Well I've finally decided to take my oxy concentrator in for service. Not bad really when you consider its been playing up for at least 4.5 years. Yesterday was the final straw - I spent the better part of 5 hours in the studio working on a new set of beads, and most of that time I spent venting various expletives at the oxy concentrator every time the 'Below Normal' light lit up, necessitating me to turn the PSI down from 5 to 2-3 PSI on the damn thing about every 10 minutes. GRRRR... I figured that if was going to continue along this path, I may as well sell my minor burner and go back to using a hothead.
I've kept putting it off, firstly, because basically I'm a lazy git, but mostly because I always had the impression that the service centre would be about 1,253 km from where I live in rural Victoria, as seem to be about 99.9% of the places I need to visit, and the thought of having to take a day off work to take it in always filled me with dread - not to mention the fact that I hate driving anywhere but locally, so it also meant that DH Russ had to take a day off work so we could visit the service centre. So it was with much surprise that I found out Air Liquide, the place I'm having it serviced, is only 29 km away in North Sunshine. Russ is finishing work early on Thursday, and by chance, he's been meaning to visit a wood factory in Sunshine for months, so he can combine the trip to Air Liquide with his visit to the factory he needs to stop by. Now I have to wonder why I waited this long. Procrastination is my friend.
Anyway, depending on what's actually wrong with it, it may have to stay in the shop for a while. The woman on the phone seems to think, and I admit I agree with her, that it's probably just going to require a good clean of the filters and sieve bed, and we'll be able to get it serviced on the spot. However, experience has taught me that nothing is ever as simple as it first appears, so, if something else needs to be done, it may need to stay in the shop for a while and they can deliver it back to me when it's ready. Of course, if it does require a stay in the factory, that means I won't be making beads until it returns. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it won't be too long before it's back in tip top condition.
I was a little concerned at first that they wouldn't actually agree to service it - once upon a time, they weren't too keen on servicing oxy concentrators that weren't used for medical purposes. However, the girl on the phone seemed to think there wouldn't be a problem, so, that's good news.
So with any luck, this weekend I *may* have a fully operational oxy concentrator for the first time in years. It will be fabulous to turn it on knowing that I'm not going to see that rotten little yellow light flash up any time soon. Now I just have to hope it's not going to cost me too much. Oh well, I can dream.
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