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Just wanted to relate an experience I had Saturday.
Back at the Lancair fly-in, I purchased a Mountain High O2 pulse demand
system. I've used it a few times just getting familiar with it and
Saturday I decided to evaluate it at the service ceiling for my
360.
The system was working great up to 18,000 ft. Now I
have to admit, I was using the cannula and didn't initially plan on going above
18000 ft. However, I did have the face mask with me which you're supposed
to use at 18000 and above. Yes, the instructions say the mask must be used at
18000.
Well, things were going well and the aircraft was handling
well and I had plenty of performance available to go higher so I decided to pick
up an IFR clearance to maneuver in the class A above my field.
Passing FL190, I heard an aural warning from the EDS
02D2 controller and quickly realized oxygen had stopped flowing (it's a
new, freshly filled tank). I quickly turned the controller to R/M (manual)
expecting to get a positive flow but nothing was happening. I had a
fresh set of batteries installed and there were no red failure lights
showing. Needless to say, the effects of hypoxia come on quickly and I
immediately initiated a descent.
Back on the ground I found that if I turned the unit off
then back on, it would work again.
I plan on calling MH on Monday and asking them about it,
but wanted to see if anyone in the group knows if this problem was related to
not using the face mask at the prescribed altitude.
In any event, another good lesson to learn from. The
face mask I had was the one that came with the system, no mic, so I needed to
use the cannula to allow me to talk to ATC. Then I felt changing to the
mask at altitude was not practicle either. Guess I'll need to invest in
one of those fancy masks with a mic installed!
Steve Rosenzweig
LNC 360 MK II
N171DK
Lancaster, CA
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