Minimalist battery backup for ResMed S9: Success!

[dschwarz]

I live in Manhattan and fortunately my apartment never lost power during Hurricane Sandy. Many of my friends and family members were not so fortunate. I had no battery backup for my CPAP machine, a ResMed S9 with H5i humidifier. Something I decided to fix the day after the storm.

My criteria for a backup system are somewhat different than others who have posted in this forum previously. I'll share those with you, the solution I chose, and the successful test results.

Criteria:

1) Small and portable solution.
2) Childproof, or child-proofable.
3) Silent
4) Able to power my S9 without humidifer for at least one night
5) Rechargeable via my car in the event of extended power loss
6) Inexpensive

What I settled on:

Schumacher PSJ-1812 DSR ProSeries 1800 jump start box. 18 Amp Hours of power with a 12v outlet attached. $100 at Amazon
Tripp Lite PV150 inverter. ResMed sells a version of this inverter under their own name, I am told. $29 at Amazon
Generic male-to-male 12v outlet charger cord. For recharging from my car's cigarette lighter.$6 at Amazon
I have an extension cord (required to charge the jump box, and strangely not included with the kit.) If you don't have one you'll have to buy one.

Test:

Charged the jump box for 2 days then hooked it up to the inverter and the ResMed S9 without humidifier.
Result: Powered my CPAP for the full 7.5 hours at pressure 10 with capacity to spare. At the end of the night the power LED was on "yellow" (green = charged, yellow = partial charge, red = discharged)
Inverter was barely warm to the touch and ran silently all night (this one has no fan)
I am not used to running the CPAP without humidifier, so my nasal passages were dry and a little irritated upon wakeup. If I can run the H5i in nonpowered / passover mode, I would prefer that, but I don't know if it is possible to do so. Anyone know for sure?

So for $135 I have a complete battery backup solution that as a bonus can also jumpstart my car or recharge cell phones in the event of a power outage. Very happy with the result!
You may choose to get a larger jump box with higher capacity, as 18 amp hours is somewhat minimal. Cost and weight increase with capacity, of course.

[Slartybartfast]

Yes, just turn it off from the main panel. I don't have the manual handy, but I think you simultaneously hold down the "check" key and the big round power button until the setup screen comes up, then scroll down until you see humidifier.

[Lizistired]

Glad it worked for you.
I finally tested my Diehard Jumpstart 1150 last week. It's 22AH.
It comes with AC and DC (lighter) chargers. It has built in inverter, 2 AC plugs, 2 DC plugs, a light, USB, and air compressor, for $129. I got mine at Ace Hardware. Sears only had smaller ones.
I slept 7.5 hours at 7cmH2o with the humidifier disconnected and in the morning the display said I had 60% charge left.
So I might be able to get 2 nights out of it. It's a very convenient solution for me.
I've been meaning to order the triplite 150 in case I need a longer solution. That would be more versatile than a ResMed DC converter, and alot cheaper! Walmart online has it for about the same price.
I think you can run the S9 with H5i humidifier on the triplite, but I would be reluctant to give up the battery life. It's discussed in on of the many long battery threads that are active now.

[avi123]

An older post about using a start jumper:


viewtopic/t64943/Another-Battery-Option.html

Your start jumper:

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-PSJ-18 ... B002J8LMVC

[Guest]

An older post about using a start jumper:

in that thread the op mentions to increase the capacity you can simply clip the jumper cables to a larger battery if/when needed
consider that as another option too

[archangle]

in that thread the op mentions to increase the capacity you can simply clip the jumper cables to a larger battery if/when needed
consider that as another option too

In a pinch, you can go hook it up to a car battery the same way you do for jump starting to get another days worth of charge. You may need to leave it connected for a while. It might not be good for the jumper battery long term, but if you're doing that, you need it badly, and hopefully you won't be "jump charging" very often.

Bad things might happen if you hook it up wrong, just like any time you jump start a battery.

[hummerlady54]

I am not technically minded but I have been trying to find a batter backup solution for my ResMed VPAP St, S9 series. I have spoken to ResMed several times. If I need my Bipap for more than one night during a power outage such as Hurricane Sandy or perhaps an earthquake in California, I would need to consider Deep Cycle Battery pack (only been tested for a maximum of 3 days) or a generator. If I purchase the ResMed Power Station II and run my Bipap without the humidifier, I still would only get one night out of it at my current pressure settings of 15/10, 16 BUR. I looked into the Deep Cell Batteries but if I was without power for more than 3 days, I'd be in serious trouble. I have Central Apnea and only breathe on my own 40% of the time. What did people without power for so long in areas hit by Hurricane Sandy. I'm deeply concerned and must have a good emergency back up plan power for at least 5 days. I think about Alaska's earthquake (7.7 magnitude) and the one in Guatamela. There is no way someone is going to come to my rescue soon enough if I can't find a way to keep my Bipap machine going. I looked into Solar Energy but the arrays they are not portable and are very expensive. I can consider them if I can get enough money together.

Also, my particular Bipap machine, I have to wake up to connect the backup battery in case of power outage and the same with a generator or any other power source that I can think of. We actually did have several power outages during the hot summer months. I could go into respiratory failure or die according to my doctor if I dont' wake up during a long power outage.

Any suggestions? I have a lot of things to consider.

