Help Please - Camping with an S8 Autoset II

I've read many posts, but I still have no idea what I need to get in order to camp with my CPAP. We have a travel trailer so its not an issue when we have electricity. But once i a while we camp without electricity, and I would like to know what I need to get to safely power my Resmed S8 Autoset II.

- is it best to use a battery and a converter, or are the portable power supplies better(like the DieHard Portable Power 1150)?
- do I need to buy a converter from Resmed?
- how can I use my CPAP without the humidifier?
- anything else I need to buy?

I've read the battery guide already. But it still doesn't give me the answers I'm looking for. I'll go buy whatever, I just need to know what.

Thanks in advance for any info!

I'm sure you've already seen the link below to an overwhelming amount of discussions about camping with CPAP, so I'm putting it in for others who might come across this thread. Hope someone comes along with specific info for you, bs4.

In the meantime, perhaps something in the topics here will help someone else:

LINKS to Battery operation, camping, power outage
viewtopic.php?t=9682

The easiest way is to have an inverter that is capable of running your machine.

Inverters come in two basic varieties, modified sine wave (less expensive), and pure sine wave (more expensive). You need to use a pure sine wave unit (more expensive).

Next you have to figure out how much capacity you need. Inverters are rated in watts. You want to look at continuous watts and ignore the surge capabilities. This will give you a little more than you need, but it is comforting to have a little cushion.

The inverter hooks up to the battery, and has a household plug that you plug your machine into, just like at home.

The next decision is if you are going to use your machine only, or want to use both the machine and the humidifier. The humidifier draws a lot of current and will require a much larger (more expensive) inverter.

Looking through the battery guide, it looks like all of the S8 machines (without humidifiers) will need a little under 2 amps to operate. Since inverters are rated in watts, we do a conversion. Watts = volts x amps, so we have 120 volts x 2 amps = 240 watts.

This means that if you have a 240 watt pure sine wave inverter hooked up to your battery, you can simply plug in your S8 (without the humidifier) and it will operate just like at home, as long as the batteries hold up.

If you want to use the humidifier, the power needed goes up. Once again looking at the battery guide, it looks like you could run any of the S8 units with any of the humidifier units if you had an inverter that was capable of 12 amps. Converting to watts we have 120 volts x 12 amps = 1440 watts.

This means that any S8 unit with any humidifier will run if you have a pure sine wave inverter that is capable of 1440 watts, as long as the batteries hold up.

Note that all of this is based upon using the machine and humidifier at the highest possible settings. If you pressure is less than 20 and you run your EPR at less than 3 and you run your humidifier at less than full power, you actual current draw will be less. Still I think it is a good idea to plan for maximum current.

Duracell 600 will run your unit for at least 8+ hrs as long as humidifier is not used. Not sure if it will operate longer [i.e. second night without re-charge] as never had to use it more than for an emergency.

Can be bought via amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/Duracell-DPP-600H ... 598&sr=8-1

I bought an Black and Decker Electromate 400 to go camping with and it works very well. I was able to use it for at least a couple of days without a charge. There are many extras on it too...like jumper cables, an air compressor. I just love it. It is heavy and big though...but it works!

Thanks for all the feedback. It is much appreciated.

So I either need an inverter and a battery, or I can could use a power pack such as the Black & Decker or Duracell?

I'm guessing a battery and inverter would give me more nights before I would have to recharge the battery, depending on the size of the battery of course.

I also looked at the power packs. These would be more convenient all around. I would simply plug my S8 into the power pack, and it should work. But I wanted to make sure the specs of the power pack are ok. The Duracell 600(or any size Duracell power pack) is the only one I could find detailed specs on. The Duracell has the biggest battery, so in theory, it should last the longest. The inverter appears plenty big, although it is Modified Sine Wave. I went back to ResMed's battery guide, and it appears the S8 Autoset II can use either Modified Sine or Pure Sine Wave. Radio Shack has the Duracell 600 on sale for $134.99. A 400 watt inverter costs $40 and then a deep cycle battery would be $70 and up. Not much difference in price.

Hmm, what to do? I would like something for 3 night's worth. And I'm still not sure how to use my machine without the humidifier. Anyone know how to do this?

bs4u00 wrote: And I'm still not sure how to use my machine without the humidifier. Anyone know how to do this?

I have exact same machine, tried the humidifier for a day or two and then just disconnected from the apap unit. It's now stored in a box in case someone wants to buy it

Here is a picture of an S8 machine

https://www.cpap.com/cpap-machine/resme ... chine.html

Here is a picture of the humidifier that attaches to the S8 machine

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... -cpap.html

With the water removed from the humidifier tank you can turn the unit over and locate a rectangular metal button. Press that button and the humidifier will come loose from the machine.

You are correct that you can run an S8 with either a modified or pure sine wave inverter, as long as you don't use the humidifier.

If you want to use the humidifier, you must use a pure sine wave inverter.

If you want to use a ResMed converter, you can not use the humidifier with it.

If you can find the Amp Hour rating of your battery, the battery guide will give you an idea of how long that battery will last.

For example, if you only plan on using the S8 and not the humidifier and use a pressure of 16 with your machine, your current draw will be about 1.81 amps. If your battery has 22 Amp Hours of capacity, it will last 8 hours.

If your pressure is only 10, the current draw drops to 1.4 amps and then you only need a 17 Amp Hour battery to go for 8 hours.

If you want to go for 3 days and start with needing a 22 Amp Hour battery for 1 day, you would need a 66 Amp Hour batter for 3 days.