@woot - My old workhorse Pari Vios (the big greenish neb Medicare pays for) empties a 4ml vial of saline or levalbuterol in 8-10 minutes as long as I breathe deeply. I feel the increased output penetrates my lungs better as well. My little portable Innova takes 20 minutes each to do the same. After years of trial and error, I have decided to foresake portability and quiet for speed & noise - I'm far too impatient to sit still.
Sue

Woot, your question prompted me to examine my nebulizer which. When I took a look I was surprised by the absence of the word "PARI." It took a moment or so to remember that my old Pari died of old age several months back. The replacement is utterly nondescript; not a "brand" name to be found. Can't help but envy such commercial modesty. Maybe they're just making it harder to sue them if the thing electrocutes a user. I usually set the timer on my iphone to remind me to check the "cup" twenty minutes in. I've found that after 20 minutes the vapor production is pretty anemic, so I tip it, tilt it and cuff it around for a moment, eager to leave no drop unnebbed and then I call it quits yielding to some recondite law of diminishing returns. Then, having "hosed up" before I started the nebulizer, I switch on the Thumper for a "clocked" three minutes. Then depending on whether it's morning or evening, I'm coughing and spitting a little, or coughing and spitting and sneezing my fool head off. Morning = a little; evening = a lot (when I was a kid my mother would often speak of "night" air, conveying the notion that it was somehow different. I suspect she was repeating the received wisdom of untold generations. However, it wasn't until Bronc and MAC came a visiting that her words got turbocharged.)
After dutifully doing the full 30 minutes pre-programmed into the Respirtech for some three years, I revolted and shaved off 27 minutes having gradually discovered what a lot of folks who post here seem to know; nebulizing is central to the overall treatment regimen; percussion is a supporting actor.
btw, your use of the word "ampule" caught my attention. I've always called those little things "vials." Being more than a bit fascinated by the world of words I looked into it and discovered I've been misspeaking all these years. Doubtless throngs of people are laughing behind my back. Ampule/Vial, I'll never make that mistake again. Thanks to you! Don

P.S. I just now checked my stock of saline solution. Lo and behold, the label on the box reads "vials." No "ampule" in sight. Oh well, A rose by any other name. LOL
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