Battery power packs for camping

[GaryVass]

Sorry, was supposed to say PowerAdd 32000 battery, the one mentioned in prior posts by other users...

It was fully charged before I tried to use it.

[jpeace121]

I'll second this request for more information. I'm trying to find a battery solution for use very periodically for weekend camping trips as well as an emergency backup for power outages. Looks like this Poweradd might work best for me. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has tried it. TIA.

@adant33:

Hope your camping trip is or has gone well since your last past was in May and your trip was coming up: When you get back or read the forum posts again, I am following up to my last question from earlier today which was:

What do you use to connect your Respironics cpap machine to the battery you are using?

My more specific question is: Are you able to use one of the laptop connectors and cables provided with the battery to plug directly into your PR System 1 cpap machine from the battery or do you need to use an inverter or other mechanism to connect the battery to the cpap machine?

Thanks.

[sausage041]

New to the forum and am also curious as to the successes with the Poweradd battery. Any updates from anyone? Also, regarding the use of the Poweradd battery, did one of the connectors that came with the battery fit the machine or would I need to utilize an inverter for proper operation (I have a Philips Remstar Auto)? Thanks so much!

[archangle]

The Amazon ad lists it as 118 watt hours. My CPAP draws around 10 watts when running without the humidifier. That would be about 11 hours of run time at best. Less time if you're using an inverter.

[none]

I've had the PowerAdd Pilot Pro for a couple of weeks now. It will run my PR 460 for four eight-hour nights before recharging. I also bought a universal car charger to charge it while riding my motorcycle if I go camping.

We had an overnight power outage a month ago; by the time I went out to the garage and dragged the big, heavy jumpstarter battery pack into the bedroom and set it up, I was wide awake. I keep the PowerAdd battery in a nightstand drawer. It would take all of 15 seconds to pull it out, plug it in and go back to sleep.

Excellent product.

[CapnLoki]

I've had the PowerAdd Pilot Pro for a couple of weeks now. It will run my PR 460 for four eight-hour nights before recharging.

Since the PowerAdd is under 120 Watt-hours (<10 Amp-hours) this has to be with minimal pressure and of course no humidifier or heated hose. I'd expect 2-3 nights with a more typical pressure. Still, for $130 it seems reasonable bang for the buck.

We had an overnight power outage a month ago; by the time I went out to the garage and dragged the big, heavy jumpstarter battery pack into the bedroom and set it up, I was wide awake. I keep the PowerAdd battery in a nightstand drawer. It would take all of 15 seconds to pull it out, plug it in and go back to sleep.

No doubt. Of course, there's nothing wrong with keeping the big battery in the house, though I'd prefer it be a sealed AGM battery. The key to charging safety is to use a gentle charger, such as the Battery Tender.

[Amenite]

I posted my setup in a camping thread some time back. The OP never replied, but someone might find it useful:
************
I can't post links, but you can find these on Amazon if you're interested in details:

Battery pack: Wagan Power Dome EX (many others available, this just happens to be one I already had on hand)
Solar Panel: Instapark® Mercury27 Portable & Foldable 27 Watts Solar Battery Charger (5 days use so far, works well and has correct plug for above charge port)
Adapter: BiXPower Car Cigarette Lighter Female Socket to 5.5 x 2.5mm & 5.5 x 2.1mm Female Barrel Connector Adapter (turns solar panel into pretty universal car charger)

For the battery meter I made some custom connectors using Anderson Power Pole connectors (they work great BTW) to put inline one of these:
"Watt's Up" RC Watt Meter & Power Analyzer WU100 Version 2

I don't have the model number for the Respironics DC adapter handy, but I picked up the more complete version that includes a fused cigarette lighter adapter with battery clips to connect directly to battery terminals just in case I needed that in future. Make sure it's the correct kit for your model - there are a few versions out there, not interchangeable.

The CPAP and hoses, mask and power connectors live in a small hard plastic tote with carry handle. You could do this all for less money but alot of this stuff is multi-use for me, and assembling it all was nice little project.

