Lampwork Etc.
 
TrueDesign

LE Live Chat

Enter Live Chat

No users in chat


Frantz Art Glass & Supply

Beads of Courage


 

Go Back   Lampwork Etc. > Library > Tips, Techniques, and Questions

Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 2015-06-06, 6:54am
periwinkle's Avatar
periwinkle periwinkle is offline
Millionaire in Training
 
Join Date: Jun 26, 2009
Location: Hottest Place on Earth - aka Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 186
Default Oxygen Concentrator Repair???

It's summertime and I'm on vacation so I've been pumping out beads like crazy. I have a Puritan Bennett 590. The oxycon started having this problem. It powers on, but then after 5 minutes, the red light shows and I think the compressor shuts off, but the power stays on. I've been reading the manual for it from these forums. These forums sure are handy! If the tubing isn't the whole problem, the manual suggests several possible causes. The first one is dirty filters. I removed the two sets of internal filters and washed them with soap and water, as I read to do elsewhere. After I did this, the red light still came on after 5 minutes. So I went to the next step: I opened up the oxycon.

As I was looking inside, I noticed a broken piece of tubing. I'm wondering if the broken tubing is the culprit or if I broke it while examining the oxycon (!) Because as I was touching the tubing, it cracked apart in several places, so now I need new tubing. I'm fairly handy, but mostly out of necessity. I don't think I can afford to have a repair person fix it, so I want to try to replace the tubing myself. There is just one place the tube goes into that is described as the product canister assembly. Without disassembling the oxycon too much, I'm thinking I could replace the tubing, but I can't see where it connects to the product canister assembly.

The first photo shows the right side of the unit. These pieces of tubing broke apart after I touched them a couple of times.

The second photo is where the tubing connects to the product cannister assembly on the left side. You can see a very faint tube going straight up and down in the background of the photo. It's right in the middle of the photo. The tubing runs between the left side to the right side and it became or was severed when I opened the unit.

The last photo is another view of the brittle and broken tubing on the right side where the flowmeter is.

If anyone knows how to fix this, that would be so helpful!!! Any people good with fixing things out there? If I could afford to have someone fix this for less then $20, I'd do it...I'm on summer vacation right now, so no income. It's ironic that I have all this time, and then this issue comes up. But I'm determined to fix it.
Attached Images
   
__________________
Minor with two 5 lpm oxycons. Sometimes I use both of them...


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 2015-06-06, 7:53am
periwinkle's Avatar
periwinkle periwinkle is offline
Millionaire in Training
 
Join Date: Jun 26, 2009
Location: Hottest Place on Earth - aka Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 186
Default

Here is what I just found out: I turned the oxycon on to see if I got the same error as before, but I didn't. Instead of having to wait 5 minutes, I started hearing a constant beep/buzz that indicates something isn't right. So it seems that instead of finding what was wrong, I broke more things on the way! The brittle tubing didn't help. I also managed to break more tubing that connects my 2 oxycons together to my oxygen hose. So, now I need even more tubing. Everything is so brittle here in Arizona.
__________________
Minor with two 5 lpm oxycons. Sometimes I use both of them...


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 2015-06-06, 7:56am
Eileen's Avatar
Eileen Eileen is offline
Loving learning
 
Join Date: Oct 11, 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 11,650
Default

I wonder if it was already cracked and leaking, and that's what gave you the problems, but now with nothing getting where it is supposed to it goes straight to error.
Mine was the fan on the bottom. When we turned on the machine with the back off, we could see the fan wasn't turning.
Can you tell if the compressor is running?
__________________
My current "hot" fantasy involves a senior discount on glass & tools!
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 2015-06-06, 8:11am
shawnette's Avatar
shawnette shawnette is offline
I fart diamonds
 
Join Date: Jun 14, 2005
Location: Altamonte Springs, FL
Posts: 3,893
Default

You need to replace the tubing, for sure. It's definitely not going to work until you do that. You can pick up tubing at Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, etc. The plain old clear tubing will work. Once the tubing is replaced, then you can continue troubleshooting, if need be. Replace it all. It looks dry rotted.
__________________
-Shawnette
the original "everybody get a grip" girl

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 2015-06-06, 8:14am
Speedslug's Avatar
Speedslug Speedslug is offline
Phill
 
Join Date: Mar 21, 2009
Location: Winnebago, MN
Posts: 2,489
Default

Well it shouldn't be too terribly hard to "re-plumb" the tubing in it.

if you have access to the manuals then you can probably follow the 'word diagrams' if it does not have drawings or pictures or if they are not clearly written.

