Tell me your power outtage backup plans

[WNJ]

In bring in the camper batteries (6-volt deep-cycle golf-cart batteries X 2, hooked up in series to make 12 volts) and put them in a custom plastic box I move from storage into the bedroom. Batteries are kept charged between times with a BatteryMinder so that they are always fully-charged, ready, and in good condition.

XPAPs are powered off the batteries with 12-volt cord (my REMstar) and DC converter (wife’s ResMed.)

We were without power last winter for six days (a record!) and had no particular problems. We live in a remote area and are equipped to deal with power outages.

Wayne

[Gerryk]

Having a regular battery is fine but all batteries will give off gasses to a point when charged. They should be in an area that is large or vented. Also I have seen all kinds of battery chargers go bad and unfortunately when they go bad they charge at a high rate instead of shutting down. When that happens it will set off your carbon monoxide detectors.

Gerry

[bearded_two]

I have a li-ion CPAP battery that will last about 2 nights, and an AGM deep cell battery that will last about 5 nights. My CPAP automatically switches to the li-ion battery when the power fails -- the machine doesn't miss a beat when the power fails.

[WNJ]

Having a regular battery is fine but all batteries will give off gasses to a point when charged. They should be in an area that is large or vented. . .

Right! Lead-acid batteries give off hydrogen gas (highly flammable in the right concentrations; remember what happened to the Hindenburg) when charged. Regular car batteries, and their deep cycle cousins are lead-acid.

They will give off more of this gas if charged at a high rate. If the charge rate and voltage is sufficiently high, the electrolyte inside will boil. Don’t do this indoors without very adequate ventilation!

If the rate of charge is low, the off-gassing will also be low. If the batteries are in a large room, etc., and air is free to circulate around them, there should be no problem as the hydrogen gas will dissipate and not reach a concentration where combustion can occur.

If the gas were trapped in a box so that it could become sufficiently concentrated, and a spark were introduced, things could get . . . interesting.

Charge batteries outdoors if possible. Charge as slowly as is practical. A rate of 5% to 10% of the amp-hour capacity should be a good target. If you must charge indoors, give as much ventilation as possible.

Wayne

[bearded_two]

AGM and gelled electrolyte lead acid batteries are safe to charge and use in the house; they are designed to not spill and to not out-gas except in dire situations, and if they do out-gas, it is (hopefully) in a controlled manner. AGM and gelled electrolyte lead acid batteries are even considered safe to use on aircraft and to carry in the baggage compartment.

Flooded cell lead acid batteries will spill acid if not kept upright and will release hazardous gases; they are dangerous to charge and use indoors.

[reitzell]

I live in San Diego California. The power outages we have tend to be rare and brief. In my pre-CPAP life my only clue that the power had gone out was the fact that digital clocks were blinking 12:00 when I woke up.

My goal was/is to remain blissfully unaware that the power has gone out. I had an old Belkin 550VA UPS. It had an alarm when the power went out that I could not silence with settings/software so I pulled the peizo noise component off the circuit board.

I got a 55AH deep cycle AGM battery that I keep in a battery box and I wired it to my UPS.

I have a Respironics CPAP M plus with integrated heated humidifier. I got the exact model number and looked it up on the manufactures website and the model I have specifically states that it is OK to run it off an inverter.

The UPS has plugs that provide backup power and it has plugs that only offer surge protection. I have a heated hose that is plugged into a surge suppression plug because I’m not sure it is OK to run it off an inverter and I plug the CPAP into the backup power.

I haven’t had a power outage yet but I’ve “tested” it for four hours and it ran fine.

There is an Internet show called “systm” (I did not misspell that) You can google for it. They have an episode on hacking a UPS.

[GumbyCT]

Just added this Sears 1150 Jump Starter to my collection today.

https://www.amazon.com/DieHard-2871688- ... B07776PVH5

It's on sale right now for $99 if you can find it still in stock.

It has several features on it that I really like and some make it useful for more than just a CPAP machine.
1. AC Modfied Sine Wave for the powering little things during a power outage. (cell phone charger, lites, radio, coffee pot?, etc.)
2. Air Compressor for flat tires.
3. Area Light
4. This one has the largest capacity battery I have found 22ah and is replaceable by the user. There is a PN in the link above.

I will use DC for my bipap.

Model 200.71988 1Yr. warranty check the Sears Website for availability in your area. Search for Jump Starter or try this link
DieHard Portable Power 1150 Jump-Starter/AC-DC Power Source
https://www.sears.com/diehard-71688-sch ... A043725181

I think the jump starters are easier for those who don't know how to wire things up - Plus they come as a package with a DC charger for the unit. So you don't have to buy charger separately. Plus you can take it camping

[TheDreamer]

Because I was happy with my Xantrex PowerSource 400....I went with the Xantrex PowerPack 600HD.... which is kind of like that, except 600 Watt inverter to 3 AC outlets...and a 28AH replaceable battery. It says on the box, but I haven't actually looked at whats involved...it probably says what kind of battery in the manual, like it did for the PowerSource 400...but I also haven't looked at what's involved in replacing the battery in those. I suppose someday I'll have to.... But, I have 5 PowerSource 400's in my home at the moment....

During the summer when I rearranged my bedroom, I had shoved it into a corner...unplugged. I plugged it in last week before the blizzard, but no power outages.

Not really sure how it really fits into my backup plans. The PowerSource 400 has gotten me through the two extended outages during the summer (along with various short ones).....

But, I got the PowerPack using reward points.

I've also been thinking of getting the BatteryGeek CPAP battery.....I remember years ago wanting to get one to extend the run time of my laptop, but never did....though I might just get one now that its CPAP related.

