Possible suffocation during power failure

[DoriC]

Hawthorne, what I'm confused about is how do you know in advance when there's going to be a power outage during the night? So the alarm that Rooster suggested would take care of waking us up and then we'd hook up the battery, right? So how does the battery keep its charge if it's not used very often? Do we have to remember to plug it in and charge it periodically or is there a light or something that tells you if it needs charging? Am I asking the right questions? Thanks.

[roster]

....... Am I asking the right questions? .......

That's a great one Doris.

G'night,

Rooster
The fowl who still has not arranged a backup power plan
and will eventually suffer for it one night.

[dsm]

You know, that's a feature I would love to see in my CPAP machine itself: a battery-powered, power failure alarm!

Tattooyu

Believe it or not, some machines had them inside for that very reason.

One power failure I recall was when this awful screech went off in the night & I sat up but had no idea where it was coming from but then saw my PB330 flashing a yellow light & also realised the clock (RED LED) & street lights were out.

I hadn't realised it had this small back up battery in it until that happened.

DSM

[Hawthorne]

Dori- Yes, Rooster's alarm thing would wake you. Mike would probably wake up without the alarm since he would sense that he's not getting enough air --I do anyway. Then you have to plug in the battery if the power is not back on within a few minutes and you want to go back to sleep and not think about it going out again. Sometimes the power is just out for a few minutes but, if I want to just go back to sleep and not worry about the fact that it could be just a blip in the power that may be a full outage for a period of time in another few minutes (That's what often happens here) I plug the battery into the machine. I just unplug the regular cord on the back of the machine and plug in the DC cord that you buy separately with the battery, into the same hole in the back of the machine. You would have turn the humidifier to zero or "off" and use the humidifier in passover mode I think. That's if you have the integrated humidifier. I think you use it in passover mode like I do most of the time anyway.

I might think that we were in for a possible power outage in the night if there were some small power outages during the evening or if we were having a thunderstorm or one was forecast for during the night. If this was the case I would plug the machine into the battery when I went to bed. If it still had a good charge, I would just sleep all night witht the machine on battery power.

According to the guide that comes with the battery, a full charge will give me 26 hours of battery power at a pressure of 12 cm (that's my 90% pressure since I am on an auto range). The guide also says that the battery will hold the charge for 6 to 9 months without recharging. That may or may not be so. I have decided that I will "top off" the charge every month and do it when I change the white filter in my machine or at some other time that I can remember.

The battery is not plugged into the machine all the time - only when there is a blip that might indicate a longer power outage or a thunderstorm brewing or expected when I go to bed.

The rest of the time the battery sits in the corner of the bedroom. At my scheduled time, I plug it into the wall outlet and let it charge. When you start to charge it, the light on the charger shows red. It turns to amber as it charges and, when it is fully charged it turns green. I unplug it then and it sits until the next "top up" charge time or I need it for a power outage.

I hope that makes sense! It's hard to explain the steps that I automatically go through!

[DoriC]

Hawthorne, I mentioned on another thread that your name should really be Patience! I absolutely understand this now! You knew exactly what I was trying to figure out step by step in a language I recognized. Thanks again! Dori

[Hawthorne]

You're very welcome, Dori! Anytime! - I'll do the best I can! As I have said, I'm just giving back for all the help I have had from the people on this forum!

All the battery talk here is confusing to me too! I'm glad I got a fairly simple one! I had some help in learning to use it here too!

By the way, I don't think my husband would describe me as patient!!

[dexter_go]

Dear Friends,


Thank you all for your answers. It has a given me a better understanding of the situation. I think an power failure alarm is indeed a cheap and easy solution.



Cheers!

Dexter

[Linus]

I wanted to add one comment to the discussion. Any of you who use a generator to power your home during an outage please be careful about Carbon Monoxide. I would highly suggest a Carbon Monoxide Alarm for the inside of your home while using a generator. Even though the generator is outside when it is running, fumes can blow into your home. It is rare but take precautions.

[feeling_better]

Most modern masks come with asphyxia-prevention valves that immediately access fresh air if the machine pressure is turned off. So while you may not necessarily die of asphyxiation, you could either wake up with a headache from a night without therapy, or you could wake up in alarm as your body senses the need for air and wakes you up to breathe, as often happens with OSA patients who find themselves in deep apnea. In other words, it seems more likely that you would die of an actual apnea than because of oxygen depletion and CO2 build-up in your mask and tubing.

Dreamweaver, this safety valve is there for full face masks only, manufacturers assumed there is a risk for these since FF covers the mouth too. But there is still a serious potential problem with nasal pillows too! I experienced this once with a nasal mask when the machine stopped. It was not a power failure at all![p/b] I had posted about this many months ago:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=33341&p=283663#p282872

I had since then designed and put in my own safety valve.

[derek70]

Sorry for digging and old post, but this is a great concern for me.
I'm using Full Face Mask (Mirage Quattro) and every time I press the "Stop" button on my S8, there's kind a vacuum and it's really hard to breathe.
I think an power failure alarm is a good solution.

[LSAT]

There is an anti axphixia valve in the elbow of the Quattro. Hook up your mask and attach the hose to the machine and sit and breathe. You will feel the valve opening and closing as you inhale and exhale. After a minute or two of this you would probably wake up.