cpap and camping....

[KPotter44]

hello all....new to the forum here. I have been using a Remstar auto system one for about 3years now with no complaints. We just purchased a cab over camper for the truck and plan on doing some traveling in Northern California. My plan is to use the 12volt/8amp cigarette lighter type power outlet to power the cpap and use a newly purchased 36 watt solar panel to recharge the battery during the day. My problem is the humidifier. I don't use water at all, but I'm assuming it's powered up anyway. I would like to use the cpap without the humidifier, but it seems like the machine makes so much more noise without it. To the point I can't sleep. I have no way of measuring the pressure, but the difference in noise is substantial. I understand with the humidifier attached the unit will use more power. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[ALF]

I'm not familiar with the particular machine you have, but many machines have a "whisper cap" option that attaches in place of the humidifier and acts as a noise muffler. I would check to see if that is available for your unit. Is there not way to leave the humidifier attached but turned off?

[Pesser]

What I do is put water in the humidifier and turn it off. You get some humidity (not much) and conserve power. Also turn your heated hose off if you have one. The CPAP itself doesn’t use all that much power! The humidifier acts as a muffler for the sound. When you think about it, the humidifier has an “element” or “stove”. That burns a lot of power!

Alf is right about your equipment. Hard to tell without description.

[Bama Rambler]

In either the Heated humidifier with or without heated hose, if you set the dial to zero it turns off the heater plate and the hose (if you have the heated hose option). So if you set it to zero the humidifier isn't powered on at all.

[palerider]

hello all....new to the forum here. I have been using a Remstar auto system one for about 3years now with no complaints. We just purchased a cab over camper for the truck and plan on doing some traveling in Northern California. My plan is to use the 12volt/8amp cigarette lighter type power outlet to power the cpap and use a newly purchased 36 watt solar panel to recharge the battery during the day. My problem is the humidifier. I don't use water at all, but I'm assuming it's powered up anyway. I would like to use the cpap without the humidifier, but it seems like the machine makes so much more noise without it. To the point I can't sleep. I have no way of measuring the pressure, but the difference in noise is substantial. I understand with the humidifier attached the unit will use more power. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

just leave the humidifer empty and turned off. that's what I've done in the past, though, now I keep the humidifier in the closet, and only haul it out if I get a head cold or something like.

[CapnLoki]

I might be wrong but I thought all of the System One models have a removable humidifier. In any case, if there's no water there's is no reason to use power, so you should make sure the humidifier and heated hose (if fitted) is turned off.

Hopefully your camper is fitted with a second "house" battery that is "deep cycle" rather than the starter battery of the truck. Starter batteries are not designed for repeated discharges, while a deep cycle could handle the CPAP, plus lights and a radio and charge your phones and computer. And you can always recharge it with the truck alternator, as long as you can start the engine!

[KPotter44]

Thanks to all of you guys for your replies. I was able to disassemble the humidifier and remove the heating element and wiring harness. I guess you are correct in that the humidifier acts as a muffler and really quiets things down. The camper is equipped with a deep cycle battery and will not be connected to the truck at the campground. It will be interesting to see how much the cpap draws down the battery and if the solar charger will be able to charge back to full capacity during the day. Thanks again guys.

[palerider]

I might be wrong but I thought all of the System One models have a removable humidifier. In any case, if there's no water there's is no reason to use power, so you should make sure the humidifier and heated hose (if fitted) is turned off.

the op said:

I would like to use the cpap without the humidifier, but it seems like the machine makes so much more noise without it

[Pugsy]

I was able to disassemble the humidifier and remove the heating element and wiring harness. I guess you are correct in that the humidifier acts as a muffler and really quiets things down.

Just wanted to point out that all you had to do to turn the heating plate totally off so it wouldn't draw any power is set the humidifier selection to "0" that turns the heating plate off. No need to remove anything at all.
I mention this in case someone else thinks they want to try going without heat or humidity. There's an easy way and a not so easy way to not have heat added to the humidifier.

If you have had the machine for 3 years then it is unlikely that you have the model that has the heated hose option as they have only been released a little over 2 years now.

[RogerSC]

Similar situation with the ResMed S9. You can turn the humidifier off, put water in the tank, and use passive humidification when you're camping. You can also turn the Climateline heated hose off, if you don't have a regular, plain slimline hose to use with it. Since you're not using the heat from the Climateline hose, you can put a hose snuggly/sleeve on the hose to prevent rain-out in colder weather. Cuts the power consumption to the minimum, and still totally functional.