?Problems with DC12V adapter for Aircurve 10

[Norma45]

I have been having trouble with the DC12V adapter for the Aircurve 10 vAuto. We travel often in an RV and need DC12V (rather than 120V).
Yes, I know I could turn the Aircurve 10 vAuto off an inverter, not my first (or 2nd or 3rd choice), for reasons I will not go into here.
I have talked to ResMed (of no help at all).
I talked to the supplier I bought it from with some help.

The first one I got worked one day and would not come up at all the second day. The supplier sent me a new one.
With the second one the Aircurve 10 would lose power then power up every 5-10 minutes.
It did not matter if humidifier was on or not, I don't use a heated tube, I did lower IPAP to 1 number above where I usually sit so the machine would not do it's ramp up high trying to fix some situation that ramping up didn't fix (e.g. keep IPAP at a level it was effective).

Of Note: It doesn't seem to matter if I am running straight off a battery (yes the battery voltage is very high, above 13 when this happens), or off shore power (e.g. 120V coming into the RV, which the converter changes to 12v). Power equipment is all very new (less than 3 years). No other problems with any other devices including a respironics cpap.

The supplier suggested making sure it was plugged in specifically in one direction (e.g. plug machine in first then wall in second). I saw some posts (elsewhere I think) about making sure the wire was straighter and did that. I got it to work for a trip but shortly after that again the machine is powering off and back on regularly. One night it was continually for 10 minutes until I figured something out to make it work (plugging machine in first then wall).
But it now does it in the middle of the night for apparently no reason. Just here and there but it can be up to 10-15 times in a night, some which I am sleeping thru and some that wake me up (trying to take a breath and nothing there), once woke me up bad enough that I didn't get back to sleep for a couple of hours.

Has anyone else had this problem?
Were you able to fix it?

I don't know if this is just an inherent problem with the Aircurve 10 as it uses a transformer to change from 12V to 24V which the aircurve needs (vs the resmed that is 12V to 12V with no transformer needed). Or if I have another bad cord, or ???

Thanks for any help from those using the DC12V adapter for the Aircurve 10.

[deerhound]

Is this: https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... 0-machines the adapter you are using? The AirCurve runs on 24V power and if the adapter you are using only puts out 12V then it won't work. I use the linked to power supply directly coming off of a 12V source and it has been perfect for over a year now.
Dale

[Dog Slobber]

I was wondering the same thing.

Are you using the ResMed branded DC-DC converter or one of the third party brands off Amazon?

I have the ResMed branded on, I keep it for battery backup, and only used it one to test.

[klv329]

With the cigarette adapter plug, I have to use a thick rubber band to hold the dc adapter in the cigarette socket, otherwise the adapter slowly slips out and loses the connection. Indont recall the problem being quite so intermittent though.

[khauser]

The symptom of the machine restarting like that suggests to me it is power starved and the dc to dc converter is rebooting. Possible causes:

• poor connection to the battery if using battery clamps.
• incorrect wiring of the dc socket (like using too small a wire gauge) ... would be a fault of the RV manufacturer or they did not design it to carry the needed load, but if the latter i would expect a fuse to protest.
• dirty contacts (like the first bullet, but this time in the dc socket)
• Weak battery.

FYI it is not meaningful to measure a voltage on an unloaded circuit. One of the biggest failures among auto diagnosticians is testing voltage with a volt meter. Bad grounds are quite common in vehicles, and a bad ground won't show with an unloaded test. You need to measure it while your machine is running or with a load capable of drawing a few amps.

The last thing you say about the problem being the same even on shore power makes me lean heavily in the direction of a bad ground or other wiring problem.

Good luck! I hope this is helpful

[Norma45]

Yes, I am using the official resmed DC12v adapter for the aircurve 10 (says resmed right on it). Picture attached.
I use it plugged into a DC12v outlet (looks like the holder for the old cigarette lighters).

klv329, I have a horizontal outlet for the DC12 and it doesn’t seem to slip out (I push it in firmly, I don’t notice that it goes in any more if I re-push it in, unlike my usb cords for phones/etc which do slide out). It fits in pretty snug. Pushing it back in to make sure it is tight doesn’t fix the problem and that doesn’t seem to account for when it just goes off a handful of times during the night.

khauser – I agree it sounds like something with the power, but having had this issue with two official resmed dc12v power adapters (and having read of similar problems on the internet) and not having this problem with any other 12V “appliances” we use (a vacuum and a portable compressor, both which pull much more amps) makes me suspicious of something in the resmed cord wiring/transformer.

And DH's Respironics DreamStation uses the same type of dc12v outlet, we even (on a night I could not get mine to work at all) swapped so I used his 12v outlet and he used mine (for a few minutes), his machine worked, mine did not. Yes, they are different, the DreamStation has not transformer, the aircurve 10 does.

RV batteries are only a few months old. We have a Victron Bluetooth battery monitor so I can see the voltage on my phone and did observe it while it was happening (voltage significantly over 13), while it was under a load of about 3 amps plus. Wire gauge is 14 awg (rated for 20 amps) throughout for 12v – I have an RV that was well built (unlike many). DC outlets are a reputable brand, almost new, and work for other appliances and charging devices.
Maybe the next time it is doing it at the start of a Xpap session (when it tends to reboot repeatedly), I will put a phone on the transformer green light to see what it is doing.

