going on the lake with my cpap

I am on my second week using my cpap. I always have been a morning person so I haven't noticed aby differance there.

Question. Starting in May I spend 2 to 5 nites every week at the lake on my house boat.

What have others done to go portable with a remstar with a humidifyer?

I do not have the 12v adapter that is available. I am not sure but this adapter will not run my humidifyer?

Ideas with technical advise please

Thanks Big Easy

Hi big easy,
Like you I spend a good deal of time on the water during the summer.

A couple of points: it is possible to run a REMStar directly from the house batteries. The REMStar Plus draws 2 amps, the REMStar Auto draws 3 amps, so you are looking at between 16 - 24 amp. hours for each (8 hour) night of use. In my case I have two deep-cycle 4D batteries for the house bank, giving me a total of 400 amp hours available. However. the rule of thumb is that to maximize the battery life, you should not use more than 50% of the charge on each discharge cycle, so that means only 200 amp hrs. available between charges. With the use of the refrigerator, etc it means almost a daily charge when you add the CPAP load - maybe every other day.

The second point is that the heated humidifier needs 110v ac, and even with an inverter (which I have heard can damage the humidifier) it would zonk your batteries in no time flat! So look for a pass-over non heated humidifier. The consolation is that the humidity is usually much higher in the summer to begin with.

I purchased the Respironics dc battery cable. It seems to be well made. There is nothing magic about it, and you could make your own if you can find the co-axial plug.

derek

I don't have a remstar unit. I have a PB 420E. I have used my 115 Amp Hr deep cycle battery to operate my cpap for 2 weeks at a time. And it never got near 50% charge. I do not use the humidifier . I did have a Resmed Spirit with heated humidifier that I operated from this battery with a Aims 300 watt pure sine wave inverter. I could operate for 3 nites with this system.

I also used the aussie heated hose in my system.

Could you add a solar panal to your system ? It wouldn't cost much and it could increase your capacity for other uses.

Other ideas: Buy another battery and swap out every other nite and charge at work or in your vehicle as you drive . Also The new computerized battery chargers are able to charge a battery to nearly 100% . The older chargers were only able to charge to about 75-80 % of capacity. That last 15% takes a long time.

I would check the capacity again. Take the cpap and run it several nites checking the voltages and charge each morning. I think you will find that you aren't consuming as much power as the manual call for.

You could always use a passover humidifier to reduce consumption. I'd think that since you are already on the water the humidity shouldn't be a problem unless its winter.

If you are able to borrow a digital clamp on amp meter you might get a better idea of your power consumption.

Cheers,

Chris

Chrisp.
I don't know if you were addressing your comments to me or big easy, but I'll respond anyway:
1) I'm surprised at the low battery drain that you claim for the PB 420E. Let's take your battery and say that 50% of capacity is 56 amp. hrs. In two weeks at 8 hrs/night you have 8x14= 112 hrs, meaning that the CPAP is drawing less than 0.5 amps. Seriously, if that is all the PB420E draws, I'll buy one.
2) I am thinking of installing a separate spiral-wound AGM battery (Optima) as a dedicated CPAP battery.
3) My electrical system is "state-of-the-art" (designed/installed it myself ), and includes a 110 amp alternator with smart (multi-stage) regulator/charger, smart ac battery charger, and smart battery combiners to distribute the charge, and 2 kw inverter. Nevertheless I hate to run a 60hp diesel for hours on end (at no load - bad for engine) just to charge the batteries. Therefore, now that I have the CPAP as an added load I was proposing to purchase one of the new ultra-quiet 1 kw gas generators (Honda or Yamaha) for the sole purpose of charging the batteries through the AC charger each day.

But, if the PB unit is as good as you say - then I won't even think about buying the generator.

derek

Chris,
I just looked at the Puritan Bennett web site and checked the 420E user manual. Sure enough it lists the current draw (at 13v) as 0.75 amp with a 4 mm leak (whatever that is), and the maximum power at 20 watts.

That's one helluva lot better than the Respironics 3 amp.

derek

Well all these suggestions sound great for improvising while on a trip, or such, but what are you talking about? How can we, "techno non know it nothings", plug in to an alternate source--E A S I L Y , while not having access to your bank of knowledge of how to hook up to batteries, etc?

huh?

Can we do something to improvise that is alternate energy sources, i. e. ''cpap for dummies?
I'd appreciate it...........like what would we do in a power outage?
Thanks for any E A S Y tips you can tell us......
I miss Liam already.

big easy wrote:I am on my second week using my cpap. I always have been a morning person so I haven't noticed aby differance there.

Question. Starting in May I spend 2 to 5 nites every week at the lake on my house boat.

What have others done to go portable with a remstar with a humidifyer?

I do not have the 12v adapter that is available. I am not sure but this adapter will not run my humidifyer?

Ideas with technical advise please

Thanks Big Easy

Derek, How about a windmill or solar for your system.

http://www.e-marine-inc.com/products/so ... rge32.html

http://www.e-marine-inc.com/products/wi ... nd913.html

Hell its only money. Whats that when we are talking about a good nights sleep.

The 420E is a great auto unit and it doesn't eat much as well.

Like I said 2 weeks and voltages were well above 50% remaining.

Its cheap as well. https://www.cpap.com/productpage/754

Cheers,

Chris

Gailzee, To survive a 1-2 night power outage with your PB420E you may do the following.

1. Just go out to your car and plug into the accessory outlet. The adaptor can be found at radio shack for $7. It uses a "M" connector. You may need to turn the key to the accessory position. http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?c ... 270%2D1533

2. Go to Wal Mart or a auto parts store and buy a Jump starter with a accessory outlet . Plug the connector that you bought at Radio Shack into it.
Something like this. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... i&n=228013
or http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.as ... h=114*4560*

As long as the battery is over 16 amp hr you should be fine. I use a k&k jump starter when away from home since I keep it in my truck/plane. I comes in handy if my battery goes dead also. It can also be charged from the accessory outlet if needed. http://www.cloreautomotive.com/site_prod.asp?sku_pk=50

Or this from our buddies at cpap.com https://www.cpap.com/productpage/89

For those who like overkill. http://store.yahoo.com/macyummies/xaxp15.html

Cheers,


Chris

I use an Xantrex Powerpack 400 (jumpstarter) which supposedly has a 22 a/hr gel battery in it. I've used it for 3 consecutive nights with my Remstar/Pro (pressure of 8, CFlex off). I suspect it isn't drawing as much as Respironics publishes. I have my humidifier in-line, but turned off.

Now I'm mostly using a PB420E... I'll see how that does with the powerpack. For weekend camping, the powerpack is a great solution. It only weighs about 20lbs and has a DC outlet and a 120v inverter (although I can't comment on the inverter's quality). Sears or GI Joe's for about $90.