Poor man's camping humidifier

[floboots]

I'm going camping in a few days and have a deep cycle battery to run my Resmed. The humidifier in simple passover mode won't be enough for me, so I'm thinking of the following and wondered if anyone might have input for me.

My plan is to take the Resmed humidifier tank out of the electrically heated base and remove the plastic gaskets on the inlet and outlet air tubes on the tank. Conveniently, those inlets and outlets fit into the end of a standard cpap hose. I've got a very short hose that I'll run from the cpap machine to the inlet of the humidifier, and my regular hose, which I'll connect to the humidifier outlet.

Next, I'll put an air-activated hand warmer at the bottom of an insulated box I made out of rigid foam. Then, I'll put warm water in the humidifier tank and put it in the box. The box has air holes at the base, because the hand warmer requires oxygen to continue producing heat. The warmer supposedly reaches a max temp of 135 degrees, so I'll place something non-combustible directly underneath it.

I considered using one of those small handwarmers that burns fuel, but even the slight risk of carbon monoxide poisoning seems too great. So I decided to use the kind that begin warming up as soon as you take them out of the package.

Do you think this will work?

[Guest]

Do you think this will work?

try it at home.
let us know

[floboots]

I'm a procrastinator, so this rig will be field tested in two days. I'll post the results and some pics when I return, but I am hoping that if anyone has suggestions before I go they will add their two cents worth.

[archangle]

I considered using one of those small handwarmers that burns fuel, but even the slight risk of carbon monoxide poisoning seems too great. So I decided to use the kind that begin warming up as soon as you take them out of the package.

Do you think this will work?

I don't think the chemical handwarmer will put out enough watt hours of heat to keep the water warm. It doesn't simply sit at 135F, it pumps out heat at a certain rate, and will be warmer or cooler depending on what's around it. My humidifier seems to draw around 20W, so it draws quite a few watt hours during a whole night of use.

The Respironics standalone passover humidifier might give you more moisture. It has a lot more surface area and baffles that should help it humidify more. It should work with any CPAP. https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... -hose.html

What RemStar machine are you going camping with?

[chunkyfrog]

It may be a moot point; I'm betting it will rain.

[floboots]

I'm using a Remstar Pro M series. I appreciate the point about the number of watts required. It may be futile, but I'll experiment by varying the number of handwarmer packs.

Thanks also for the heads up on the REMstar passover humidifier--unfortunately it doesn't fall under the category of "poor man's humidifier" (but may be a worthwhile investment in the future).

I wonder if some sort of wicking material partially immersed in the water would facilitate humidification of the air. After all, old style home humidifiers just had a rotating sleeve in front of a fan that went into water. Of course, those filters could also harbor some nasty bacteria.

I get the joke about rain being imminent, but I failed to explain that the camping trip is actually to a cabin (no electricity) with a big woodstove, which keeps the air warm but also very dry.

Thanks again for the replies.

[Burkebang]

I made a poor mans humidifier a while ago, very simple and ugly, but it worked.
viewtopic/t83934/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=77800&p=708311

I'm thinking that if you try to find a larger water container, like maybe a gallon can, but shaped such a way that you will not get too much space above the water line when it's filled. If you have enough hot water in it, it will magazine enough heat to last a long enough time if you insulate the container with clothes etc. The smaller the surface that is in contact with the pressurized air, the longer the heat will last. It will need to be a stiff plastic container to withstand the pressure. Even when it looses heat, it will still work as a passover humidifier and that's much better than no humidifier.

[BudSky]

I get the joke about rain being imminent, but I failed to explain that the camping trip is actually to a cabin (no electricity) with a big woodstove, which keeps the air warm but also very dry.

Well there ya go- standard practice for me is to keep a pot of water simmering on the wood stove to add humidity to the entire heated structure. That will help.

[The Choker]

What climate are you camping in and what do you expect the temperature and relative humidity to be?

You might do very well without a humidifier.

[floboots]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions and informed questions.

I had considered using a large container, but wasn't sure I could get the lid and hose portals to seal adequately to the container. Depending on how things go, that might be my next project.

I'll put a pot of water on the stove--the cabin isn't very big, so I imagine it will work to the extent the stove remains hot enough.

The cabin is in central Kentucky, and it looks like low temps will range from 30s to 40s with moderate humidity.

Thanks again.

[The Choker]

I'll put a pot of water on the stove--the cabin isn't very big, so I imagine it will work to the extent the stove remains hot enough.

That is a catch 22. If you keep the stove hot you will drive down the humidity in the cabin and risk drying out your nasal passages.

But I would still do it and hope the nasal passages remain moist.

Keep yourself well hydrated while camping and for the two days preceding your trip and this will help prevent nasal passage drying. Also avoid salty foods.

You might want to take along a tube of Ayr-Gel http://www.drugstore.com/ayr-saline-nas ... e/qxp11581

[Slartybartfast]

I'm going camping in a few days and have a deep cycle battery to run my Resmed. The humidifier in simple passover mode won't be enough for me, . . . yada yada yada

I keep seeing references to "passover mode" and the irony is just too much for me to not mention that it's not even Hanukkah yet. Is it just me, or does anyone else have the same problem with that term?

Slartybartfast
(Just a nice Goy)

[archangle]

I keep seeing references to "passover mode" and the irony is just too much for me to not mention that it's not even Hanukkah yet. Is it just me, or does anyone else have the same problem with that term?

I tried that once, but the unleavened bread and bitter herbs in the water tank smelled too strong and was a bear to clean up the next morning.

[rjezuit]

Every time sleep outside with mine while camping without a humidifier I get rain out. So the humidity is high enough. Nothing like waking to cold water running down your cheeks.

[chunkyfrog]

I used to have hyssop growing by the front door.
Perennial herb, lives several years. Smells lovely.
I didn't replace it when it perished.
Never found it again in the garden center.