Prepper question re long term power outage

[plr66]

You won't have to worry about the phone, no cell towers, no phone, no internet. I could watch my video library though. US older generation know how to surive, but our bodies aren't good enough to. The young have the bodies,but lack the training. Jim

Yes, I know there won't be phone or internet, but I have lots of books and other entertainment & resource libraries stored on my tablet & phone. I am fortunate to live in a rural area, so am not so hopeless about being able to survive on most levels. In Any Case.....would like to have my cpap to at least maintain my senses as long as possible!

[Gryphon]

I live in an area that's more suburban but still rather close to everything. We almost never lose power at least not long term. I think I could count the number of times I remember losing power for more then a few days in my life time of almost 40 years on one hand. Still the thought of not having electricity to run my machine is rather scary. I have my battery setup that I know can keep me going for a week with out a recharge. If push comes to shove I could get a set of solar panels and a digital trickle charger to keep the battery topped off but still.

I'd be happy to break down exactly what I got for my little system if any one would be interested.

[Gasper62]

Solar will be great....unless it's "nuclear winter" . In that case.... I imaging either diesel or pedal energy will be needed to generate electricity. Hydro would be awesome, if you're near flowing water. I'm sure there's a thousand prepper sites/forums with countless threads dedicated to this subject.

Thanks, Gasper62, but honestly I'm not looking for general electricity generation. I simply want to find a simple (if possible) solar solution for running my cpap, and whether or not it's possible to use solar to recharge my battery. (Well, like I said in my original post...)

I didn't get specific about the amount of power you'd need/want to generate. However...no sunlight = no solar charging. Alternatives are indicated at that point. Me....If things really turn to sh!t that badly, I'm takin' myself out anyway. Preppers, for the most part, crack me up. Apologies.


https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=do ... ty+sources

[plr66]

I'd be happy to break down exactly what I got for my little system if any one would be interested.

I would be interested, Gryphon. Have you tested it?

[plr66]

Me....If things really turn to sh!t that badly, I'm takin' myself out anyway. Preppers, for the most part, crack me up. Apologies.

Well hmm. Not sure any judgements were indicated. I'm not suggesting this for anyone else. Just asking simple questions for those who have knowledge. If "taking yourself out" is your idea of response to major emergency, well so be it. But no need to mock anyone who differs.

[Sir NoddinOff]

This thread's starting to sound like Cormac McCarthy's chillingly post-apocalyptic book The Road. Don't attempt reading it unless you want to get seriously depressed, CPAP user or not.

[plr66]

This thread's starting to sound like Cormac McCarthy's chillingly post-apocalyptic book The Road. Don't attempt reading it unless you want to get seriously depressed, CPAP user or not.

Well I do want to defensively say that my original post was not at all directed toward "gloom & doom." I simply would like to be prepared for any long term emergency, since I have the ability to do that, but do not know how to do that effectively. I think just one or two joking responses made it seem to take that direction....but t'was all in fun until Gasper's post.

I still welcome all input on this. Those who are freaked out can of course skip over the thread.

[CapnLoki]

This thread's starting to sound like Cormac McCarthy's chillingly post-apocalyptic book The Road. Don't attempt reading it unless you want to get seriously depressed, CPAP user or not.

Well I do want to defensively say that my original post was not at all directed toward "gloom & doom." I simply would like to be prepared for any long term emergency, since I have the ability to do that, but do not know how to do that effectively. I think just one or two joking responses made it seem to take that direction....but t'was all in fun until Gasper's post.

I still welcome all input on this. Those who are freaked out can of course skip over the thread.

I've been wanting to reply but I've been travelling the last several days. I've been a bit confused about your needs since you claim not to be interested in "general electricity generation" but that's exactly what you need, unless you're looking for a wind-up cpap. (not so far fetched - see below)

The problem breaks down into three parts - energy needs, energy storage, and energy creation. The first is easy: if you don't need humidity your load is between 3 and 10 Amp-hours (or 36 to 120 Watt-hours) a day. For storage, a big deep cycle is about 100 Amp-hours, which could last you several weeks. A genset could be power generation, or you could consider it storage if you have a large fuel tank. Real power generation implies wind and or solar, though some folks have been able to make hydro and even geothermal work.

So here's my real life solution. I have 4 golfcart batteries that hold 450 Amp-hours. If I only ran the cpap this would be good for several months, but in fact I run a refrigerator, TV, radio, several computers, lights etc, with a load of about 100 Amp-hours a day, so I need to recharge daily. Five solar panels (350 watts total) keep this charged up if its sunny, but in cloudy weather I fall behind so I have to run a small genset or a diesel engine with a large alternator sometimes to recharge. I carry enough fuel to do this many times, so I could easily see a system that could go several years or more without restocking. If I setup a wind turbine, I could generate power during much of the cloudy weather and be almost totally independent.

Of course, if the power grid is down more than a month, you probably don't need a TV or even a fridge. The computer is overkill for reading (get a Kindle!) so your needs go way down.

Assuming you're in good shape you can create the basic power for a cpap with well under an hour a day on a bicycle powered generator:
http://www.econvergence.net/category-s/1817.htm

[BlackSpinner]

Assuming you're in good shape you can create the basic power for a cpap with well under an hour a day on a bicycle powered generator:
http://www.econvergence.net/category-s/1817.htm

From listening to TED talks, look to Africa for interesting new "prepper" stuff in use right now. Lack of power is not a "horrible future" scenario there.

