Review or Liquid Oxygen Equipment

[Guest guest]

As many here do use liquid oxygen and others might in the future, I decided to do a little review of the equipment out there so one could see the normal progressions and the products available. There are two primary manufacturers of liquid oxygen equipment-Puritan and Caire Medical. Unfortunately the vast majority of providers only provide Puritan equipment. I'll start with PORTABLESSmall Portables-Puritan 's smallest portable is the Helios Plus. This unit weighs only 3.6 pounds full. That part of it is great. It also will provide up to 8 hours of use at 2 lpm. Still sounds good. However, this unit has some serious limitations in my opinion and in the experience of many here. It only has pneumatic demand delivery up to 4 lpm. Because of its methods of delivery it's measure of oxygen is misleading. 3 lpm on this unit is more like 2 lpm on most. Also, it uses dual tube cannulas which many find less desirable. The standard cannula delivers to one nostril and takes the exhale demand from the other. There is an optional cannula that delivers to both nostrils, but that cannula is much larger and not ideal either. While this unit is good for many COPD patients and some PF'ers for a short period, most of us outgrow it very quickly. Caire makes the Spirit 300 to compete with the Helios Plus. At the same setting this unit delivers more oxygen than the Helios. It's method of delivery is Electronic Pulse. The one disadvantage is that as its Electronic it does use batteries. At 2 lpm it has a duration of around 7 hours. It weighs only slightly more than the Helios Plus at just over 4 pounds full. It goes up to 5 lpm on pulse and also has a 2 lpm continuous. It uses a normal single tube cannula. As it's 2 lpm is equivalent to the Helios 3 lpm in oxygen delivered and it goes up to 5 lpm it has a chance of being useful much longer. Therefore, I find it far superior to the Helios Plus. The problem is that your oxygen supplier likely doesn't provide it. So, Caire Spirit 300 recommended but often not available and, in reality, the Mid Size Portables are more appropriate for most of us anyway.Mid Size PortablesThe Helios Marathon is so much more flexible and useful than the Helios Plus. It does weigh more as it weighs 5.6 pounds full but much of that is simply more oxygen. It still is fairly easy for most to carry. While it suffers from the same exaggerated delivery on demand mode as the Plus and uses the dual tube cannula it has enough other features to more than offset any negatives. It provides up to 4 lpm on Demand and up to 6 lpm on Continuous. I'm not going to use the standard 2 lpm to provide its duration because most of us wouldn't be at 2 lpm when active. So, at 3 lpm on Demand it would last over 10 hours and at 3 lpm on continuous it would last approximately 3 1/2 hours. The ability to switch between demand and continuous as you might need to and the fact it goes up to as high as 6 lpm make this a great portable. Caire offers two entirely different mid size units. The Spirit 600 weighs almost exactly the same as the Helios Marathon but holds less oxygen. It's delivery system is the same as the Spirit 300 and is excellent. It offers up to 5 lpm pulse but only 2 lpm continuous which is a significant disadvantage versus the Helios Marathon. At 3 lpm pulse it will last slightly less than time than the Helios Marathon but not significantly different. At 2 lpm continuous is would last about 5 hours. If you can get by on the pulse all the time then the Caire 600 is a good product but if not then the Marathon has a considerable advantage. Now the other Caire product in this range is the Sprint. It weighs 6 pounds full and is only continuous flow. At 3 lpm it has a range of approximately 2 1/2 - 3 hours. I see no market purpose for this unit as their larger Stroller isn't much heavier and has twice the capacity.So, Helios Marathon recommended for most. Caire Spirit 600 only if the pulse works all the time for you. Large PortablesPuritan (manufacturers of Helios) makes the Companion 1000. This unit weighs only 8.1 pounds and is continuous flow only. It goes up to 6 lpm. At 4 lpm it would last approximately 4 1/2 hours. Unlike the Helios it uses normal single tube cannulas. It's a very dependable machine thats been around forever it seems. Caire makes two large portables. The Spirit 1200 is like the Spirit 600 in that it is up to 5 lpm pulse and only has one continuous setting-2 lpm. It weighs around 8 pounds full and if pulse works for you then