DC power cable for Dreamstation

FINALLY, I received a refurbished Dreamstation to replace my recalled System One machine.

The Dreamstation works fine when its power supply is plugged into a regular 120-volt power outlet.

The main reason I bought the System One machine back in the day was that it could run off a 12-volt battery directly without using any kind of inverter or power converter.

Today I tried plugging my regular 12-volt DC power cable into the Dreamstation. It threw up a simple error message, "Check Power," and would not operate. My battery system was putting out 13.5 volts and has plenty of capacity to operate the Dreamstation.

Can anyone suggest a reason why the Dreamstation won't run directly off a DC power source, like the System One machines have done forever?

Maybe this:

"While Respironics DreamStation series PAP devices operate from 12V direct current the DC port on these devices require a proprietary signal in order to recognize a valid power source; therefore, a 12V power adapter is required to complete the connection between the device and the Freedom Battery."

From here:

https://cpapsupplies.com/bps-dreamstati ... er-adapter

Yes - this must be the problem!

While browsing the Respironics recall thread, I ran across similar advice, posted by Lane101 a couple of months ago:

"You can use the same 12 volt battery that works with your System One with the DS1 if you buy a Philips shielded DC power cord. It will plug into a 12v cigarette lighter socket. Same cord works for DS1 and DS2 machines. Cost of around $30. They added a third line through a 22K resistor that the machine looks for to force purchase of their proprietary cord. Resmed has done the same thing. I have one and it works well."

"https://www.cpap.com/productpage/pr-dre ... ed-dc-cord"

calusa wrote: ↑

Thu May 11, 2023 5:55 am

Yes - this must be the problem!

While browsing the Respironics recall thread, I ran across similar advice, posted by Lane101 a couple of months ago:

"You can use the same 12 volt battery that works with your System One with the DS1 if you buy a Philips shielded DC power cord. It will plug into a 12v cigarette lighter socket. Same cord works for DS1 and DS2 machines. Cost of around $30. They added a third line through a 22K resistor that the machine looks for to force purchase of their proprietary cord. Resmed has done the same thing. I have one and it works well."

"https://www.cpap.com/productpage/pr-dre ... ed-dc-cord"

Couldn't have said it better myself:-)

Funny, I went through a similar process to that of calusa to learn of the needed proprietary cable requirement.

Well, I bought the Philips shielded DC power cord for about $30.

The 22K resister is inside the cigarette-lighter plug, along with a tiny green power indicator. I didn't want to use their plug, as I have a different system for supplying 12 volts DC. So I surgically removed the resister and power indicator from the body of their plug and soldered them into a plug that matches my system. This time the Dreamstation accepted my power immediately -- no more "Check Power" error message -- and the machine now functions properly.

I feel like I was tricked into buying an unnecessary $30 cable; but after the extended pain and indignity of the whole Philips Respironics recall fiasco, what's one more insult?

calusa wrote: ↑

Sat May 20, 2023 3:39 pm

I feel like I was tricked into buying an unnecessary $30 cable;

You could be paying $95 for a DC power cord one like the rest of us.
Or you could get 3 of them?
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... ines?gad=1

Three small screws instead of one big screw?
I see a pattern here . . .