Battery power packs for camping

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kevin1
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Battery power packs for camping

Post by kevin1 » Tue Apr 22, 2014 7:59 pm

Anyone tried these flat battery power packs with CPAP? They output 12v and have a bunch of power plugs (marketed for laptops)...

Intocircuit Power Castle PC26000 26000mAh External Battery Pack
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BB5VQCE

Anker Astro Pro2 20000mAh Multi-Voltage (5V 12V 16V 19V) External Battery
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B45EOYS

Wondering how they compare to the jump starter / inverter power packs like this...
Schumacher XP2260 Portable Power Source
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EIAADG

Anyone know the dimensions of the Philips remstar system one power plug barrel? Its the Outer Diameter and Inner Diameter in mm. If the included plug works that would save me about $25 it looks like.

Thanks,
Kevin

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OboeVet
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Re: Battery power packs for camping

Post by OboeVet » Tue Apr 22, 2014 9:05 pm

I used my 18 or 19 amp hour 10 year old Sears power cell (and air pump, light and 110V inverter) to run my APAP/BIPAP on 12 volt. I got to about 2:00 AM from around 10:00 PM, so guess 4 hours. But, I don't have a hose adapter to run without the humidifier, so I was running the whole thing, as I recall, something like 80 watts. I found that I can turn the hose setting to zero, and guess that will shut off the heater plate in the humidifier, so running only the fan and software.

I have not tried by back-up radio battery, which is something like a 110 amp hour deep cycle, partly because it weighs the proverbial "ton" and I am still recovering from shoulder surgery. Maybe I'll cart it in and give it a test under the name of emergency preparedness.

Beware that small "AGM" or sealed lead acid batteries really, REALLY don't like to be drained. So you need to make sure you have a low voltage cut-off not much below 12 volts. My power cell has a low volt cut-off if you turn on the 110 volt inverter, which itself shortens battery life powering the inverter even at zero watts load through it. But at least I didn't wreck the battery.

As an amateur radio operator there are some really neat solar panel - battery combinations which might get you 7 or 8 hours of non-heater XPAP as long as you have enough sunlight hours to recharge. The alternative is to recharge via an alternator, either vehicle or portable generator.

Hope this helps! Let us know how it works out for you.

Don

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kevin1
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Re: Battery power packs for camping

Post by kevin1 » Wed Apr 23, 2014 6:58 am

The anker astro pro2 is a Li-polymer battery. It outputs DC12V at 4A max. Li-polymer seems to handle deep cycles better than sealed lead acid from what I have read.

Newer version is cheaper ($80) and has a battery level gauge: http://amzn.com/B005NGLTZQ

Does anyone know of the jump starter / aircompressor / inverter type batter power packs have large Li-polymer batteries. Having all those extra features is appealing But I want it to last with deep cycles while running CPAP.

Also, I will not be running humidifier while camping.

Thanks!

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Guest

Re: Battery power packs for camping

Post by Guest » Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:13 am

kevin1 wrote: Newer version is cheaper ($80) and has a battery level gauge: amzn dot com/B005NGLTZQ
me thinks you will need to adapt your own power cable to work with your cpap to make this work

kevin1
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Re: Battery power packs for camping

Post by kevin1 » Thu Apr 24, 2014 9:05 am

Found a 32AHr pack!!!!! It has around 10 DC output plugs, $130...

Poweradd™ Pilot Pro 32000mAh Monster Capacity Multi-Voltage
http://amzn.com/B00DN0KBXU

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OboeVet
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Re: Battery power packs for camping

Post by OboeVet » Thu Apr 24, 2014 1:52 pm

Kevin: Did you determine your CPAP machines' appetite for electricity? You will find a label listing volts and amps, or maybe already doing the math and showing watts. Whatever battery you select you will need to supply enough voltage over the period of operations. As the voltage sags the amperage increases so make sure your wiring can handle the load. Don

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mon
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Re: Battery power packs for camping

Post by mon » Fri Apr 25, 2014 5:54 pm

kevin1 wrote:Found a 32AHr pack!!!!! It has around 10 DC output plugs, $130...

