Battery for XPAP for Camping - What? How? Where? Help! :-)

Babette · Post by **Babette** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:59 pm

Okay, I wanna go camping again. Do I REALLY have to buy a $300 specialized battery setup for my xpap?

I know I can get a top of the line deep cycle battery right over here at the sporting goods store for about $160.00. I know this, because I bought one for my ex-boyfriend for Xmas one year. He runs about 17 police/emergency radios in his truck.

Say I went and bought one.... How do I hook it up to the XPAP? What other parts and pieces do I need? Is there a set of instructions somewhere on how to do this? I really CANNOT rely on the ex-boyfriend for help.

Or.... Do you feel that buying a specialized $300 battery has worked better for you?

AND... If I buy that specialized battery, how do I recharge it while out camping?

I sorta know about re-charging car batteries with a battery charger. But can I recharge a deep cycle by jumping it to my car battery? Would that work?

Any suggestions gratefully appreciated!!!!!

Many thanks!
Barbara

robbieh · Post by **robbieh** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:05 pm

I too would like to go back to the woods to sleep in the wilds without suffocating. I found a site that sells batteries for less than $160 but have no idea about how long they would last or like you said... how do you recharge said batteries. I also thank anyone for your help. Oh, here is that site:
http://www.batterymart.com/c-deep-cycle ... eries.html

RiverDave · Post by **RiverDave** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:07 pm

Babette,

Quite a spirited debate recently:

viewtopic.php?t=22726

I think you would need:

1. A 12 volt adapter cable for your machine
2. a battery
3. a way to recharge it (or maybe not)

Don't forget to charge the battery before you go. I found out the hard way, they are necessarily chargd when you buy them.

Babette · Post by **Babette** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:08 pm

Found the FAQ links:

viewtopic.php?t=9682

Thanks for that link Robbie!

And thanks Dave!!!!

Okay, off to read....

LOL,
B.

Babette · Post by **Babette** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:21 pm

Okay, please don't hit me for this question....

Is a 12 volt adapter cable the same as a power inverter? Is this something I can buy readily at the sporting goods store, or should I purchase this from, say, Respironics, my machine's manufacturer? I'm reading on that other thread someone saying you really should buy the machine's manufacturer's cable.

Thanks!
B.

Babette · Post by **Babette** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:23 pm

Is this what you're talking about?
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... cable.html

Cheers,
B.

RiverDave · Post by **RiverDave** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:47 pm

you need the adapter and the DC power cord.

The adapter look pretty generic, so you could get one for about $8 at radioshack or similar store

Power cord:
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... -cord.html

Bearded_One · Post by **Bearded_One** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:52 pm

A power cable is not the same as an inverter.

A power cable is used to connect a battery (or cigarette lighter outlet) to the CPAP. An inverter converts 12 volts to 120 volt AC (house current) to operate heated humidifiers and those few CPAPs that require 120 volts. Inverters typically plug into a cigarette lighter outlet and have one or two household wall outlets. There are also inverters that are packaged with a battery.

CPAPs don't draw very much current and with the proper power cable most of them can be powered directly from a 12 volt battery.

What really sucks up the juice, and makes an inverter necessary, is a heated humidifier. You can run a CPAP for a long weekend using the the same amount of electricity that a heated humidifier requires to operate for one night.

billbolton · Post by **billbolton** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:54 pm

Babette wrote:Do I REALLY have to buy a $300 specialized battery setup for my xpap?

It depends on what sort of "camping" you intend to do. If you will be near reasonably near a vehicle and don't have far to lug a deep cycle battery, then that is probably a better option. If you intend to "carry-in" everything to a more remote camp site, every kilogram matters!

But can I recharge a deep cycle by jumping it to my car battery? Would that work?

Its not quite that simple. You need to control the rate of charging, so while it is possible to do a recharge from a vehicle battery, it will require some additional kit to do it properly. Also you need to be very, very careful not to end up with a flat vehicle battery!

Cheers,

Bill

plaws · Post by **plaws** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:21 pm

Bearded_One wrote:A power cable is not the same as an inverter.

