Troubleshooting an Oxygen Snyder Machine

Hi Todd,
Thank you for commenting on my video! You are correct, a towel can also be used. Just remove the drip tray and place the towel under the coils before tapping the water out of them. Our machines are nearly 20 years and have been retro fitted with updates so unfortunately our drip trays are not removable, which is why I use the syringe to slurp up all the water. After reading your comment, you had me wondering about removing the compartment door B and a possible fire hazard. I contacted the manufacturer and spoke with Gary, the main technician for the Snyder ICU units. He sent me the following information:

Running the dehumidify cycle should only be done when there is condensation present on the animal compartment windows. When the dehumidify cycle has been activated, it runs the cooling and heating at the same time and you're correct, you will not be able to regulate the temperature when using this function.! ! The humidity sensor is located just behind the evaporator coil and it will sense the condensation that is on the coils. If you turn the unit on and see a high humidity reading but there is no condensation on the windows, it simply means that there is water trapped in the coils and they need to be dried out. Running the dehumidify while there is water trapped in the coils will only freeze that water and the high humidity readings will not go away. Once again, the only time dehumidify should be used is if condensation is present on the windows. Once the condensation has gone away you will want to turn the dehumidify function off.! ! The dry-out process for the coils will only need to be done when there is an animal being treated for several hours with the temp set below room temp. At some point the coils will freeze and accumulate ice which then melts when the unit is turned off and the water drips into the drip tray. In most cases there will still be water trapped in the coils which slows the airflow and causes other problems like elevated C02 readings, premature granule expiration (soda sorb is heat and moisture sensitive), temperature fluctuation and Oxygen saturation issues.
Evaporator Coil Dry-Out Process:
1. Open animal compartment doors!
2. Remove B-compartment door (door to access soda sorb)!
3. Remove drip tray and replace with towel!
4. Tap the bottom of the evaporator coil lightly to remove as much water as possible!
5. Set control panel to 'Heat Only" and 75 degrees then let unit run for 2-3 hours (oxygen should be off during the entire process)!

"Per our conversation, when running the dry-out process you want to have the unit set to 'HEAT ONLY' and all the doors open which includes removing the b-compartment door. There are no components that can be damaged while running the dry-out process as long as you have it set to HEAT ONLY." -- Gary

As you may have read in the above directions it recommends setting the HEAT ONLY to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Gary and I spoke about our particular hospitals use of the machines (we use our machines around the clock, patient after patient) and he assured me that setting the heat in the low 80's will only speed up the dry out process and will not damage the heating element.

I hope this information helps and we will work on updating our video as soon as we are able.

Catherine Raffaell
DoveLewis Medical Equipment Specialist