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What This Guide Helps With
Troubleshoot incomplete disinfection or rinse cycles caused by water, drain, consumables, connections, setup, interruptions, or environmental conditions before service escalation.
Step-by-Step Troubleshooting
1. Protect the Patient and Prevent Premature Reuse
Do not place a Tablo into clinical service when the required disinfection or rinse process has not completed successfully.
Clearly identify the machine as unavailable until the cycle is completed and verified.
Expected outcome: No patient is connected to a machine with incomplete or uncertain disinfection status.
2. Confirm Where the Cycle Fails
Determine whether the machine:
- Will not start the cycle
- Stops early
- Pauses or stalls at a repeatable stage
- Fails during rinse
- Repeats part of the cycle
- Displays a specific disinfection-related message
- Loses power or water during the process
Record the exact displayed wording and cycle stage.
Expected outcome: The failure is clearly characterized and reproducible.
3. Verify AC Power
Confirm the machine has stable facility AC power and that the power cord and receptacle are secure and undamaged.
A long cleaning or disinfection process may expose intermittent power problems not obvious during brief operation.
Expected outcome: Stable power is available throughout the process. If restoring reliable power allows the cycle to complete, troubleshooting can stop after verification.
4. Verify Water Supply
Inspect the approved water connection, inlet hose, and accessible valve for secure connection, kinks, restriction, damage, or leakage.
Confirm there has not been a building water interruption.
Expected outcome: Adequate external water supply is available for the complete cycle.
5. Verify Drainage
Check the drain hose and drain location for:
- Kinks
- Blockage
- Improper positioning
- Backup
- Disconnection
- Visible leakage
Do not attempt internal drain-system disassembly.
Expected outcome: The machine can discharge wastewater normally. If correcting an external drain restriction permits cycle completion, the issue is resolved.
6. Verify Required Consumables or Chemistry
If the selected process requires approved consumables or chemistry, confirm the correct item is present, properly installed, not visibly damaged, and appropriately recognized through the normal user workflow.
Do not substitute unapproved chemistry or bypass recognition checks.
Expected outcome: Required supplies are correct and properly installed.
7. Inspect Accessible Fluid Connections
Check external fluid connections and disposable interfaces for incomplete seating, kinks, leaks, or other obvious abnormalities that could interrupt circulation or rinsing.
Expected outcome: External fluid pathways are correctly connected and free of obvious restriction.
8. Repeat the Normal Cycle When Appropriate
After correcting any external issue, start the normal disinfection or rinse process from the appropriate user-accessible workflow.
Do not repeatedly restart a failing cycle without addressing the cause, and do not bypass required cycle stages.
Expected outcome: The complete disinfection or rinse cycle proceeds without interruption.
9. Verify Successful Completion
Confirm the machine indicates the process completed successfully and reaches the expected post-cycle state. Check for remaining alarms, visible leaks, or unresolved rinse status.
Do not assume the cycle completed merely because the machine stopped running.
Expected outcome: The full required process completes successfully with no unresolved condition. Troubleshooting can stop.
10. Escalate a Repeated Cycle Failure
If stable power, water supply, drainage, required consumables, and external connections are verified but the cycle repeatedly fails, remove the device from service.
Expected outcome: Internal fluid-control, heating, sensing, purification, software, or related service-level problems are referred for qualified evaluation.
If the Problem Persists
Common external power, water, drain, consumable, connection, and setup causes have been ruled out. A persistent problem may involve internal pumps, valves, heaters, sensors, fluid pathways, purification functions, software, or service-level configuration.
The device should be:
- Removed from service
- Labeled Out of Service
- Sent for repair or bench evaluation
- Evaluated using appropriate Outset Medical documentation and approved test equipment
- Repaired or configured only by qualified personnel
After repair, the required disinfection or rinse process and applicable return-to-service checks must be successfully completed before the machine is used for dialysis. Knowing when to stop external troubleshooting is proper troubleshooting.
Clinical Use Tip
Never return a Tablo to treatment simply because the original alarm cleared; the required disinfection or rinse process must finish successfully.
Work Order Documentation (CCR Method)
CCR = Complaint, Cause, Resolution
Complaint
What was reported by the clinical staff.
Example:
"Dialysis staff reported the Tablo repeatedly stopped before completing its rinse cycle."
Cause
What was observed during troubleshooting.
Example:
"Clinical Engineering found the external drain hose pinched behind the machine, restricting wastewater flow."
Resolution
What action was taken.
Example:
"Corrected the drain hose routing, repeated the rinse cycle to successful completion, verified no leaks or recurring alarms, and returned the unit to service."
Helpful Details to Include (If Known)
- Exact disinfection or rinse message
- Stage where the cycle stopped
- AC power condition
- Water inlet condition
- Drain hose and drain condition
- Required consumables or chemistry used
- Visible leaks
- Whether the failure repeats at the same stage
- Cycle result after correction
- Final device status
Final Thought
An incomplete disinfection or rinse cycle is a patient-safety and infection-control concern. Verify external power, water, drainage, consumables, and connections before assuming an internal problem, require successful cycle completion before release, and escalate unresolved failures with clear CCR documentation.
That is successful troubleshooting.