Travel XPAP Machine Opinions

[drewherndon]

Hello, everyone! I am seeking your opinions on XPAP machines for travel. I need one that will be good for domestic travel (air and car) and camping. Regarding camping, the unit should be able to power the unit and a humidifier (just in case) for at least one night and be rechargeable from the vehicle battery. Any nominations?

[billbolton]

Regarding camping, the unit should be able to power the unit and a humidifier (just in case) for at least one night and be rechargeable from the vehicle battery.

Running a heated humdifier off battery power will increase your energy consumption by typically 2 to 4 times (depending on various flow generaor and humifier settings) over just running the flow generator by itself..... and that directly means a larger and heavier battery is required. I STRONGLY suggest that that you see if you can get by with just passover (no-heat) humidification for a night or two!

In terms of a good travel machine, you already have one. I take a ResMed S8 with me wherever I travel, and run it on 12VDC from rechargeable batteries where mains power is unavailable or unreliable (such as Maubisi in Timor Leste, where they have mains power for a couple of hours a day).

My titrated pressure is 14cm H20, and at that pressure level I can get a full night's operation from battery pack of modest size and weight.

I made my own Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery pack a few years ago, as I needed a particular physical configuration for convenient use on very long haul international airline flights, but nowadays you can buy commercial Lithium Ion battery packs which will weight a couple of kilograms at most and would support a couple of nights operation (without a heated humdifier) for most xPAP users in most circumstances. They are also rechargeable from mains power or via an inverter from 12V DC.

Here are some examples........

http://www.batterygeek.net/v/vspfiles/C ... _Packs.asp

http://www.cpapman.com/batterygeek.html

I have no idea whether these are good/best places to buy them, but I know there are usually multipe sources of supply for these products, so some Googling will probably produce a range of alternative suppliers.

Cheers,

Bill

[bailachel]

Thanks for the links! I will be getting a battery for an overnight airline trip this summer.

I went to the battery geek site and saw the batteries. I noticed this line in their material: "Got a special trip coming up? Call us and ask about our new low cost battery rental program!". Has anyone tried this rental approach?

[plr66]

They are also rechargeable from mains power or via an inverter from 12V DC.
Bill

Bill, would you describe what "mains power" is, and specifically how you go about finding 12V DC to hook up to when traveling? I'm getting ready to go to Central America where power is apparently spotty in certain areas. I'll have my trusty Everest2 with its integrated battery pack.

[billbolton]

Mains power" is whatever comes out of the AC wall outlets (from the main AC power distribition system), typically in the 100V to 240V AC range, depending on which country you are in.

Low voltage power systems are typically in the 12V to 32V DC range, depending on the local circumstances.

I have never stayed anywhere much in South America outside of capital cities, so my comments below are based on my experiences in the Asia-Pacific area and Africa.

In areas which have no (or unreliable) mains power, individual dwellings may have their own low voltage power system..... again it varies lot from place to place. Also in such areas, Hotels will often have a diesel generator, that they run for at least some of the time, which supplies mains power to guests.

If you are travelling by motor vehicle, you can often access (nominally) 12V DC from the power outlets (typically cigarette lighter style) in the vehicle. While the vehicle engine is running you may be able to use this as source of power to recharge battery pack... though you will usually need an inverter to take the 12V DC source up to mains voltage level so you can run the battery charger for a portable battery pack.

Even though CPAP portabale battery packsdeliver 12V DC power, you generally can't charge them directly from another 12V DC battery source... you need the inverter provide power your battery charger from mains AC volatge so that it can supplier the higher voltage DC which will ensure that the battery pack fully charges.

My general rule when travelling is to recharge my CPAP battery packs wherever/whenever I get an opportunity.

Good luck with your upcoming journey.

Cheers,

Bill