CPAP on a motorcycle

[biggziff]

Motorcycle touring is one of my stress relievers. I found this and thought someone here may be able to use the information.

http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/ind ... 273.0.html

[goose]

I don't do bikes anymore ("old age" and a better perspective on my own mortality.... ), but this is a really good post!!! The fellow really detailed his project well....
I use a standard 5million pound Marine Deep Cycle battery for my backup at the house during winter (I can go for nearly a week before it really needs a charge, but I charge it every other day via generator when I need to), but I may just put together something similar to his setup for road trips!!!

Super post!!!
cheers
goose

[Fredman]

Interesting article, while I don't motorcycle nor camp, it really got me thinking about how I take it for granted that I have power available to run my tank...rarely get power outages where I live and if we do it is related to someone digging up some power lines by accident, knocking down a power pole in a car accident - or very very severe weather.

But...I really should have some power back-up. I am going on a cruise this January and have to take a red eye through to Miami and I was thinking if I could only sleep on the plane, maybe I could use my CPAP on board the aircraft if I had power!

I wonder how many people would be shocked, scared that I was having some type of medical emergency!!!

Thanks for sharing!

[alexcue]

I liked the guys setup.

My only concern actually isn't the batteries but what kind of abuse the CPAP will handle on the motorcycle? Anyone have experiences? I ride a Harley Ultra and it shakes quite a bit at idle but is relatively smooth at speed. I'm just hesitant to take my main APAP on a ride. I'd rather abuse my M Series Plus and forgo the Auto for a week or so.

[nomoore]

I've been thinking of doing this for a while now. I love my motorcycle. In fact I've researched it a bit, already saw that article, and bookmarked the manufacturer website for the tiny deep-cycle battery. It looks like a sweet setup that could be all integrated into a battery box (the voltage sensitive relay too) and easily be carried in whatever vehicle you choose. It could also be kept in my apartment since the battery is a sealed dry cell and I could keep it topped off with the same "battery tender" I use to charge my motorcycle battery. I could also get really creative and set up some relays that would automatically switch over to this battery if my power ever went out.

[JeffH]

I got too damned old to sleep on the ground but not to ride motorcycles. I hauled my old Sullivan machine for many a mile without any troubles. I did learn to carry an extension cord, a small hook and extra bungee cord for hanging my hose in motel rooms.

I'm now too screwed up to ride motorcycles, but OSA doesn't have to interfere with the joys of seeing the world on two wheels. I miss it.


JeffH

[Georgio]

I flagged that site....I hope to have the opportunity to do something like that one day! I know my neighbor tours on his BMW with his machine....but don't know if he camps.
Georgio

[sam1234]

I too am interested in doing some touring and camping on my cycle. I would never have used the primary motorcycle battery to power the CPAP. I happen to have an extra motorcycle battery (14 amp) and a slow solar panel charger 1.8W and am looking to use it with a ResMed converter this summer with my APAP. I may change my mind and use one of my other machines although I have carried CPAP machines on my motorcycle in the past and had no worry as to how they would hold up.

[nomoore]

I too am interested in doing some touring and camping on my cycle. I would never have used the primary motorcycle battery to power the CPAP. I happen to have an extra motorcycle battery (14 amp) and a slow solar panel charger 1.8W and am looking to use it with a ResMed converter this summer with my APAP. I may change my mind and use one of my other machines although I have carried CPAP machines on my motorcycle in the past and had no worry as to how they would hold up.

Just remember a standard motorcycle battery will only last 30-150 discharge cycles when being deep cycled. They are designed for very shallow cycles of about 5%. The Odyssey battery mentioned in the article is a deep cycle battery designed to be deep cycled, discharged 80%, or to 20% remaining charge.

That Odyssey battery is suitable for indoor use also because it has such low hydrogen emissions. So those who are looking to make a custom battery backup for home use might consider it.

The above information was gathered from http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Batter ... 0Batteries. It is a good read concerning deep cycle batteries in general.

[Georgio]

The product below probably wasn't available when he assembled his system. If you have the opportunity to recharge your battery every day while doing some riding, I think this battery at 2.5 lbs would be the best choice:

CPAP.com is proud to bring you the smallest, lightest (2.5 lbs), cpap battery pack on the market....12v DC Lithium Ion Battery.

If I'm correct, I think you could simply install a small 110v power inverter (1 lb) with a cigarette lighter outlet somewhere on your bike, and then you could plug your new cpcp battery in for a few hours riding each day? Total about 3.5 lbs.