Poweradd™ Pilot Pro 32000mAh Monster Capacity Multi-Voltage
http://amzn.com/B00DN0KBXU
This looks a good price do you use it with your CPAP or are you certain it works with all CPAP machines?

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Re: Battery power packs for camping

Post by Pinhead » Sat Apr 26, 2014 7:37 am

I have used one of the jump starter things a number of times with mine. I had to buy a car power supply adapter for my machine and plug that into the jump starter.

When I have used it I have always been on my motorcycle and plugged it into the lighter on the bike to recharge it during the day. I did not use the huminifer.

Worked great

adant33

Re: Battery power packs for camping

Post by adant33 » Mon May 19, 2014 8:13 am

Any luck on any of those portable batteries for your CPAP?

For reference my CPAP is the PR System One REMstar Pro CPAP with C-Flex Plus. The machine takes DC 12v input at 5 amps. However, this includes the humidifier, which draws much for current than just the blower.

I tried the RAVPower 15000mAh - it did not put out enough amps to power my CPAP. The Ravpower puts out 2 amp at 12 volts - my CPAP would work fine on it initially, but if airflow was allowed to flow too strong, it would trigger the safety power off. Only way to reset this is by plugging it back into AC, which isn't an option when camping/backpacking.

I then tried the Intocircuit Power Castle PC26000 26000mAh. This outputs up to 4 - 4.74 amps on 12v. This powers my machine just fine even when allowed to blow freely. No issue on current flowing though. With 26000mAh - this should be able to can power my CPAP for 1-3 nights (6-8 hours). I'm still testing this. I am running into a major issue though. For some reason, the battery pack switches off after a few hours thus my CPAP turns off. If I wake up, I need to reach over and press the voltage indicator and it turns on again just fine. I can't seem to figure out why it does this. Everything about the battery works great for my CPAP except it switching off during the night - this is a deal breaker as it ruins my nights rest. I'm working on thinking of alternatives.

Does anyone have experience on the above portable battery? Is it possible that my unit is defective? Trying to get some other feedback on this before returning it. My next unit would likely be the Poweradd Pilot Pro 32000mAh due to its heft capacity.

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OboeVet
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Re: Battery power packs for camping

Post by OboeVet » Mon May 19, 2014 9:47 am

Get a cheapo voltage tester /meter. My suspicion is your low voltage shut-off switch is shutting down to protect the battery. Before you hit the reset, test battery voltage. What may point toward a defect is if your battery was really at the low voltage cut-off, once you restart it most likely would shut off right away.

Depending on the battery protection circuit there may be an over tempreture shut-off, too.

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Adant33

Re: Battery power packs for camping

Post by Adant33 » Mon May 19, 2014 1:40 pm

Thanks for the reply. I've been testing the battery today and it has been running my CPAP without interruption for almost 7 hours. The battery gets a little warm, but barely noticeable - I had though maybe a temperature safety switch was involved, but I would expect the batter to be able to get much warmer than this. My testing setup is a little bit different than if I were hooked up to the machine, but I imagine it would be close. As soon as the machine shuts off, I'll test the voltage as you mention.

You post did get me thinking - the device does have an auto shut off circuitry to turn off the battery if not enough power is being drawn from it. This is designed to turn the battery off once the device you are charging with the battery has become fully charged in order to not drain the devices from a slow trickle. I wonder if the draw from my CPAP gets low enough to trigger this.

I'll keep testing the unit and test it again tonight when I go to sleep. I hope I can get this corrected as it's a great setup for portable CPAP use.

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Pesser
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Re: Battery power packs for camping

Post by Pesser » Mon May 19, 2014 2:41 pm

Adant33 wrote:Thanks for the reply. I've been testing the battery today and it has been running my CPAP without interruption for almost 7 hours. The battery gets a little warm, but barely noticeable - I had though maybe a temperature safety switch was involved, but I would expect the batter to be able to get much warmer than this. My testing setup is a little bit different than if I were hooked up to the machine, but I imagine it would be close. As soon as the machine shuts off, I'll test the voltage as you mention.