[Burkebang]

I am not technically minded but I have been trying to find a batter backup solution for my ResMed VPAP St, S9 series. I have spoken to ResMed several times. If I need my Bipap for more than one night during a power outage such as Hurricane Sandy or perhaps an earthquake in California, I would need to consider Deep Cycle Battery pack (only been tested for a maximum of 3 days) or a generator. If I purchase the ResMed Power Station II and run my Bipap without the humidifier, I still would only get one night out of it at my current pressure settings of 15/10, 16 BUR. I looked into the Deep Cell Batteries but if I was without power for more than 3 days, I'd be in serious trouble. I have Central Apnea and only breathe on my own 40% of the time. What did people without power for so long in areas hit by Hurricane Sandy. I'm deeply concerned and must have a good emergency back up plan power for at least 5 days. I think about Alaska's earthquake (7.7 magnitude) and the one in Guatamela. There is no way someone is going to come to my rescue soon enough if I can't find a way to keep my Bipap machine going. I looked into Solar Energy but the arrays they are not portable and are very expensive. I can consider them if I can get enough money together.

Also, my particular Bipap machine, I have to wake up to connect the backup battery in case of power outage and the same with a generator or any other power source that I can think of. We actually did have several power outages during the hot summer months. I could go into respiratory failure or die according to my doctor if I dont' wake up during a long power outage.

Any suggestions? I have a lot of things to consider.

Because of your very serious condition, I'd recommend getting this DC converter:
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/DC-Con ... hines.html

Then I would get a powerful deep cycle battery, 80-100 AH. I'd get a good charger, like this Ctek:
http://www.ctek.com/int/en/chargers/MXS%205.0

I would recommend that you run the VPAP from the battery and DC converter every night, with the charger connected. This way you can be sure that your machine will allways have power, no matter what.

[billbolton]

I'm deeply concerned and must have a good emergency back up plan power for at least 5 days.

You really need to look at non-minimalist solutions.

For instance, a very high capacity, deep-cycle battery (actually probably a bank of a couple of batteries) or a fuel generator solution (prefereable propane based) if you need to cover that length of outage without external assisance. Both would need periodic attention/testing to make sure they are ready for emergency use, and if you go down the battery path, you'll probably need something more than a common, domestic-grade battery charger.

I could go into respiratory failure or die according to my doctor if I dont' wake up during a long power outage.

You need to get a loud power failure alarm that will wake you up if you get a power outage. Given your described condition, any sort of domestic grade Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) like solution is just asking for trouble

Cheers,

Bill

[Wildstar]

Thinking of getting this with an extension cord:
http://www.harborfreight.com/engines-g ... 66619.html

[billbolton]

Thinking of getting this with an extension cord

2 stroke engine........ so you'd better buy some good ear protectors too!

Cheers,

Bill

[archangle]

Thinking of getting this with an extension cord:
http://www.harborfreight.com/engines-g ... 66619.html

In my opinion, Harbor Freight sells junk. Maybe OK for something where you want the "right" tool and you're not going to use it very often, very hard, and it doesn't really matter that much if it breaks.

Even well made generators are unreliable and iffy about starting when you need them. I'd never trust a Harbor Freight generator to start when I needed it.

I buy some Harbor Freight items, but one rule I have is that nothing from Harbor Freight stays plugged into the wall if I'm not nearby to unplug it in case it catches on fire.

[scorch858]

[quote="Wildstar"]Thinking of getting this with an extension cord:
[url]

I have this generator. Love it. I have had to use it several times and it works great. Will run over 8 hours on a tank of gas. Very quiet. Runs at very low RPM's with the load I give it. Which is my S9 and a battery charger. When I lose power I use the generator to power my S9 and a battery charger. This allows me to keep a deep cycle marine battery charged up. If I were to run out of gas, I could run off the battery for a couple of days. Highly recommend this one.

[hummerlady54]

You really need to look at non-minimalist solutions.

For instance, a very high capacity, deep-cycle battery (actually probably a bank of a couple of batteries) or a fuel generator solution (prefereable propane based) if you need to cover that length of outage without external assisance. Both would need periodic attention/testing to make sure they are ready for emergency use, and if you go down the battery path, you'll probably need something more than a common, domestic-grade battery charger.

I could go into respiratory failure or die according to my doctor if I dont' wake up during a long power outage.

You need to get a loud power failure alarm that will wake you up if you get a power outage. Given your described condition, any sort of domestic grade Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) like solution is just asking for trouble

Cheers,

Bill

Bill, I may not be responding to your reply correctly (but I hope so). I think I am getting so confused by all the various options and not really understanding what they are. I just purchased a few days ago a Honda generator (gasoline fueled). I hope I don't regret my decision. I am deaf so a loud alarm would not help me but it would make my hubbie jump out of bed in a hurry. I am going to ask a friend who is familar with generators to come over and train both of us on how to use the darn thing. We are both technically challenged. I need my husband to be able to react immediately and not fumble around especially in a crisis situation. How about some weekly drills to keep him and me ready for those time when we must ump into action? My life may well depend upon it. I want to find out more about the Deep Cell Batteries too. That's next on my list. I have no idea how big or heavy they are or what all I'd need to do to use one. I do wish I had seen the replies before I made my expensive purchase. Live and learn. My DME provider is not helping at all. I give up on them. Guess I was getting desperate.

[ColinP]

From what I've been able to discover, the Honda generators are top quality, so I doubt you'll regret buying it.