Sorry about the delay responding to this thread - we had a bit of weather here in New England yesterday.CarlSam108 wrote:I just registered so now I can include the links to my original post -
Omnicharge is a company that just released a battery that has its own inverter, so you can plug a device into it and the device thinks it is plugged into 120 volt A/C wall power. http://www.omnicharge.co
They claim the battery has the intelligence to adjust the power output to the needs of the device.
Some on this forum know may more about battery power characteristics than I do -- any idea whether an Omnicharge battery would work on a ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset? and how long it would last. ...
This is actually a very interesting and seemingly well designed and built power pack. I wished I had seen it when the price was $129! At $300 its just way too much for my needs. A few points:
The power capacity is 73 Watt-hours. That is the way lithium packs are rated. It translates to about 6 Amp-hours at 12 volts. This is enough for one night without humidity at a moderate pressure. You might squeeze out two nights if the pressure (or altitude) is not too high. With humidity or heated hose this would only go a few hours, so most folks would not want it for home backup, though it could be handy for an overnight flight.
The TSA (or is it FAA?) limit for lithium is 100 Watt-hours, or more like 8 amp-hours, and its easy to find these larger packs, often for about half the price, so this is a clear loser in the "bang for the buck" competition. There are even larger, not quite legal for flying in the USA, packs if you look.
If weight is not a major issue, a 7 AH AGM battery is about the same power for only $15, albeit at about 5 pounds. For home backup, or for car camping its easy to use a 35 AH AGM battery, and all accessories (charger, wires, case, USB adapters, etc) would still be only $150.
Although the AC inverter is a handy gadget, they are so inefficient that they quite possibly make this pack too small to run cpap for even a night. My Respironics 560 at pressure 9.5 uses 7 AH when run through an inverter. I strongly recommend using a 12V adapter (direct plug for Respironics, DC-DC converter for Resmed) for virtually all battery situations.
I don't know the meaning of "the battery has the intelligence to adjust the power output to the needs of the device." I didn't find this claim. In general, devices limit the current in by their resistance. At first I thought you meant it could automatically figure out the required voltage, but I don't see how that could work.
This powerpack looks like a very spiffy gift for the road warrior who carries a lot of gadgets, but as a cpap battery its under-powered and overpriced.