Tracing the input form the first filter (dust and particles) to probably a second filter (biologic ) then the compressor motor should be pretty straight forward.

Out of the compressor it will go to some sort of switching solenoid to shift the pressurized air to each of the two zeolite sieve beds inputs one at a time.

Put of each of the sieve beds there will a hose going to a holding tank and the holding tank will have a hose going to either a circuit board and or a sensor with wires running to a circuit board.

You can follow the output connector hose back to the holding tank if you get lost tracing hose lines inside the guts of the thing.

You may be able to find youtube videos for replacing the sieve beds and or filters for your particular model fi your try 4 or 5 ways of searching the name and or model number. Or you might find a video with just enough similarity to let you guess your way through this.

As long as you don't go swapping wires around you should not be able to harm the machine by putting in hoses where you think they should go with your best guess. At worst it will just tell you it still doesn't the quality of the purity it is putting out giving another alarm and shutting off the compressor again.

Do look for broken pieces of tubing chunks that might have gotten sucked into parts they were feeding.
Those could wind up being difficult for us amateur bench techs to fix with out "major surgery".

Its doable surgery but it might entail disconnecting wires and labeling both ends 4 ways from Sunday so you can get everything back where it belongs.

At this point the worst that can happen is that you will still have machine that won't work for you and you already have that.

Take pictures before you start. As many you need to make sure it is easy for you to get things back where they were.

Take notes and please come back and tell us how it went.
__________________
The Zombie Apocalypse is Upon Us.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 2015-06-06, 8:19am
Speedslug's Avatar
Speedslug Speedslug is offline
Phill
 
Join Date: Mar 21, 2009
Location: Winnebago, MN
Posts: 2,489
Default

Don't get all gorilla on tightening up the zip ties either.

Leave an extra loop of tubing so there is a lot of flex in your replacement hoses too.

I can give you the three cent tour of how the things work if you like and that may help you in figuring out what gets connected to what pretty much.
__________________
The Zombie Apocalypse is Upon Us.

Last edited by Speedslug; 2015-06-06 at 8:23am.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 2015-06-06, 8:40am
Katia Katia is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 14, 2015
Location: Moscow, Russia
Posts: 131
Default

It looks like it is not your fault that the tubing broke. Probably it became kind of fragile over time and started to destroy by itself, fresh hoses are strong. It is better of course to replace the whole length - you'll fix it in one place but next time it will crack somewhere else and you'll need to open the device again and look for the next cracked spot.

What is the pipe size? If it is like 1/2" or 3/8" it can be replaced with flexible hose used for watering from a garden shop? (these ones are quite affordable if you do not take the most expensive ones) If you find a hose that fits, you can replace the length from this black/grey thing to the output. Not probably the best solution but may work...
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 2015-06-07, 12:58am
periwinkle's Avatar
periwinkle periwinkle is offline
Millionaire in Training
 
Join Date: Jun 26, 2009
Location: Hottest Place on Earth - aka Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 186
Default

Thanks, Eileen, Shawnette, Phill and Katia. I was able to replace the tubing. It wasn't even that hard. Taking pictures was a great idea. Because I probably wouldn't have remembered which way the pieces in between the tubing went. So glad I have a cell phone to easily take pictures and refer back to! It seems there is still a problem though.

I referred to the manual and it suggests replacing all filters first, then doing a leak test. I did wash the filters out, so I'm wondering: should I order more filters? Does anyone know where I can find concentrator filters? I did a search prior to asking on LE and Lisa Kan had published information about the exact same concentrator I have, but the link for the filters was broken.

If it's not the filters, the next suggestion was doing a leak test. I don't have the kit to leak test my system. There are some other possible causes as well, such as a diaphragm leak, solenoid valve problem, worn out compressor, etc. These are things I don't know anything about at all. I may just have to work with only one compressor until I'm able to afford a repair.