[ClayL]

. I would love to hear any instruction on what I should do with new batteries from now on to preserve their utility---as well as how to use a small solar panel recharging system or anything else that might possibly work effectively. Thanks!

I have used a float charger designed to keep batteries charged when not in use. I used the Battery Minder Plus http://www.batteryminders.com/ and it worked great on batteries stored during the winter. It can handle up the four batteries at one time.

[Gryphon]

For my setup it was simply a 110 amp hour deep cycle marine battery - I keep it topped off with a digital battery tender. I use an extended line to run power from downstairs were the battery is to my old Respironics Pro that uses a simple DC adapter - I find my old CPAP with the simple DC adapter runs the longest as there is no wasted power on inverters etc.

As I said before I can count the number of times I've lost power for more then 2 days in my life time on one hand, lucky me. So My main goals of building this setup was "Car Camping" and so I wanted to make sure it would run my old CPAP at my pressure levels for a week with out a recharge. Having it for home encase of power outage was just a big bonus.

The following links are just for information about what things look like and general idea of cost. I'm not promoting the website that the links are from. I just found the links to be shorter then some other sites and I was able to find visual examples of everything I used to build my setup.

I started off with a 110 Amp Hour deep cycle marine battery
https://www.batteriesplus.com/battery/m ... m/sli27mdc

Got a battery box to put the battery in
https://www.batteriesplus.com/productde ... oxgrp24=31

Some connectors to hook up to the battery so I don't have to mess with it much after it's set up. I got two of these so I could run more then one thing at a time. I let the ends hang out of the battery box so I can access them when I need them.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/productde ... 081=0069=6

I use a 25' extension cord from the battery to my bedroom or tent - mainly to keep the battery out of the same room I'm sleeping in. I think you can attach more then one to extend it to 50' if needed. I'd check to be sure.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/productde ... t081014825

On the other end of the extension cord I use a 12V adapter that gives you the classic cigarette lighter adapter.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/productde ... 081=0069=8

To keep the battery topped off and ready for when I need it to "Camp with" or if the lights go out I keep it hooked up to something like this.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/productde ... bt022=0157

I haven't tried it but if you wanted to try solar you could also look at getting something like this.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/productde ... bt021=1165

The links I gave are not exactly what I got for the "Battery or Charger" but I did get my adapters and connectors from them. As I said this isn't supposed to be an endorsement for the "Batteries + Bulbs" store I just was able to find links to everything to show you.

My DC cable came from CPAP.com and is this one.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/dc-pow ... hines.html

My power outage / camping cpap is an old "M Series Pro" mainly because it runs on DC and I find I get the most out of it if I need to go long term.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/Respir ... -CPAP.html

For my new AirSence 10 I'll be getting one of these eventually but as the power draw is more and different then my old Backup CPAP I'll have to try my tests again with and with out the humidifier going to see how long it lasts.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... hines.html

Some things to have if you don't already have them would be a digital multi-meter Something like this would work to check the level of the battery. There other alternatives to a multi-meter so keep your options open.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Digital-Multi ... s_limit=10&

you can also get things you could hard wire to your battery box but beware of anything that runs all the time because even though it's not much if it's running it's consuming power and may cause you an issue.

There also other types of "Battery boxes" that are much nicer and already have built in wiring and batter testers etc. There a few brands that may work well I just didn't try them as it can add another 40 or 50 dollars to the project cost.

There also lots of YouTube videos out there about making a portable power pack from a deep cycle battery and a battery box etc. If your worried about the particulars I'd do some more research just to be sure before you settle on buying anything. You can add all sorts of bells and whistles so it really is up to you.

For real long term dooms day situations though a simple battery and solar charger may not cut it long term as the battery will only last a given number of years before it will eventually go bad and not hold a charge.

But for the normal bad storm, tree fallen on the power lines sort of deal a device like I listed should serve you well until power is restored.

Hope this helps - if anyone notices something wrong with what I've shown or remembers something I may have forgot'n please feel free to comment. The above list is just off the top of my head from what I remember about my setup.

Take care all!

[Gryphon]

O and before I forget - the battery I used is very heavy about 60 pounds so if your not able to lift that sort of weight you may want to consider a multi battery option or some sort of wheeled dolly to move it around. I don't want anyone throwing out their backs trying to move this thing around if they're not prepared.

[Setj]

Prepper question re long term power outage

You might want to specify what "long term" means to you.

[LinkC]

Sleep on your stomach.

Huh???

If you HAVE to go with no machine, you will usually have fewer and shorter obstructive apneas if you lay face down. (Does not apply to centrals.) It's a gravity thing...

[Goofproof]

Hi Folks--It's been a number of years since I was an active participant here, but life sometimes gets in the way. Forgive me if this topic has been adequately covered already, and I just haven't done my Search well enough. (Links are welcome!)

My question:
If the power grid goes down for an extended period of time, and I can no longer utilize my propane generator or my car battery, what options are there for me to keep my cpap running? (I have two cpaps with backup batteries, but fear they are probably dead from never being used or recharged). I would love to hear any instruction on what I should do with new batteries from now on to preserve their utility---as well as how to use a small solar panel recharging system or anything else that might possibly work effectively. Thanks!

Lead acid batteries, have a limited lifespand no matter what you do. for maxium storage life, but dry charged sealed batteries, do not unseal or add acid until you put them in service. pnce you add acid the clock starts. Jim spares in case one fails.