You post did get me thinking - the device does have an auto shut off circuitry to turn off the battery if not enough power is being drawn from it. This is designed to turn the battery off once the device you are charging with the battery has become fully charged in order to not drain the devices from a slow trickle. I wonder if the draw from my CPAP gets low enough to trigger this.

I'll keep testing the unit and test it again tonight when I go to sleep. I hope I can get this corrected as it's a great setup for portable CPAP use.
I'm very interested in this! Can you provide a link to what exactly you are using? Is it the one on Amazon? Also what other cords or converters are you using? Are you powering with the humidifier or just the unit? If just the unit are you using the unit still attached with the humidifier off? This provides a "muffler" to the noise! Thanks for all the info so far!!!!

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Pesser
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Re: Battery power packs for camping

Post by Pesser » Mon May 19, 2014 3:44 pm

kevin1 wrote:Anyone tried these flat battery power packs with CPAP? They output 12v and have a bunch of power plugs (marketed for laptops)...

Intocircuit Power Castle PC26000 26000mAh External Battery Pack
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BB5VQCE

Anker Astro Pro2 20000mAh Multi-Voltage (5V 12V 16V 19V) External Battery
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B45EOYS

Wondering how they compare to the jump starter / inverter power packs like this...
Schumacher XP2260 Portable Power Source
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EIAADG

Anyone know the dimensions of the Philips remstar system one power plug barrel? Its the Outer Diameter and Inner Diameter in mm. If the included plug works that would save me about $25 it looks like.

Thanks,
Kevin
I re-read your post and I can see now what you are testing. This is a great solution to my problem. Please keep us all posted as to your results! Thanks!!

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adant33
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Re: Battery power packs for camping

Post by adant33 » Mon May 19, 2014 9:17 pm

Pesser wrote: I'm very interested in this! Can you provide a link to what exactly you are using? Is it the one on Amazon? Also what other cords or converters are you using? Are you powering with the humidifier or just the unit? If just the unit are you using the unit still attached with the humidifier off? This provides a "muffler" to the noise! Thanks for all the info so far!!!!
It looks like you already found it, but here is the exact link for the IntoCircut 26000 mAh Battery that I'm currently testing: http://www.amazon.com/Intocircuit%C2%AE ... roduct_top

The unit actually came with a variety of adapters meant to fit various laptops - one of the connectors fits perfectly with my CPAP. I am not using the humidifier for a few reasons 1) it takes a lot of power, something I need to definitely conserve, 2) it's bulky, 3) the terrain I will be camping is plenty humid this time of year and and 4) I've read that the humidifier requires some sort of special sin wave electricity pattern or it will permanently damage the humidifier. I'm not an electrical engineer, but it sounds like the way that the DC power is provided is rather critical so I'm opting to avoid this.

Can you still have the humidifier connected? I would think so, although considering my points above, I'm not sure if it is worth the risk.

adant33
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Re: Battery power packs for camping

Post by adant33 » Tue May 20, 2014 8:56 am

After another night of testing, the Intocircuit still shuts off every 2-4 hours during usage with my CPAP. I'm not sure why, and it is rather difficult to determine as I'm asleep when it happens. When running it all day without myself connected, it appears to run fine - not sure what the differentiating factor is.

When the unit does stop providing power, it is definitely some circuit shutting it off as there is no power on the device or output (LEDs nor displays are lit), but there is still plenty of charge on the battery itself. The unit is designed to power off when it determines there is not enough current flowing through (e.g. your laptop battery is charged), but I don't think this is the case as I can leave my CPAP plugged in but the blower turned off leaving only the display to power it (very little current), and the unit stays powered all day.

I don't think it would be a temperature issue - I haven't noticed any excessive heat on the unit. I'm also within the output amp parameters which would be the determining factor (I think).

I'm considering returning this unit and trying the Poweradd™ Pilot Pro - it's a bit bulkier, but has more power. Anyone have any experience with this unit?