Lightweight Battery Options for Respironics BiPAP autoSV Adv

Does anyone have a tested, lightweight battery solution for running a REMStar 60 Series BiPAP autoSV Advanced (model DS960)?

I looked at John’s “build your own” solution (viewtopic.php?t=49115), and ended up buying instead. I did the Sears JumpStart Platinum Portable Power 1150 ($130) and cigarette 12 Volt DC Power Cord ($30) from cpap.com. This is an 18 pound solution, but will last a LONG time. I did 2 nights car camping and only drained 10% of the battery. No humidifier and about 7hrs each night.

Now, I would really like a 2-3 pound option. The most promising solution seemed to be the Power Add Pilot Pro 32000mAh. I did purchase one and my BiPAP powers up fine using the included tips (need to make sure it is on the 12v setting). Unfortunately, when the blower starts, the PowerAdd shuts off. I suspect it is drawing too many amps. Perhaps for other machines, it would work, but not the 960.

So, any other ideas for a light weight solution which will power the Respironics BiPAP autoSV Advanced?

The specs on the Power Add Pilot Pro 32000mAh indicate a max draw of 4.5A while the user manual for the 960 indicates a draw of 5.0A not including the humidifier which brings it up to 6.67A combined.
I suspect the unit has an internal current limiter circuit that is protecting the battery from what it perceives as a short on the output side.

I think your speculation of the current draw limitation is likely correct.

The other Respironics models draw less current and would probably be suitable to use this device - testing would be required, mileage will vary.

pswartz wrote:... I did the Sears JumpStart Platinum Portable Power 1150 ($130) and cigarette 12 Volt DC Power Cord ($30) from cpap.com. This is an 18 pound solution, but will last a LONG time. I did 2 nights car camping and only drained 10% of the battery. No humidifier and about 7hrs each night.

I think your 10% use for two nights is very optimistic. The Sears battery is 22 AmpHours so 10% for two nights is a bit over 1 AH per night. Frankly I don't know how to read the pressure numbers you list but I would think that it would be hard to get under 2-3 AH per night. The charge level display on the Sears is guessing from the voltage level, which is a highly unreliable method.

pswartz wrote:... Unfortunately, when the blower starts, the PowerAdd shuts off. I suspect it is drawing too many amps. Perhaps for other machines, it would work, but not the 960.

I measured startup current draws of around 3 Amp on my 560, so its easy to believe you were tripping a current limiter. BTW, although the name of Pilot Pro 32000mAh implies 32 AmpHours capacity, its only about 10 AH when measured at 12 Volts.

pswartz wrote:So, any other ideas for a light weight solution which will power the Respironics BiPAP autoSV Advanced?

Have you considered to owell 266? Its pricy but should have almost as as much power as the Sears for under a third of the weight.

pswartz wrote:Does anyone have a tested, lightweight battery solution for running a REMStar 60 Series BiPAP autoSV Advanced (model DS960)?

I looked at John’s “build your own” solution (link removed), and ended up buying instead. I did the Sears JumpStart Platinum Portable Power 1150 ($130) and cigarette 12 Volt DC Power Cord ($30) from cpap com. This is an 18 pound solution, but will last a LONG time. I did 2 nights car camping and only drained 10% of the battery. No humidifier and about 7hrs each night.

Now, I would really like a 2-3 pound option. The most promising solution seemed to be the Power Add Pilot Pro 32000mAh. I did purchase one and my BiPAP powers up fine using the included tips (need to make sure it is on the 12v setting). Unfortunately, when the blower starts, the PowerAdd shuts off. I suspect it is drawing too many amps. Perhaps for other machines, it would work, but not the 960.

So, any other ideas for a light weight solution which will power the Respironics BiPAP autoSV Advanced?

How (where) does the Respironics cigarette lighter plug connect to this PowerAdd thingy? I'm wondering if there is a high resistance connection there? I can't tell where or how it connects to 12V from the pics on Amazon.

Is there a way to connect two of these PowerAdd s in parallel? Would that suit your needs if you could?

I've been using a owell industries owl-266 and you can see if the specs would work with your machine or not. I get up to 4-5 nights with it for a Remstar System 1 and older remstar pluses.

