Off Grid Camping Attempt

[nast70]

Been on my S9 for about 7 months and really enjoying the long streches of sound sleep.
For this summer i have been playing around with couple different set ups for this falls off grid week long trip. So far the best result was 4 nights with a 12v battery, 325 watt converter and a small solar panel.
The converter was old and had a very noisy fan. I tried a couple other new converters, but they have low battery alarms that would go off in the middle of the night. I think they were more for cars that are in motion that 12v deep cycle. Instead of going back to the old converter i splurged on the Resmed 12v adapter. Going to try it out this weekend and see how much it drains the battery.

[CapnLoki]

Been on my S9 for about 7 months and really enjoying the long streches of sound sleep.
For this summer i have been playing around with couple different set ups for this falls off grid week long trip. So far the best result was 4 nights with a 12v battery, 325 watt converter and a small solar panel.
The converter was old and had a very noisy fan. I tried a couple other new converters, but they have low battery alarms that would go off in the middle of the night. I think they were more for cars that are in motion that 12v deep cycle. Instead of going back to the old converter i splurged on the Resmed 12v adapter. Going to try it out this weekend and see how much it drains the battery.

Good choice on the 12/24 converter. What battery are you using?

[Goofproof]

Might pick up a more power friendly XPAP than Resmed, a 12 volt one. One less thing to pack, no power loss converting, less chance to ruin your daily unit. Jim

[nast70]

I have an extra group 24 deep cycle. Weight is not an issue we have vehicles to get us where we need to go.
What is an xpap?

[CapnLoki]

I have an extra group 24 deep cycle. Weight is not an issue we have vehicles to get us where we need to go.
What is an xpap?

XPAP is the term we use for any pump, whether its a CPap, APap, BiPap, etc. While I agree with Goof that a Respironics is more "camping friendly" then ResMed, its only a matter of several ounces (and a few dollars) for the converter. It may be a reason to chose Respironics over Resmed, but you're probably better off staying with the brand you have and know.

A Group 24 Deep Cycle should be able to provide about 50 amp-hours without discharging too deep. A S9 without humidity or heated hose should draw between 5 and 8 amp-hours a night, depending on model and pressure, so the battery should last 6 to 10 nights. Inverters tend to run at about 60% efficiency, which explains why it only ran 4 nights.

The very rough estimate for solar panels is to assume they put out full power for 4 hours in the summer, and 3 in the winter, assuming no shading and average weather. (Provide a location and date and I can be more specific.) So, a 30 watt panel provides 4*30 watt-hours, or 120 watt-hours, which is roughly 10 amp-hours. (Actually a bit less due to charging losses.) Thus, with luck, you might break even.

Also, 30 minutes or so of charging with the car would put a fair amount of juice into the battery.

[JasonK94Z]

This group 24 deep cycle marine battery provides 75 Ah.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/battery/m ... m/sli24mdc

I'm thinking about buying this one myself for my 3 night trips. My truck is right next to my tent anyways. This would allow me some humidity and maybe some hose heat on the cold nights.

[CapnLoki]

This group 24 deep cycle marine battery provides 75 Ah.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/battery/m ... m/sli24mdc

I'm thinking about buying this one myself for my 3 night trips. My truck is right next to my tent anyways. This would allow me some humidity and maybe some hose heat on the cold nights.

Yes, when I said "provide 50 Amp-hours" for a Group 24 I meant that you shouldn't actually use the bottom third of the capacity of the battery. This would allow you about 17 amp-hours per night. We don't know the numbers yet for your new machine, but here's the usage report for my older 560:
viewtopic.php?t=102179
Using a direct 12v cable (no inverter), and turning down the humidity but leaving on the heated hose, it looks like just about 17 amp-hours. My "off grid" time is on a boat in the summer so low humidity is not a problem, but I almost never bring the humidifier when I travel, the exception being if I'm staying in a heavily air-conditioned room. (That said, a few years ago we got hit by an early cold snap in late September and I really missed the humidier, though not as much as I cursed leaving the cabin heater at home!) If weight is not an issue, and you really want the humidifier, the extra few bucks for the Group 27 would not be a bad investment. Also a quality trickle charger like the BatteryTender will keep the battery healthy for a number of years.

