EBME Forums Forums Maintenance Technical Assistance Welch Allyn Spot Monitor

We are having too many problems with C8 alarms on this product. Also the SRC2 simulator recommended in the service manual doesn't seem to work on this monitor. Are we the only one's are there others of you out there having difficulties. What is your experiecnce of support on this product?

Thanks.

Hi Bigfoot

There are two different versions of the Nellcor SpO2 OEM board that are used in the Welch Allyn Spot Monitor. The original analogue version (MP205) and the later “OxiMax” version (MP506). And each has its own Simulator.

The SCR-2 SpO2 simulator from Nellcor is suitable for the original analogue version of the Spot.

For the later “OxiMax” enabled Spot’s, the Nellcor SpO2 Simulator is Model SRC-MAX

As for the “C8” error codes from the SpO2, is this related to the extension cable?
Could I ask you to report any problems to Stephen Kennedy in our Technical Services department on 0207 365 6780. (I am no longer responsible for the Tech Support on this product.)

Hi Jonathon,
Thanks for the reply. We have had problems with Spo2 errors since buying these monitors, mainly C8. This was originally addressed by using shorter extension cables DEc-4. This sorted most problems although we have had two futher occurances this week one C8 and one E7 both cleared by replacing the extn lead and probe assembly. In the latter case there was no obvious fault with the probe or extn cable except a slight looseness in fitting between probe and extension cable due to wear.
Yes...this issue has been reported to Stephen and we are now taking it up with the rep.I just wondered how widespread the problem is.
Thanks.

Had exactly the same problem (see March post). We were going through loads of Tyco extension cables with C8 faults on the Spot monitors and P120 on the Dinamap monitors.

We called in Tyco & Welch Allyn to resolve the matter, but neither company would assume complete responsibility for the faults. Welch Allyn were very helpful and supplied us with loads of new extension cables, despite the fact all the faulty cables were purchased from Tyco. However the response from Tyco was very disappointing.

Haven’t had the problems for a few months, so we are now assuming it was a bad batch of extension cables.


Author Topic: Tyco Extension Probes
Clancy

Novice
Member # 552


posted 15 March, 2006 12:36 PM
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Hi

Has anyone come across a fault using the DEC-4 or DEC-8 extension cable from TYCO Healthcare particularly on the SPOT monitors (Welch Allyn)? We had 3 different SPOT’s with the same error code C8 (indicating a sensor or extension problem) using 5 different DEC-8 and couple of DS100A (all brand new from the box). When the DS100A sensors were used alone no error come up on any of the three SPOT’s.
Has anyone had a similar problem?
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Posts: 10 | From: Luton & Dunstable Hospital | Registered: Nov 2002

I believe there's a 6-month service-exchange on tyco SpO2 accessories - if the batch number is quoted they can give the date of manufacture, etc. If you're unhappy with your probes or interface cables then I guess they can be returned to Tyco for assessment, thus exchange if they've failed prematurely. I guess there's always going to be the argument whether there's been abuse, etc but it's worth a try if large numbers of relatively new probes are involved, perhaps.

We've had very similar problems, in the past, with the Nellcor compatible Welch Allyn VSM (we had 70 of these) using DEC-8 and DS100A Oximax probes. 3 scenarios - Older Welch Allyn VSM that were apparently r-cal compatible only (grey probes only) yet woudn't work with Oximax probes (that should be r-cal compatible), a mixture of those that may or may not have worked with both Oximax/r-cal (blue) and r-cal (grey) probes depending upon when they were manufactured it seemed (irrepsective of the fact they were r-cal compatible, i.e. older SpO2 PCBs), and newer Welch Allyns that only worked with Oximax/r-cal (blue) probes (obviously, following Jonathans comments, since they only support Oximax it seems).

We really suffered at the time when Oximax probes were being introduced a few years back - it took a while to weed out the problems. Operators were actually mixing Oximax and non-Oximax DS-100s and DEC-8s. However we had OEM SpO2 boards replaced under warranty. I'm not convinced that Oximax probes are reliable when used on Welch Allyn r-cal (1st generation) Nellcor OEM SpO2 even though they're meant to be r-cal compatible. Also I think there are other underlying issues with poor connections on the VSM SpO2 interconnects.

Nellcor state that Oximax probes are r-cal/Oximax compatible. If the SpO2 monitor is 1st generation the r-cal function will be used but there will be no motion tolerance (Oximax digital features). If the SpO2 monitor supports Oximax then r-cal is not used - calibration data is provided to the monitor, by the probe, digitally. The oximax motion tolerant performance relies on the digital functions built into the Oximax probes but r-cal should still work on older, 1st generation, SpO2 monitors.