correctly, at first the machine would stop beeping after being run for a while and then it started beeping constantly, no matter what. It still produced plenty of oxygen to give me a nice flame, but the beeping was annoying. I purchased another machine, but I had the thought that I probably could have taken the machine apart and cut the wires on the beeper and used the thing until it gave out. That might have been a long time if only part of the bed was inoperative. So you could try that or talk with a local repairman or an 800 number or something like that, to find an expert. Realize that these things are meant to operate for at least 10,000 hours. There is a meter somewhere which will tell you how many hours it has run. This may tell you whether it is just near the end of its life or whether the bed might be going bad because of inactivity. Just be sure to run it a few hours a week to prevent more problems with the bed. HTH, royjohn
Thanks Pam
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Thanks royjohn i was thinking the same thing, about cutting a wire. But this machine is fearly new, i was trying to keep it running often. I made a few calls last nite and they hooked me up with a therapist for the machine and he helped. I have his # and can call anytime. Thanks again. Jim
Don thanks. The machine is pretty new, i made some calls last nite and got hooked up with a therapist for the machine. He helped and i have his # and can call anytime. Thanks again Jim.
I think i may have it solved it is nice to have this type of talk, i now have a therapist for my machine. You all are great. Thanks Jim
Thanks Ron i now have a therapist for the machine. i may be next. Jim
Hi Jim,
Glad you got your concentrator sorted out. I would be interested in the details of what you did…the brand of concentrator and what the fix turned out to be. -royjohn
I ran my concentrator yesterday and actually observed what it was doing. Upon startup, it beeped until the O2 light went on indicating O2 flow and concentration at a minimum set point, then it stopped beeping. I have two torches setup on the same concentrator and I keep the O2 valve of one open all the time. I shut both valves and within a couple seconds it started to beep indicating that O2 wasn’t flowing. I opened one of the valves and the beeping stopped. My flow gauge ranges from a setting of 1 - 5. I generally try to keep it around 3. This will vary a bit depending on load, but it seems to be the best setting. I may increase it a bit when casting. For me the keys are: run the concentrator often, even if you aren’t using the O2. I ran it for 6 hours yesterday. This helps to keep the sieves healthy. Keep a valve open to ensure that O2 is flowing even if you aren’t using the torch. Change your filters at lest once a year or more often if your shop is especially dusty. These machines are made to run 24/7 for thousands of hours. Under normal use, how long would it take for you to actually operate your torch for 10,000 hours? They are all different, but I have had both a 10 LPM and 5 LPM machine and they both seemed to work about the same. Thanks…Rob
I have had to take my O2 concentrator apart on several occasions. There is a wire inside that is disconnected. When I reconnected it, the machine beeped. I disconnected it again and figured that the beep is an alert that machine is making O2. The company that did the refurbish and repurposed it from medical to making did this. When I checked with them they said that it’s routine for them to disconnect that wire because so many found the beep annoying.
Andy
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Hi Rob,
quick question regarding running the concentrator to keep it working properly…in your experience, about how long do you think is “too long” to have the unit “off”… days? weeks? months?
julie
I have never had one fail from lack of use, so I have no experience. I can tell you that mine will run for 3-4 hours daily. If I have a period of time when I know that I am not using it, I will just let it run for a while.
I forgot to mention that you have to open the O2 valve on your torch if you are just running the concentrator and not using the torch. It can’t produce O2 if the gas doesn’t have anywhere to go and you might even damage the concentrator. Some concentrators will shut down or turn on an alarm in this situation.
hi, thanks Rob!
julie
I"m curious about this because mine will sit idle for weeks at a time. I have made it a practice to switch it on for at least an hour every week or so. The only guidance I could find on line was for portable concentrator and that stated that they should be run a minimum of 4 hours per month. They last a minimum of about 10,000 hours, so would run it a few hours per week at least. You might try calling a local concentrator repair person for advice…I guess I should, too. -royjohn
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Hi Rob,
ok, thank you!
Actually, I was wondering if it was bad to leave the machine OFF
for periods of time…like a few days/ weeks/ months…
any thoughts?
julie
Hi Royjohn,
ok, great, thank you!
I sm looking to convert and and just trying to cover all the bases.
julie