[JasonK94Z]

This group 24 deep cycle marine battery provides 75 Ah.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/battery/m ... m/sli24mdc

I'm thinking about buying this one myself for my 3 night trips. My truck is right next to my tent anyways. This would allow me some humidity and maybe some hose heat on the cold nights.

Yes, when I said "provide 50 Amp-hours" for a Group 24 I meant that you shouldn't actually use the bottom third of the capacity of the battery. This would allow you about 17 amp-hours per night. We don't know the numbers yet for your new machine, but here's the usage report for my older 560:
viewtopic.php?t=102179
Using a direct 12v cable (no inverter), and turning down the humidity but leaving on the heated hose, it looks like just about 17 amp-hours. My "off grid" time is on a boat in the summer so low humidity is not a problem, but I almost never bring the humidifier when I travel, the exception being if I'm staying in a heavily air-conditioned room. (That said, a few years ago we got hit by an early cold snap in late September and I really missed the humidier, though not as much as I cursed leaving the cabin heater at home!) If weight is not an issue, and you really want the humidifier, the extra few bucks for the Group 27 would not be a bad investment. Also a quality trickle charger like the BatteryTender will keep the battery healthy for a number of years.

I keep forgetting about not discharging the battery below a certain point. Not good for it.

[nast70]

Had a great 2 nights on the new set up. That battery started at 13.23v the first night. The first morning it was at 12.9v. The second morning it was at 12.79v.
For an older group 24 i am pleased. That was without the heater/humidifier.
I think i will take my heater/humidifier on the big trip this weekend with the second battery just in case and really put it to the test.

[NomoreCrashcart]

Thanks to all for this thread. I found this group 24 /70AH battery on Amazon. I'm going for max nights between recharging while staying above the recommended 30% reserve power floor. Please let me know if there would be a better choice for my S9 and h5i humidifier. When on battery, I would turn the h5i off.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EPN ... HCCZU2W0WR

[CapnLoki]

Thanks to all for this thread. I found this group 24 /70AH battery on Amazon. I'm going for max nights between recharging while staying above the recommended 30% reserve power floor. Please let me know if there would be a better choice for my S9 and h5i humidifier. When on battery, I would turn the h5i off.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EPN ... HCCZU2W0WR

This looks like a reasonable choice - you'll be able to go a long time (maybe 2 weeks or more?) if you turn off humidity and heated hose. Remember that a small trickle charger, while great for maintaining a charged battery, would take a long time (several days or more) to charge this if its discharged. You should think about getting a "regular" car battery charger, 5 amps or more, which would also be handy for starting cars.

[NomoreCrashcart]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EPN ... HCCZU2W0WR

This looks like a reasonable choice - you'll be able to go a long time (maybe 2 weeks or more?) if you turn off humidity and heated hose. Remember that a small trickle charger, while great for maintaining a charged battery, would take a long time (several days or more) to charge this if its discharged. You should think about getting a "regular" car battery charger, 5 amps or more, which would also be handy for starting cars.[/quote]

CapnLoki: I searched many of your battery comments, and in one you recommended a maintainer. For optimum setup, would you also have a charger?
I currently have the Shumacher charger, pictured. Can a maintainer be used simultaneously with cpap on battery?
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/attachme ... 00x500-jpg

[klv329]

I've been using a Napa 85-327 12v 10/2 amp charger that appears to be okay for charging and maintaining AGM batteries, but I don't know if it is the right charger/maintainer to use for a 105 ah AGM. At least it has a switch on it for AGM batteries, and references battery maintenance function on the front of it.

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Catal ... 0006389653

Is it okay to charge/maintain an AGM battery indoors, or should the battery be charged and maintained outdoors?
Is 2amp too much for a "maintain function" for AGM batteries?