[Sleepy Duck]

I would like to be able to operate my CPAP while camping but have been unable to resolve the 12 volt vs 24 volt issue, in my mind. I have a ResMed S9 VPAP Auto machine with a H5i humidifier.
I have been reading all of the post here and I have not found an answer to my problem. Lots of folks are talking about using 12 volt batteries or other power supplies to operate their CPAP.
My S9 has a 24 volt power supply. How can I operate this 24 volt system on a 12 volt battery?

[Guest]

My S9 has a 24 volt power supply. How can I operate this 24 volt system on a 12 volt battery?

You will need the resmed special 12 to 24V DC-DC adapter for close to $100. Which is why I always prefer a Respironics or other make the will work on 12V.

The other option - for those who are handy - is to put two 12V batteries in series but that is prob not any less expensive. Then you would have to make your own power cable.

[Amenite]

My S9 has a 24 volt power supply. How can I operate this 24 volt system on a 12 volt battery?

You will need the resmed special 12 to 24V DC-DC adapter for close to $100. Which is why I always prefer a Respironics or other make the will work on 12V.

The other option - for those who are handy - is to put two 12V batteries in series but that is prob not any less expensive. Then you would have to make your own power cable.

I would probably do the wire in series solution with 2 12V AGM batteries and some custom made cables. You could just make two wiring harnesses - one for 24V "in series" operation, and one for 12V "in parallel" for charging from a conventional 12V power source of some kind. If using any kind of voltage converter I would be concerned about excess power draw for that piece of the system. The two AGM battery and custom harnesses solution would probably cost you about $60 in parts, less if you could poach a harness off an old UPS or something.

[Amenite]

...
I would probably do the wire in series solution with 2 12V AGM batteries and some custom made cables.
...

On second thought looking at that Resmed converter thing I might just run that off a properly sized 12V battery. It looks like it doesn't matter if your source is 12 or 24V with that converter, so unless there was lots of power loss with a 12V battery it would probably be a little simpler to go with 12V. No special charger required etc. It would be good to know if ramping up a 12v source to 24v is as inefficient as an inverter.

[CapnLoki]

On second thought looking at that Resmed converter thing I might just run that off a properly sized 12V battery. It looks like it doesn't matter if your source is 12 or 24V with that converter, so unless there was lots of power loss with a 12V battery it would probably be a little simpler to go with 12V. No special charger required etc. It would be good to know if ramping up a 12v source to 24v is as inefficient as an inverter.

Good choice - life is too short to be messing around with creating a 24V bank when the ideal solution exists. I use a PRS1 (which is 12V) so I''ve had no chance to measure the converter but the implication of the ResMed literature is that the converter is high efficiency - almost half the power use compared to inverter plus power brick. I've assumed the efficiency is 85-90%.

http://www.resmed.com/assets/documents/ ... lo_eng.pdf

[Amenite]

I stumbled into a PRS1 by accident and I am pleased about the 12V DC operation, it simplifies things for off-grid or backup use (no extra power brick). But the Resmed solution looks almost as good, costs just a bit more but in the end should work fine. The solar charging was key for me, no need to run a vehicle or generator or anything. The 27 Watt panel during prime sun time daily ~10AM-2PM was all I needed to keep things running.

[Sleepy Duck]

Thanks all for the reply's. I order the ResMed converter this morning. Will be anxious to give it a try once it arrives. I have a 350 amp battery booster and plan to try it with that before I spring for a different battery pack.

[Peter Rissel]

Hi All,

I live in South Africa where Mains Power is intermittent to say the least; mostly our local Authorities practice load-shedding at night when Big Business is off-line. This of course has a huge impact on myself and others with Sleep Apnea.

This leads me to this Thread Re: Camping

I need to permanently connect my S8 to a deep cycle battery

I have an Autoset Spirit S8 (modern for our Region; discontinued for you 1st Worlders)

I need an S8 DC-12 Converter but Resmed does not sell them anymore (too old) https://www.cpap.com has discontinued them as well (probably due to Resmed)

Has anyone out there perhaps still got an S8 DC-12 Converter?

If not, can someone please help me with the circuit diagram with Parts List so I can maybe have one built?