Camping, CPAP and other stuff ...

[angellr]

There are a few on this board who have Sleep Apnea (including yours truly) and have done extensive research and wanted to share some of my results here.

First off, I have had this condition for over 20 years. Have schlepped and used machines all over the world (even in some pretty remote places of the world - eg. Cochin, India) and have always had power of some kind. Wanting to break free from the bonds of being chained to a power source has led me on this quest. Believe that I have found something that will work for at least ONE night as follows:

1. You will need to do some research on the power draw that your machine has on an hourly basis. Mine roughly draws 1 Amp/hour WITHOUT humidifier. You must get a DEEP CYCLE marine LEAD ACID battery (way too heavy in my IMNSHO) or go with a Lithium Ion (stability OK) or Lithium *Iron* of which you will need roughly DOUBLE the Amps for your projected usage. I decided on step 2 below.

2. Obtain the 2.5lb battery pack from CPAP.com which will allow you to use your machine for at least 6 hours. You will need an inverter if your machine does not accept DC power directly. Some machines you will fry if you are not careful. This is roughly $300. Make sure you get the DC adaptor with the unit.

3. If I run out of juice camping, I will use my H20 proof duffle to prop upper body underneath my pad/sleeping bag. This should do trick for at least one night here/there.

With step 2, I will roughly get 8 hours on a single charge, therefore, can camp every other night or make sure the camping facilities have a power source or go with Step 3.

Am still researching whether or not I would/will be able to re-charge the battery pack in #2 while riding all day. Any thoughts from the collective group whether this might be doable?

Hope some of this helps.

Thanks.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Man, that seems to be a real hard thing to address. And the cpap equipment, etc, makes packing a challenge also.
But, I suppose where there's a will there's a way, and more power to you (literally)!

Is there a solar option on this? Or maybe a long extension cord and an electrical supply for the campsite?

[angellr]

Man, that seems to be a real hard thing to address. And the cpap equipment, etc, makes packing a challenge also.
But, I suppose where there's a will there's a way, and more power to you (literally)!

Is there a solar option on this? Or maybe a long extension cord and an electrical supply for the campsite?

To be honest, this has been a pain in the backside for a VERY long time. I have a 100' cord for some of those rare occasions, but most times I usually don't need it. As an Eagle scout, have loved camping all of my life and the apnea has really messed this all up. Went into the back country WITHOUT it a few years ago and tried to sleep in a folding chair with a "foot rest". This did not work very well, but survived.

Have looked into a Solar option, however, do not get much of a power draw and flexible solar panels are still expensive. I could go with a 12-15lb battery and get more than one night, but still need to recharge for 10+ hours and schlepping one of these around might be challenging. Car/Boats would be a bit different.

Planning a long trip in August and hoping to camp >50% of time and will be spending ALOT of time in July tweaking stuff at home sleeping on the floor.

[stripboat99]

I carry an AGM motorcycle battery in my hard bag. To keep it charged, I plug it into my battery tender SAE pigtail while I am riding. I found a through the wall of the hard case waterproof SAE conector on Pashnit for under $15. I originally bought the battery to replace the one that died in my 1150RT - unfortunately it was 1/8" too wide!

The AGM battery will run my CPAP without humidifier for three days and still leave battery at 80% charge capacity. I've tested this at home.

I have a Resmed S9 with the 12volt power block.

Everything works well and it's pretty cost effective, I can camp anywhere now and still get my rest!

Mark

[angellr]

I carry an AGM motorcycle battery in my hard bag. To keep it charged, I plug it into my battery tender SAE pigtail while I am riding. I found a through the wall of the hard case waterproof SAE conector on Pashnit for under $15. I originally bought the battery to replace the one that died in my 1150RT - unfortunately it was 1/8" too wide!

The AGM battery will run my CPAP without humidifier for three days and still leave battery at 80% charge capacity. I've tested this at home.

I have a Resmed S9 with the 12volt power block.

Everything works well and it's pretty cost effective, I can camp anywhere now and still get my rest!

Mark

Mark,

Based on this, I am going to re-evaluate the "system", as I can get a Shorei with 36AH for about same price with just a bit more weight over the cpap.com battery pack. I also like the ability to "recharge" while riding using a battery tender from my DC plug might just work.

What tender do you use?

Thanks.

[stripboat99]

My battery is a 22 amp hour battery. The standard "battery tender" SAE plugs are available in many places, I just picked up another SAE battery lead from Pashnit, they have all kinds of nifty thing in the "bring power to your luggage" section.

Just make sure that you watch your polarities!