it's great because at 4 lpm it would last you 14 hours. So, if pulse works for you then this is the longest lasting portable there is and a great unit. The Stroller is their product similar to the PB Companion 1000. It weighs 8 pounds and is continuous only, going up to 6 lpm. At 4 lpm it would last approximately 4 to 4 1/2 hours. So, if Pulse works for you there is nothing else around that will provide the duration of time the Caire Spirit 1200 does. If Pulse does not serve your needs the Companion and the Stroller are excellent machines.High Flow PortablesBoth manufacturers make high flow units as well.Puritan makes the Companion 1000T and it has a flow up to 15 lpm. At 8 lpm it would last a little over two hours. Most people on this unit would have more than one. The Caire Stroller Hi Flow also goes up to 15 lpm and would provide the same 2 hours at 8 lpm. So for high flow use, either unit is very good. Most people will find themselves on the PB Companion 1000T.Normal ProgressionThe progression most people take is Helios Plus to Helios Marathon to Companion 1000 to Companion 1000T. Personally, I would recommend to most that they just skip over the Helios Plus and start with the Marathon. I do like the Caire products but typically they are not what your provider will supply. As to what I've used, I've personally used the Helios Plus which I did not like, the Helios Marathon which I love, the Companion 1000 which I find is excellent, the Caire Spirit 600 which was nice except not having all the settings the Helios Marathon does and the Caire Stroller which I love. It's comparable to the Companion 1000 but for some reason with the design I find it easier to carry. Just a little personal preference but not significant. ReservoirsFor the most parts the reservoirs are interchangeable and you won't choose or care which brand you have. However, there are a couple of points I do want to make. First, Caire offers the smallest, most portable of all reservoirs. It offers the Liberator 10 which holds 25 pounds of liquid oxygen and only weighs 52 pounds full. I have one of these I keep in my van all the time. Caire offers 52, 75, 92, 112 and 144 pound units. The Liberator 20, which is the 52 pound unit (including reservoir weighs 91 pounds) also works very well in a car. I made my 17 day trip with one, getting it refilled along the way. You will need help getting it in and out. But, I never found getting that help a problem. Caire also offers a Low Loss line with less evaporation. They are 76 and 99 pound units. Puritan has the Companion series of 49, 73 and 98 pounds and the Helios series of 85 and 110 pounds. Note that models H36 and H46 are only compatible with Helios equipment. Therefore, oxygen providers very rarely use them. As Caire makes the largest unit (144 pounds) in addition to the smallest (25 pounds) you will find many oxygen providers using Caire reservoirs even if they use only Puritan Portables. As to flow, all the reservoirs are standard up to 6 lpm. Now, Puritan does offer high flow but only up to 10 lpm. Caire offers all but the smallest unit in high flow up to 15 lpm. So, three pluses to Caire: Smallest, Largest, Highest Flow Units.It is important for you to know this in case you ever have very high needs. If your supplier doesn't have the Caire High Flow you will need to push them or may need to switch. Now, suppliers to sometimes hook multiple tanks together to provide more days of oxygen and hook them differently to try to achieve high flow. Unfortunately, there are many suppliers who only have 75 pound reservoirs or so and complain about frequency of delivery or have to hook them together. So, its good to know what the market does have.So, hopefully this helps liquid oxygen users know what is available. Liquid oxygen is a great choice for many. Many others prefer a combination or prefer to stay with concentrators and portable tanks with compressed gas.

[Guest guest]

Wonderful info, Bruce.Could one of the moderators make this into a file on the grouphome page at yahoo?jon-- Two wrongs don't make a right,but two 's make an airplane.

[Guest guest]

Jon,

That's an excellent suggestion. Will do that right now.

Beth in North Carolina

Moderator

Fibrotic NSIP 06/06 Dermatomyositis 11/08

To: Breathe-Support Sent: Wednesday, January 7, 2009 4:24:48 PMSubject: Re: Review or Liquid Oxygen Equipment

Wonderful info, Bruce.Could one of the moderators make this into a file on the grouphome page at yahoo?jon-- Two wrongs don't make a right,but two 's make an airplane.