Respironics battery pack

[Gerryk]

Does anyone use or have you used the Respironics battery pack for your cpap or BiPap? I am looking at purchasing one and got a great price mrom my DME supplier. I will probably be using this to go camping at least a half dozen times a year. I should be able to recharge this most places I go camping.

Gerry

[EileenP]

I also am curious - as I have not purchased one but would like to camp again.

Anyone?

[jaybee72]

I have trouble believing the part about a great price from a DME. What trick are they up to?

(maybe I'm a little down on DMEs right now)

[torontoCPAPguy]

All I want is the information on the DC connection for my S9; I have plenty of battery packs and would even be inclined, if travelling, to take a deep discharge marine battery along in one of those plastic cases with a handle on it. Did this years ago for my ham radio equipment and it worked very well and gave great service. But without the connector and the schematic diagrams it makes things difficult.

[Gerryk]

All I want is the information on the DC connection for my S9; I have plenty of battery packs and would even be inclined, if travelling, to take a deep discharge marine battery along in one of those plastic cases with a handle on it. Did this years ago for my ham radio equipment and it worked very well and gave great service. But without the connector and the schematic diagrams it makes things difficult.

Not pulling anything, they are nice and know that it's better to make a little less money than none at all.

[Gerryk]

Bumping this to see if anyone else has used one.

I know there are people out here who have used these.

[torontoCPAPguy]

I have lost all track of costs involved these days but recall that the Respironics battery pack or DC kit was ultra expensive. My fallback plan in the early days was simply as huge uninterruptible power supply that provided 110VAC and I disconnected the humidifier to reduce energy consumption.

At present the plan consists of using a power inverter and 12VDC from the car or from a large sealed lead acid battery in a marine carrier container with handle and baking soda at the base in case of a minor leak. The power inverter is rated at 300 watts.

In fact, the new Ford Flex's that we have actually have 110VAC outlets built in for the use of 110VAC gear from the car's 12VDC system.

However, to reiterate, what I would really like to do is simply find out whose connector is being used so I can pick a couple of them up to connect 12VDC to the S9; along with a copy of the schematic or service manual to determine what the pin wiring is, etc.

Does anyone know what make/model connector is used on the S9 for the 12VDC connection? And does anyone have a lead on the SERVICE manual with schematic for the S9? I will come up with something for the masses and post same or respond to requests. The connector can't be worth more than a couple of bucks. The battery .. well, it's a marine or sealed lead/acid or gelcell battery, no? We have some large batteries used in our UPS's and I'd put a few in series/parallel to give me the 12VDC at decent current. Without the humidifier going, the power consumption is significantly reduced as I recall.

Connector? Schematic? For the S9. I will be ETERNALLY grateful.

[Gerryk]

The price on the Respironics battery pack is $295.00 but I was able to get one for $225.00.

I did find a solar charger that I am trying to figure out it it would work to charge it. This company makes three different units and they are not that big. The unit comes with the needed adaptors and is in a 6X9 package. If you get the 7 watt unit it is that size opened up. They also have a 13.5 and 27 watt unit that both unfold once the package is opened for use. Maybe someone else on here can figure out if one of these would charge the respironics pack or not. The http://www.cabelas.com/product/Goal-Zer ... l+Products

The manufacturer says the the complete unit with battery and solar charger are capable of being used for CPAP. So if you really want to take your cpap and battery back pack hiking you can, but you have to add the weight of the cpap plus 26 pounds for this battery, inverter and solar charger.
This solor charger is suppose to be the best out there.

Gerry

[Gerryk]

I got my respironics battery pack yesterday and charged it up. I read through the few pages in the manual that were in English and let it finish charging. Last night I plugged into the battery instead of the wall outlet to see how it the battery worked. Everything appeared to work ok, even the humidifer. I did use less water in the chamber but I also didn't sleep as long as I usually do.
The battery still had plenty of life in it and i am recharging it now.

Tha battery came with a charge so it only charged for a couple hours after I got it and plugged it in. I will test it out more this weekend when I go camping barring any power outages in the area.

Gerry

[Uncle_Bob]

I'm still waiting for a series 60 battery pack

[Gerryk]

I'm still waiting for a series 60 battery pack

Will the one they make now not work? I would think it would, but the battery time would be decreased just as if you used the humidifier along with your cpap while on battery.

[chunkyfrog]

Torontocpapguy:
The DC input on the S9's is 24 volt; (see plate on back), and I suspect it's proprietary.
Of course, I've haven't been in an electronics supply store for quite a while.
The two that were here are gone, and Radio shack doesn't have squat.
Up for dumpster diving behind the DME's?

[Gerryk]

Why make a unit that is 24 volt? Everything else or darn near it is 12 volt these days.

[Gerryk]

I spoke with someone today at Respironics and was nto able to get a straight answer as to recharging the battery pack that they make. I asked about recharging it via a solar panel or if I should use a solar panel with a battery pack and inverter. I was told it had to be charged via 120 volts but they could not give me the wattage or amperage needed only the amp hour rating of the battery. Then they told me I should be able to charge it via dc because a battery is dc. Although I got tech support I don't think the person had any idea about what they were telling me. He did tell me that they have had lots of questions recently about charging the battery packs via solar panels.

I will have to run this one through my DME who will take it to their Respironics rep.

[Gerryk]

I used the Respironics battery pack camping over night again. I used the humidifer and had no problem with the machine or humidifier. I got home and started charging the pack and it indicated a low state of charge, but I am not complaining. When I go camping longer, I can turn the humidifier off or take a solar charger with when I figure out what size and how to set it up.