A power cable is used to connect a battery (or cigarette lighter outlet) to the CPAP. An inverter converts 12 volts to 120 volt AC (house current) to operate heated humidifiers and those few CPAPs that require 120 volts.

Repeated for emphasis.

I have the S8 Elite and the 3i H/H and the manual cautions you that you cannot run the humidifier off the 12 V dc source.

Not a camper, myself, but my wife and I have recently become enamored of the idea of those little teardrop trailers, so who knows. I'd need 12 V dc for my ham radio gear anyway ... and I already have a 30 W solar panel ... hmmm, all I would need is the adapter and a charge controller ....

Babette · Post by **Babette** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:26 pm

I can't speak for Robbie, but my camping will be limited to CAR CAMPING right this very minute, with the ability to haul in a fairly large amount of gear.

I will also be camping at sites where there is the opportunity to plug in a re-charger of some sort, into a normal AC wall socket during the day. There is just no way to run an extension cord out to where I'll be sleeping.

So..... hypothetically.... say I went the expensive cpap battery route, I would need:

1) Battery
2) Battery re-charger device
3) Cable to connect battery to xpap

In that vein, this one seems to be the top of the line, with all the stuff I would need - charger, cable, etc.:
https://www.cpap.com/productpage-advanced.php?PNum=2579

Or I could go this route:
https://www.cpap.com/productpage-advanced.php?PNum=2299

If I go with the second battery, would I need to purchase anything additional? It seems to me that it says it comes with a charger and Respironics cord, but am I misunderstanding that?

Okay, off to mull over some other discussions on this topic.

LOL,
B.

Babette · Post by **Babette** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:29 pm

I LOVE TEARDROP TRAILERS!!! And as soon as I win the lottery, I plan to buy one!

Okay, they're not that expensive, but I do tend to live hand to mouth.

I'm still pretty baffled by this discussion... I'm getting more and more tempted to just buy the big expensive kit....

LOL,
B.

Murphy · Post by **Murphy** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:39 pm

I live in Florida and I always have to worry about power outages. I couldn't figure out all of the options for battery operation. So i went and bought the battery from cpap.com but I bought the Respironics which is $50 more expensive but you get 21 hours on 1 charge and with the cpap.com one you only get 10hrs. It's expensive but you get everything you need.
Eileen

robbieh · Post by **robbieh** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:44 pm

I really want to find a way to camp with a cpap but I am devastated because I am afraid I will never be able to go backpacking again. Trying to keep backpack weight down precludes having to carry 10 pounds of cpap equipment. I don't know what to leave home to make room for that. I already have minimalized as much as possible. Maybe I can tie a huge helium balloon to my pack...

John_M · Post by **John_M** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 10:41 pm

Babette wrote:I can't speak for Robbie, but my camping will be limited to CAR CAMPING right this very minute, with the ability to haul in a fairly large amount of gear.

I will also be camping at sites where there is the opportunity to plug in a re-charger of some sort, into a normal AC wall socket during the day. There is just no way to run an extension cord out to where I'll be sleeping.

It really depends how far you are away from the AC wall socket.

If you are willing to haul a 40lb deep cycle battery between where you sleep and the wall socket then you can most probably go first class with the humidifier as well. I havent done the calculations but I am guessing a deep cycle will keep a humidifier and cpap running all night.
To do this you will need
1/ Deep cycle battery
2/ Inverter to convert 12 vdc to 110 V ac
and the usual cpap and humidifier.
BUT BEFORE YOU BUY, I NEED TO CHECK SOME CALCULATIONS.

But if its a long haul from wall socket to camp site and weight is important, then Li battery and nasal spray is the way to go.
For that you will need the complete kit sold by cpap.com

or you maybe able to get away with a small deep cycle battery and 12 vdc cable and battery charger.

John M

Machine	Mask

Additional Comments: Airmini, Medistrom Pilot 24, CMS 60C Pulse Oximeter, ResScan 6

Battery for XPAP for Camping - What? How? Where? Help! :-)

Battery for XPAP for Camping - What? How? Where? Help! :-)

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