For want of a battery!!!

goose · Post by **goose** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 12:53 am

Well I may be facing my first night or nights in months without my trusty APAP machine running......

It's blowing like he** outside and there's a lot of trees.....

I've got all the cables and wires I need, but no battery!!!! (2 cars with dead ones!!!! And Mr. Nice guy loaned his charger to "someone" and can't remember who it was, and of course it has never been returned).

If I'm lucky, it won't happen tonight and I'll have a battery for tomorrow.....I really want an AGM battery, but have been putting it off due to cost -- (don't relish the idea of a standard lead/acid battery in the bedroom -- maybe I'll move in to the living room for the storms).

With luck, mom nature will cut me a break

Send me good vibes!!!!! Thanks!!

cheers
goose

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ozij · Post by **ozij** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 2:23 am

Sending you an urgent supply of lots of good vibes, goose. They're the kind the work (hopefully....) even if you can't get to the computer.

Take care.

O.

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 6:56 am

Also sending you many, many good vibes, goose! I hope the night went well.

Mindy

RAINSUX · Post by **RAINSUX** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 8:26 am

I just bought a rechargeable Coleman booster batery on sale at Pep Boys for $20 (normally $50). It's not fancy, but it has jumper cables and a 12V outlet. This would either start your cars or run your CPAP.

Sam

WNJ · Post by **WNJ** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 9:47 am

Goose,

AGM is a good choice.

Or you could get a lead/acid battery with a battery box to keep it in and avoid any accidental spills in the house.

Best is a deep cycle battery. Not a starting battery for a car. Not a marine battery. A true deep cycle battery.

I bought a deep cycle battery rated at about 80 amp-hours at Walmart for about $45. Battery box is about $7. Trickle charger for about $15 keeps the battery charged between times. Check the water level in the battery every month or two and add distilled water if necessary. I can run my REMstar auto for almost a week, if necessary, without recharging and it won't discharge enough to hurt the battery.

A "booster" battery has a small amp-hour capacity. It would not likely last for more than one night.

Wayne

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:04 am

What's an AGM battery? Is that like the Xantrex battery charger things we were talking about for camping and emergency use?

I still need to get one of those. Costco has one that looks similar, but doesn't SAY Xantrex, and is only 400 amps. For very little more I can get 600 amps, and that sounds good to me.

Cheers,
B.

goose · Post by **goose** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 1:34 pm

Thanks for all the good vibes -- it worked.
Made it through the night without power loss, but it has gone out a few times this morning but so far so good. The wind is doing about 75-80MPH in the mountains (I'm in the mountains)......
We expect the wind to diminish in a few hours but then it's going to get cold and probably snow.....what fun. First Blizzard warning in the area in many years.

Babs, AGM is Absorbed Glass Mat.....Unlike gel-cell batteries which require a special charger (if you use a regular charger on gel-cell batteries you can blow them up), AGM has the advantages of the Gel-Cell (captured acid that won't spill), but the charge flexibility of a standard lead acid battery.
BUT, they are very expensive.....I'm looking at an 80 Amp Hour deep cycle battery and it's about $267.00 -- I'm still searching.
I may take WNJ's advice and get an inexpensive (yeah right!!!!) battery and a battery box.

I'm kind of trapped like a rat at the moment -- trees are going down all over the place, so it's safer just to stick it out here....

Again -- thanks for all the good vibes folks -- it worked!!!!

cheers
goose

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yardbird · Post by **yardbird** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 2:01 pm

hmmm....

Deka 78 amp-hour AGM battery 12-volt
Regular price: $262.95
Sale price: $197.21

from http://store.solar-electric.com/demagmdecyba.html

Does that look like a good deal?

goose · Post by **goose** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 2:52 pm

Hey Yardbird,
That looks like a reasonable deal, but for me, shipping would eat up any savings....
I've got to get out the book on the Remstar M-Series Auto and see what the power draw is (without HH).....I may be able to get by on the 32 AMP hour battery as long as I have a charger on it.....I have a generator so I can run a charger if the power is out for an extended time.
So far today it's been ok. Usually when we have one of these storms and the power goes out, it'll be gone for a while -- like 2-3-4-5 days, or more -- depending. We're not "out of the woods" yet (we live in the woods, so..... ). They've raised the snow levels to about 4000-5000 feet, so perhaps we'll dodge that bullet (we're at 2500)....

cheers from a hunkered down....
goose

RosemaryB · Post by **RosemaryB** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:00 pm