I'm starting out going car camping with Boy Scouts, so I got the Resperonics 13 lb. battery pack from cpap.com that should be good for 3 nights. If I was riding solo, I could easily take the 13 lb'er along on an inverter.

Georgio

[5aces]

Great starting point for Motorcycling/Camping enthusiasts.


Description
The new and tiny Battery Geek 150 Watt Sine Wave Inverter with USB Charger Port is one of the highest quality and most portable and functional Sine Wave inverters available on the market today. You can plug it in to your vehicles cigarette socket to power and recharge almost any portable device. You can also use it to safely recharge your Battery Geek Battery Pack from your vehicle. It supplies you with 120Vac power using either your BG C-150 or BG C-222 external universal 12V battery pack or your vehicle's battery. You can now enjoy your TV, VCR, notebook computer, camcorder and more when you're anywhere on the road while you can at the same time power and recharge your iPod, MP3 player, PDA, Smart Phone or other USB mobile device.

I had the time of my life taking my bike from Toronto,Ontario to touching the ocean in Key West,Florida...KOA all the way down!

Girlfriend told me when I got the CPAP machine:

"looks like the only thing you'll be sleeping next to is an electrical outlet!"

Well now it can also be a battery...Yar!

[nomoore]

The product below probably wasn't available when he assembled his system. If you have the opportunity to recharge your battery every day while doing some riding, I think this battery at 2.5 lbs would be the best choice:

CPAP.com is proud to bring you the smallest, lightest (2.5 lbs), cpap battery pack on the market....12v DC Lithium Ion Battery.

If I'm correct, I think you could simply install a small 110v power inverter (1 lb) with a cigarette lighter outlet somewhere on your bike, and then you could plug your new cpcp battery in for a few hours riding each day? Total about 3.5 lbs.

I'm starting out going car camping with Boy Scouts, so I got the Resperonics 13 lb. battery pack from cpap.com that should be good for 3 nights. If I was riding solo, I could easily take the 13 lb'er along on an inverter.

Georgio

It specifies on CPAP.com that you need at least a 400W power inverter to charge the 2.5lb battery though. That's a lot of juice. Taking into account the 90% efficiency of those inverters, that is 33 to 40 amps at 12-14.8 volts. I wouldn't want to put that kind of load on a motorcycle charging system. In fact it probably just would not work on most (if not all) of them. I know my little Sportster has trouble with more than about 8 or 10 amps. You can't get that from a car cigarette lighter plug either. They are usually only good for 10-20 amps. You would need a direct line to the battery to get that kind of power with some hefty cable sizes (think 400W subwoofer amplifier for you car audio buffs).

[sam1234]

I too am interested in doing some touring and camping on my cycle. I would never have used the primary motorcycle battery to power the CPAP. I happen to have an extra motorcycle battery (14 amp) and a slow solar panel charger 1.8W and am looking to use it with a ResMed converter this summer with my APAP. I may change my mind and use one of my other machines although I have carried CPAP machines on my motorcycle in the past and had no worry as to how they would hold up.

Just remember a standard motorcycle battery will only last 30-150 discharge cycles when being deep cycled. They are designed for very shallow cycles of about 5%. The Odyssey battery mentioned in the article is a deep cycle battery designed to be deep cycled, discharged 80%, or to 20% remaining charge.

That Odyssey battery is suitable for indoor use also because it has such low hydrogen emissions. So those who are looking to make a custom battery backup for home use might consider it.

The above information was gathered from http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Batter ... 0Batteries. It is a good read concerning deep cycle batteries in general.

As I said, the motorcycle battery is an extra battery for which I have no particular use. It has sat in the garage for the past year, occassionally receiving a slow charge. If I get 10 - 20 charges on it, I would be happy. I really don't camp that much. If it will provide enough power to get through a night and still have some reserve, I will be happy. Then I will look for a deep cycle battery as a replacement. I understand that the ResMed converter is much more efficient than an inverter. It also keeps you from totally discharging the batter. Perhaps that combo's the ticket. I am also concerned about battery weight. As it is, I intend to carry a foldable cart to truck the gear to the camping site from my motorcycle.

[dilligat]

I'm glad someone mentioned this. I tour Europe every year with friends on motorbikes and this year I will have to take the CPAP machine with me for the first time and I was wondering how it'd survive on the back of my velocopede for a week and about 2000mls of reasonably spirited riding. I have the shoulder bag that my resmed cpap and humidifier came in so it will be packaged properly although the vibrations will still get to it.
Fortunately my touring companions insist on sleeping in hotels/motels/hostels and not camp so I'll have no problem with a power supply but must remember the extension lead and plug adapter.

[dilligat]

anyone?