I am rather impressed with my ability to look at a device and fix it. I once replaced a water pump for my washing machine by watching a video from the library! That was the most diffcult thing I've ever done, but in the end, it worked and I got a few more years' life out of that machine!

Still, this repair may be beyond what I can do. If I had a leak test kit or other items, I would certainly attempt fixing it. Replacing the tubing only took about a half hour.
__________________
Minor with two 5 lpm oxycons. Sometimes I use both of them...


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 2015-06-07, 1:28am
Speedslug's Avatar
Speedslug Speedslug is offline
Phill
 
Join Date: Mar 21, 2009
Location: Winnebago, MN
Posts: 2,489
Default

Very cool with the tubing replacement!

Leak testing on the out put (pressurized) side of the compressor can be done with pretty much any soap solution like glass cleaner or even three drops of dish or hand soap in a sprayer with two cups of water. If you shake a solution and can get bubbles it will work. Might want to not use sudsy ammonia though.

Put a rag or paper towel behind the connection you are testing to contain overspray and make sure you wont be spraying anything electrical because you need to test while it is turned on.

Testing for leaks on the input (suction) side of the compressor can be done a wet finger and listening for a hiss or even wrapping connections with masking tape although usually the system wont alarm or show a fault if there is a leak on the input side.

If it is filters that are the problem you can try running it with them disconnected.

Some of the filters are not going to be washable. They are going to look like disks with funnels on two sides or blocks with the tubing going to and from them. You can just disconnect the tubing from them to test if they are the problem.

If it starts working right with them removed then you can get new ones and you will be back in business.

I think Salt City Glass had filters but they are around and can be had on the web.
__________________
The Zombie Apocalypse is Upon Us.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 2015-06-07, 1:30am
Speedslug's Avatar
Speedslug Speedslug is offline
Phill
 
Join Date: Mar 21, 2009
Location: Winnebago, MN
Posts: 2,489
Default

Oh and I would not trust any of the tubing that came with the machine at this point so be sure you have replaced all of the old stuff even if it looks fine.
__________________
The Zombie Apocalypse is Upon Us.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 2015-06-07, 5:20am
Eileen's Avatar
Eileen Eileen is offline
Loving learning
 
Join Date: Oct 11, 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 11,650
Default

I found these: http://www.oxygenplusmedical.com/pur...ett-filter.htm
__________________
My current "hot" fantasy involves a senior discount on glass & tools!
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 2015-06-09, 9:32am
shawnette's Avatar
shawnette shawnette is offline
I fart diamonds
 
Join Date: Jun 14, 2005
Location: Altamonte Springs, FL
Posts: 3,893
Default

http://www.mcssl.com/store/540b29f3f...tor-filter-kit

They ship quickly.
__________________
-Shawnette
the original "everybody get a grip" girl

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 2016-05-03, 7:08pm
guyf2000 guyf2000 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 03, 2016
Location: Eau Claire, Pa burbs
Posts: 1
Default Oxygen concentrator repair information

Technical information on oxygen concentrator operation, problem diagnosis, and repair can be found at:

http://www.frankshospitalworkshop.co...e_manuals.html

Very readable and useful.

P.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 2016-05-03, 9:29pm
summer skills glass's Avatar
summer skills glass summer skills glass is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 03, 2016
Location: tejas
Posts: 1
Default

I actually used to fix oxy cons for a living. There kinda very simple machines.
There usually is one or two filter on the oustide, and another one or two on the inside which have to be replaced every 5000-10000 hours depending how much dust you have accumulating in there.
I've seen some seriously dirty oxy cons, I've seen rat Skeltons, and other gross stuff too
The beeping sound usually means that those internal filters are dirty abd need to be cleaned(really good) or replaced(there about 10$). They look like little white donuts(if really dirty they'll look grey.
The beeping is cause your oxy con isn't producing oxygen at a pure enough level.(you can check if you having an oxygen reader(I fogot the actual name, but what it does is measure the purity of the oxy coming out of your con. Anything less than 86% and it'll beep.)
Concentrators will usually beep to if there is a back flow.
Its sounds like you also mite have done something else like pull a tube loose? Just put it back where it came loose from.
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump




All times are GMT -7. The time now is 3:39pm.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.5
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Your IP: 52.207.218.95