[quote="goose"]Hey Yardbird,
That looks like a reasonable deal, but for me, shipping would eat up any savings....
I've got to get out the book on the Remstar M-Series Auto and see what the power draw is (without HH).....I may be able to get by on the 32 AMP hour battery as long as I have a charger on it.....I have a generator so I can run a charger if the power is out for an extended time.
So far today it's been ok. Usually when we have one of these storms and the power goes out, it'll be gone for a while -- like 2-3-4-5 days, or more -- depending. We're not "out of the woods" yet (we live in the woods, so..... ). They've raised the snow levels to about 4000-5000 feet, so perhaps we'll dodge that bullet (we're at 2500)....

cheers from a hunkered down....
goose

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 5:45 am

This was a very good thread to add to these... thanks!

LINKS to Battery operation, camping, power outage
viewtopic.php?t=9682

goose · Post by **goose** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 2:04 pm

Well -- as an update on 1/10/2008......

Power went out on Friday afternoon 1/4/8 (very shortly after that last post I did) and was out until yesterday afternoon 1/9/08......5 days and some hours......

No way to get a battery etc. on the 4th as the storm was raging - had 3 gusts of about 30 seconds each about 2-3 minutes apart that were 87+mph -- rain in buckets going sideways (I was out working on the generator -- we're at the top of a ridge in the Sierra foothills - so the wind hits directly) -- top section of a very large pine tree came crashing down blocking the access road also - twas a mess!!! Now that may be wimpish stuff to ya'll in Florida or Texas, or Louisiana where you get hurricanes somewhat regularly, but that's big stuff for us here in the land of surf and sunshine!!!!!

So, had one very miserable night without my machine pumping in my nose.
Saturday that was remedied with the purchase of a normal deep cycle battery and smart charger, so I was set up (already had cables). Generator charged the battery and ran the entertainment center -- after it apparently smoked the motor on the refrigerator (power surge - not a good thing for refers). So at least we could keep up on the news and watch some TV.....(kept the aquarium running also!!!)

Heat is wood, hot water is gas so that wasn't affected, so we were warm and clean, but have no food. Had to toss the contents of the refrig and the freezer and today we go to the "big city" to find a refrigerator. Hopefully we can get them to deliver quickly!!!! Last time we had a refrig die (during an Alaskan Cruise in '97) the appliance store delivered in a few hours and hauled the old one away......we'll see.....

Anyway - that's why I haven't been here for the better part of a week (oh the power surges also destroyed the battery in the laptop, so I can only use it plugged in -- because of what it did to the fridge I didn't plug it in to the generator -- even through a surge protector!!!!)

Onward and upward!!!!

cheers
goose

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): news, Power, clean

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): news, Power, clean

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 2:08 pm

Wow!

Good to have you back, goose! And I hope you get your refrigerator very soon.

Mindy

jasper · Post by **jasper** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:41 am

from WNJ:

Best is a deep cycle battery. Not a starting battery for a car. Not a marine battery. A true deep cycle battery.

I bought a deep cycle battery rated at about 80 amp-hours at Walmart for about $45.

WNJ, I saw the batteries in Walmart, and some of the marine batteries are marked "starting" and some are "deep cycle - trolling". Wouldn't that one work? Why do you say to avoid marine batteries? I didn't see a non-marine deep cycle battery there.

Wish I could afford an AGM, but can't. If a lead acid batt will work, I may have to do that.

WNJ · Post by **WNJ** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:33 am

Jasper,

What you want is the “deep cycle - trolling” battery.

I just went out and checked my battery. It is an EverStart (Walmart house brand, I think) part number 24DC-6. It is labeled Trolling, Deep Cycle, RV. 75 amp-hours capacity. I’m guessing this part number denotes Group 24 (battery physical size), Deep Cycle, #6 in the series.

It is also labeled “EverStart Marine.” My bad. Maybe Walmart labels all batteries not for starting a car as “marine.”

Most batteries labeled “marine” are for both running the electric trolling motor and starting the big gasoline outboard. They are a compromise between an automotive starting battery and a deep cycle battery. They are rated both in cold-cranking amps (CCA) and amp-hours (AH) capacity. The difference lies mainly in the thickness of the lead plates in the battery. A “marine” battery normally splits the difference in plate thickness.

The battery you want for best performance in repeated deep-cycle use is rated in amp-hours only. It is best to avoid the batteries also rated in cold-cranking amps.

Yes, batteries rated in CCA’s will also power a CPAP. But they will not withstand as many discharge/recharge cycles. For this reason, true deep cycle batteries are a better bargain for this use.

Wayne