I just returned from a nine day/eight night rafting trip on the Middle Fork Salmon river. I used my cpap on the trip. Luckily for me my rafting buddy has been using his for the past 3 years, and helped me get my set-up together. I use a PR System One REMstar Auto A-Flex 60 series. My pressure setting is 15-17. I powered mine with Werker 12V 20A marine deep cycle AGM batteries. I took 4 of them, planning on 2 nights per battery. They weigh 13 lb. each. I row a 14 ft. raft so I have the means to carry the weight. I kept them in a dry box, and the machine in a Pelican 1300 case. I used my machine without the humidifier/heated hose. I brought along a simple battery tester with red, yellow, and green lights. All three light up with a full charge. I got 2 nights out of three of the batteries, and 3 nights out of one of them. All registered two lights (red and yellow) after 2-3 nights. The night time temps were 32-40 degrees. I purchased the Respironics brand shielded DC cable and DC battery cable from cpap.com at the recommendation of my DME provider. He suggested that I use the Respironics brand cables to avoid any warranty issues. I tucked the hose inside my sleeping bag, and that helped a lot to warm things up. The fleece tube cover didn't help much at all. I was able to sleep all night on all but the coldest night. I took the cpap off at about 4am on that night because of a cold nose. The only negative I noticed was a bit of a chapped, dry nose, but that was worsened by wind & sun during the days on the river. I downloaded my sleep data when I got home and was pleasantly surprised.....AHI below 1, and hardly any mask leaks.

I did investigate the C-100 battery option, and solar recharging prior to the trip. With my higher pressure setting, I was told that I'd be lucky to get two nights per battery. At about $300/battery, that was too pricey for me. I also looked into the solar recharging option, but that's also expensive for the size panel needed to recharge with 8-10 hours of direct sunlight. We were lucky enough to have 9 days of sunshine on the trip, but it easily could have rained the whole time. I would like to continue looking at lighter options for kayak touring trips in the future.

raftergirl wrote: I powered mine with Werker 12V 20A marine deep cycle AGM batteries. I took 4 of them, planning on 2 nights per battery. They weigh 13 lb. each.

Nice writeup and a good explanation on bringing more than one battery when not able to charge. Even when charging is available it is good to have another battery to use while the other is charging.

I like the simple battery tester too.

Charging and testing weeks before a trip pays off also, getting the bugs worked out. You can't buy a battery off the shelf and put it to use like you do in a car.

Guest wrote:

pswartz wrote:Does anyone have a tested, lightweight battery solution for running a REMStar 60 Series BiPAP autoSV Advanced (model DS960)?

So, any other ideas for a light weight solution which will power the Respironics BiPAP autoSV Advanced?

How (where) does the Respironics cigarette lighter plug connect to this PowerAdd thingy? I'm wondering if there is a high resistance connection there? I can't tell where or how it connects to 12V from the pics on Amazon.

Is there a way to connect two of these PowerAdd s in parallel? Would that suit your needs if you could?

I connected it two ways - one was with the provided tips and second using a cigarette female socket (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008UCOYWA) and my cigarette lighter adapter. Either way, it shut off. I did not have the humidifier connected.

I think the BiPAP just draws too many amps on start-up. I've heard that "normal" CPAP machines work fine with the setup.

Again, I think the best / easiest / cheapest solution is the Sears Jumpstarter - I had great success with it and the cigarette lighter adapter. It's just not as portable as I would like at close to 20 LBS.

pswartz wrote:Again, I think the best / easiest / cheapest solution is the Sears Jumpstarter - I had great success with it and the cigarette lighter adapter.

I like the Sears Jump Starter too.

pswartz wrote:Now, I would really like a 2-3 pound option. The most promising solution seemed to be the Power Add Pilot Pro 32000mAh. I did purchase one and my BiPAP powers up fine using the included tips (need to make sure it is on the 12v setting). Unfortunately, when the blower starts, the PowerAdd shuts off. I suspect it is drawing too many amps. Perhaps for other machines, it would work, but not the 960

The Poweradd also shut off power to my intellipap as soon as the blower starts. I bypass this by starting the intellipap using ac power then plug in the Poweradd. Let the blower run a few seconds then unplug from the mains, the Poweradd should pick up from there without interruptions.

Offourse that's not practical if you don't have ac power. I got a Chargetech 12000mah which has an ac outlet. I've been testing the 2 units the last few days and it looks promising.

I still use a 12V 20ah deep cycle battery for longer rafting trips, but I mainly use my Qi-Infinity battery for off the grid activity. Works fantastic. Two nights out of each 3lb. compact sized battery. Using a 20 watt solar panel charger to recharge on longer trips. My rafting buddy also uses the Qi-Infinity with a 60 watt solar panel, so his recharge capabilities are faster. I have a 4 night kayak touring trip coming up later this month. I'll bring the 12V battery for the night before we launch in the campground, and my 2 Qi-Infinity batteries will come on the water with me. They reside in lightweight padded cases, inside a small dry bag. They fit very nicely in a small kayak hatch. My cpap machine rides in another padded case in the bigger dry bag with my clothes. Being well rested and having energy while being active in the great outdoors is great!

http://www.qi-infinity.com/collections/ ... ttery-pack