Actually, I picked up one of the Energizer XP18000's....as a just in case when I go visit my parents....but checking it out the night before I left...it has 3 power ports on it....a USB port, and 9-12V port and 16-20V port. But, none of the 9-12V port plug adapters would fit my CPAP....and none of the 16-20V port plugs would fit my laptop....so I didn't bother bringing it along. From reviews I've found...I shouldn't have gotten it.....so what if it was cheap....and during a woot-off. Probably a reason it was....

I guess I have two gaps in my outage backup plans.....what to do when I'm traveling (the 600HD is a little to big and heavy to include in my CPAP bag)....and extended outages. like the icepocalyse a couple years ago. That was the first time I was home during one, and it was miserable...even though I was lucky and the total outage was less than 24 hours. In years before there had been ice storms, but they seemed to always happen during weeks when I was out of town.

Wonder if I can get a bigger cubicle...one that I can sleep in....though the place was closed down during the icepocalyse... but they had the gas generator running for over a week running my office while I was out of town a couple weeks ago. Before CPAP, I know I would've been disappointed that I missed out on that fun.... Though other people camped out in the office when the EF4 tornado hit in 2008....I was out of town that week.

The Dreamer.

[xiola]

i have no backup. i slept for 35 years without it, i'm willing to bet the odds, and take the minimal risk that something might happen in the event of a power failure, and just sleep without it for a night. heck, i fell asleep on the couch last night, woke up at 4 am without my cpap on. oh noes!

In the event of a prolonged power failure, I'd just go to my mom's house. we live on opposite sides of the city, and have never had our power out at the same time.

in the event of a catastrophic power failure (ie.. sky falling, nuclear war, crazy midwest tsunami, end of world scenario), sorry, but I've got much more to worry about than cpap.

[JohnBFisher]

... In years before there had been ice storms, but they seemed to always happen during weeks when I was out of town. ... Though other people camped out in the office when the EF4 tornado hit in 2008....I was out of town that week. ...

Hmmm... I'm starting to see a trend here! Perhaps TheDreamer should post when he will be out of town, so we can be certain our backup power is roaring and ready to handle the next disaster! Predictable Disaster Planning - Nice!

[-SWS]

Our power went out briefly last night. It made me realize that I need to look in to a back up power source.

Keep in mind that I am broke as a joke right now, but willing to babysit a lot to get something quickly. Can you tell me what you use, where you got it, and roughly how much you paid? Thanks

I already happened to own one of these for single-night power outages --- but without attaching a heated CPAP humidifier (was on sale locally around $60):
http://www.amazon.com/Peak-PKC0BL-Start ... 751&sr=1-8

And one of these for prolonged power outages --- with or w/out attaching a heated humidifier (was on sale directly from manufacturer on eBay for around $360):
http://www.amazon.com/PowerMax-XP4400E- ... 630&sr=1-1

I didn't buy either of those for CPAP use. But they'll work just fine in a CPAP power-outage pinch. Our community's last prolonged power outage was several years ago.

[kteague]

My backup plan is a recliner. All this stuff is foreign to me, as I have no background as a boater, camper, RV'er, auto mechanic, or electrician to have any familiarity with various options. If you'd asked me before coming to this forum what a Sine wave is, I'd have guessed something ladies used to get at the beauty shop. Shoot, I still haven't revisited my SPO7500 as I got frustrated and haven't felt focused enough to try again. If I ever start doing poorly in a recliner I will have to fight my way through the battery backup brain fog.

[bcab17]

Because I was happy with my Xantrex PowerSource 400....I went with the Xantrex PowerPack 600HD.... which is kind of like that, except 600 Watt inverter to 3 AC outlets...and a 28AH replaceable battery. It says on the box, but I haven't actually looked at whats involved...it probably says what kind of battery in the manual, like it did for the PowerSource 400...but I also haven't looked at what's involved in replacing the battery in those. I suppose someday I'll have to.... But, I have 5 PowerSource 400's in my home at the moment....

The Dreamer.

I had received some great advise from someone here (5Aces, I think) who reported great success with the PowerPack 600 (it's marketed by Duracell here in the states), and I was all ready to buy it at Amazon.com for $130 until I started reading all the negative reviews. The one thing that was consistant from everyone (good reviews or bad) was that the internal battery was NOT replaceable...you simply need to "recycle" (throw out) the entire unit when it stops recharging. Are you sure that your unit has a replaceable battery?

[bcab17]

Just added this Sears 1150 Jump Starter to my collection today.

http://www.managemyhome.com/mmh/lis_pdf ... 904777.pdf

It's on sale right now for $99 if you can find it still in stock.

It has several features on it that I really like and some make it useful for more than just a CPAP machine.
1. AC Modfied Sine Wave for the powering little things during a power outage. (cell phone charger, lites, radio, coffee pot?, etc.)
2. Air Compressor for flat tires.
3. Area Light
4. This one has the largest capacity battery I have found 22ah and is replaceable by the user. There is a PN in the link above.

I will use DC for my bipap.

Model 200.71988 1Yr. warranty check the Sears Website for availability in your area. Search for Jump Starter or try this link
DieHard Portable Power 1150 Jump-Starter/AC-DC Power Source
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... mp+starter

I think the jump starters are easier for those who don't know how to wire things up - Plus they come as a package with a DC charger for the unit. So you don't have to buy charger separately. Plus you can take it camping

This Sears unit has enough power to run a cpap for at least one full night? Are you sure that the battery is "user replaceable"? Also, can it be recharged with an AC adapter or do you need to charge it in your car?

[Jason S.]

Make sure I stay on my side all night.