For the S9, i picked up the DC converter cord. I tried an AIMS pure sine power inverter (300w/600w), but it would turn off if the humidifier was turned on and the fan on it didn't blow when power was being drawn from it, so I was confused as to whether it was functioning properly.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[CapnLoki]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EPN ... HCCZU2W0WR

This looks like a reasonable choice - you'll be able to go a long time (maybe 2 weeks or more?) if you turn off humidity and heated hose. Remember that a small trickle charger, while great for maintaining a charged battery, would take a long time (several days or more) to charge this if its discharged. You should think about getting a "regular" car battery charger, 5 amps or more, which would also be handy for starting cars.

CapnLoki: I searched many of your battery comments, and in one you recommended a maintainer. For optimum setup, would you also have a charger?
I currently have the Shumacher charger, pictured. Can a maintainer be used simultaneously with cpap on battery?
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/attachme ... 00x500-jpg

Yes, I have a Shumacher but its used mainly to charge the neighborhood cars. I since my backup battery is never deeply discharged, the medium size BatteryTender (1.25 Amps) is sufficient to top it off, though it takes two days if I run with full humidity. Your problem is that if you have frequent power outages, you want to charge as quickly as you can before the next one hits. Also, an advantage of a bigger battery is that it will accept a bigger charge, so you might as well take advantage of that.

Over the years, I've found that a good car charger/starter is something I don't regret having.

In one of my "setup" posts I mention a "splitter" - this allows you to connect the BatteryTender for charging while using the CPAP. This in essence creates an Uninterruptable Power Supply, where the power comes (mainly) from the maintainer but comes from the battery if the power fails. I set this up when storms are predicted. It does mean that the BatteryTender is working near full time (1.25 amps times 24 hours is 30 amp-hours, which is about what full comfort can use) plus the battery is getting a workout, so I only do it when needed. The net result is almost the same as a small UPS or "jump-starter" but these devices usually have smaller batteries. My computer UPS is 7 amp-hours, most jump-starters are about 20. If you wanted to do this a lot, you might consider the large 5 Amp BatteryTender, which wouldn't work up a sweat powering a CPAP.

BTW, you don't have you equipment filled in - if you has Resmed I assume you have the 12-24 volt converter.

[CapnLoki]

I've been using a Napa 85-327 12v 10/2 amp charger that appears to be okay for charging and maintaining AGM batteries, but I don't know if it is the right charger/maintainer to use for a 105 ah AGM. At least it has a switch on it for AGM batteries, and references battery maintenance function on the front of it.

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Catal ... 0006389653

Is it okay to charge/maintain an AGM battery indoors, or should the battery be charged and maintained outdoors?
Is 2amp too much for a "maintain function" for AGM batteries?

For the S9, i picked up the DC converter cord. I tried an AIMS pure sine power inverter (300w/600w), but it would turn off if the humidifier was turned on and the fan on it didn't blow when power was being drawn from it, so I was confused as to whether it was functioning properly.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

With a proper charger, there is no problem charging an AGM indoors. Think of all the elderly folk (my father included) that have a mobility scooter charging in the living room right now - they all have an AGM battery (probably two) just like the one I recommend.

Also, the battery will accept only what it can handle if the voltage is correct. The fast killer of batteries is overcharging, which happens if the charger does not recognize the battery charge level and reduce the voltage to the maintenance voltage. Most good brands claim they handle this properly, but I have faith in BatteryTender which has been the leader and top rated brand for years. Also, with a small charger, even if it fails it doesn't put out enough current to quickly damage a bigger battery. The small 0.75 amp BatteryTender is only about $25 and it will keep a battery topped off at low risk.

The older "flooded" batteries will put out hydrogen gas when overcharged, not to mention a rather noxious smell and bubbling sulfuric acid, which is why I strongly recommend AGMs for indoor use. (Every boatyard has an "exploding battery" story to tell!)

UPDATE: I looked at the Napa description again and couldn't find any mention of "trickle" or "maintenance" or "three-stage" so I'm a bit skeptical of whether this is suitable for long term maintenance.