Big issue – it is intermittent. I have had it stop dead cold at the beginning of a night twice (just reboot regularly). I have had it work for over a week with no problems. I have had it stop in the middle of the night one or more times but it rebooted and then ran an hour or more with no problem. The nights it was rebooting regularly at the beginning of the night (would not last more than a handful of minutes before rebooting again), the first time I quit using it and switched to the 120v adapter and the next time after talking to the supplier connected to the outlet in the specific order and it worked ok. The second time, I was trying to reconnect it for about 10 minutes before it finally started working (with no other problems that I know of that night). The more recent symptoms are it just rebooting in the middle of the night with a one time boot.

It might be something funny like a surge demand from the aircurve.....
I should add I don't use a heated tube. I have used it both with and without the humidifier (on shore power, when running just off batteries I didn't use the humidifier), I don't see a difference with the humidifier on/off.

There is a green light on the transformer and one on the dc12v outlet, but I am have not yet tried to catch these to see if it is on/off when the reboot happens (it is quick, off, then right back on so I could only do this if it was rebooting regularly in a short period of time).

Thanks for the help and any further thoughts are welcome.

[Norma45]

.... I use the linked to power supply directly coming off of a 123V source and it has been perfect for over a year now.
Dale

Dale – do you use it in a DC12v outlet (RV? Car?) or directly on a battery. Have you used it for a week or two straight? What is your ipap most of the night and is your humifier/heated tube on/off?

[khauser]

As an experiment I suggest using the battery clips. That probably means having a charged battery handy, but I still think the device is experiencing power insufficiency.

I doubt the dc adapter will show any evidence directly. If it 'reboots' it'll be fast, but the aircurve will restart and that's much more noticing as you know.

Wish I had more ideas...

[deerhound]

I use it plugged into the 12V outlet that looks like a lighter receptacle on a GoalZero Yeti 400 power unit. I use it every night so that a power outage doesn't disturb me. My Ipap 95% is around 15. I use a heated hose and humidifier on auto. No problems at all for 8 months. I was wrong claiming over a year, time seems to escape me now. My AirCurve Vauto runs off of a 12V supply all the time.
I'm sure you already checked, but there is a small on/off switch on the 12V plug that might cause problems.

[Norma45]

I use it plugged into the 12V outlet that looks like a lighter receptacle on a GoalZero Yeti 400 power unit. I use it every night so that a power outage doesn't disturb me. My Ipap 95% is around 15. I use a heated hose and humidifier on auto. No problems at all for 8 months. I was wrong claiming over a year, time seems to escape me now. My AirCurve Vauto runs off of a 12V supply all the time.
I'm sure you already checked, but there is a small on/off switch on the 12V plug that might cause problems.

My max ipap is just above yours (16), but my medium is 15.68 - I am at 14-15.5 most of the time.
I have used my humidifier at 4 and at 8, I used to do auto but I still had dry mouth (mouth breather).

[Norma45]

As an experiment I suggest using the battery clips. That probably means having a charged battery handy, but I still think the device is experiencing power insufficiency.

I agree this is a good test, but a PIA. We have 2 6v batteries (connected in series to create 12v). Ok, simplest way would be to leave the batteries where they are, and run cords from where it is just outside the door to the xpap (we do have a 20' dc12 extension cord - I just need to find a good pathway for the cord thru a window).

[Norma45]

Ok, I might have a clue....
After I wrote the response last night (funny how having to write things down seems to make things more clear)...
I thought maybe I was getting a surge for power from the humidifier.
I turned the humidifier off and didn't have any problems last night. Because it happens sometimes and sometimes not, I will run with no humidifier for another day at least. Then try the humidifier on a 2, then a 4, etc. to see if this seems to be the issue. But darned, deerhound runs fine with the humidifier....I want that choice also.

[palerider]

I have been having trouble with the DC12V adapter for the Aircurve 10 vAuto. We travel often in an RV and need DC12V (rather than 120V).
Yes, I know I could turn the Aircurve 10 vAuto off an inverter, not my first (or 2nd or 3rd choice), for reasons I will not go into here.

The best reason not to run it off an inverter is that they're very inefficient and waste battery time.

The first one I got worked one day and would not come up at all the second day. The supplier sent me a new one.

What supplier, and are you using the legit Resmed 12v converter, or some after market thing?

I saw some posts (elsewhere I think) about making sure the wire was straighter and did that

Whoever said that doesn't know anything about electricity.

I don't know if this is just an inherent problem with the Aircurve 10 as it uses a transformer to change from 12V to 24V which the aircurve needs (vs the resmed that is 12V to 12V with no transformer needed). Or if I have another bad cord, or ???

Resmed uses 24 volts at the machine, Respironics uses 12v, but they still require a special cable.

You should have no problem at all with a Resmed power adapter, they are rock solid.

[palerider]

Ok, I might have a clue....
After I wrote the response last night (funny how having to write things down seems to make things more clear)...
I thought maybe I was getting a surge for power from the humidifier.
I turned the humidifier off and didn't have any problems last night. Because it happens sometimes and sometimes not, I will run with no humidifier for another day at least. Then try the humidifier on a 2, then a 4, etc. to see if this seems to be the issue. But darned, deerhound runs fine with the humidifier....I want that choice also.

Sounds like you have another bad converter.

[khauser]

Norma, how big are the 6V batteries in Amp Hours?

One concern of connecting two 6V batteries in series is that they both have to be at about the same state of charge or one will limit the other.

The humidifier draws the lion's share of energy in any xPAP I've seen. So your observation is interesting. More tests will tell.

It's possible you got a second bad adapter, but that would require seriously bad luck.

But it behaves, as I've said, like power starvation.