Power outage

Early yesterday morning we had a power outage for about two hours. Luckily the computer UPS started beeping in the next room so I wasn't asleep too long without CPAP. We often get power outages on Sundays around noon in our neighborhood, but random outages have become increasingly 'normal'. This one spanned several neighborhoods. I'm about ready to fire our power company. Yeah, right.

So I'm in the market for a deep-cycle battery that I can use for travel and as an UPS so that I don't have to spend another half-hour not realizing my cpap just turned off - one that doesn't beep at me if the power goes off but just silently takes over. I'd like for the battery pack to be able to give me at least a few nights of therapy in case we get a serious power outage, and be able to last for at least as long as I have the same cpap machine.

In fact - why don't they make it standard to prescribe just such a battery pack with the machine? Could I get a prescription for this? Would insurance pay? Has anyone had luck with this? (Hey, no laughing now... )

DreamDiver wrote:So I'm in the market for a deep-cycle battery that I can use for travel and as an UPS so that I don't have to spend another half-hour not realizing my cpap just turned off - one that doesn't beep at me if the power goes off but just silently takes over.

Being a former computer guy I am somewhat familiar with UPS systems but not with their application to the xPAP machines. I'm a newbie in the xPAP world.

A deep cycle battery will simply provide power. You would need to have your xPAP powered off the battery ALL the time to avoid outages when the wall power fails... and then some method to keep the battery charged. Optima are generally considered top quality batteries:

http://www.optimabatteries.com/

On the other hand a UPS has a built-in battery AND the circuitry that detects when the wall power is about to fail and will automatically switch over to powering your xPAP with NO intervention from you. This works wonderfully well for wall power interruptions of short duration. Keep in mind that the UPS has limited ability to power a device for long periods. Many typical home PC type UPS systems available at consumer electronics stores have the ability to keep a PC system running for 30 - 45 minutes depending on the load.

I can power my PC & monitor at the office for 45 minutes with the UPS system at the link below:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/3zt5v3

Is that system suitable for powering an xPAP with warming humidifier? That I don't know. My Resmed Humidifier requires pure sine wave power and I'm not certain that UPS can provide that.

Dreamdiver.....

By "travel", do you mean "air travel"? Or do you mean auto travel?

If you're aren't looking for something tiny that you'd want if you're packing for a trip by air, I think what you're looking for is the Black & Decker 400 automobile jump start kit.
I'd run the M-Series on 12V DC instead of 110V AC when using the B&D 400....because you could go for a bunch of days that way....without re-charge. If you go this way, you'll need a 12V adapter to plug into the back of your M-Series. CPAP.com has them.

The B&D 400 has a charger built-in......and though I haven't looked at the instructions.....you might be able to leave it plugged-in to 110V AC all the time....so that it's always ready.

Wal-Mart has them....at about $110

Gerald

Is the output from the Black & Decker 400 modified sine wave or pure sine wave?

the car jumper packwill work but you may want to go with the 1000 amp instead of the 40 if you camp or travel. it will last almost twice as long plus it will start your car at -20 f. the 400 probably won't. now here's another thought -- instead of running your pap off the 12 v and not using the humidifier--leaver the charger on the jump pack and plug in an inverter. this will supply 120.v so you can use both. and if the power goes out the battery takes over automatically. of course you will have to check the inverter for proper wattage. and that it is a true sinewave as you said if that is what your humidifier wants. if you look at your labels they will tell you the wattage they use. if not they will give amps , amperes, or A . multiply this number by volts to get watts . example-------120 volts x 5 amp== 600 watts. and conversely watts divided by either volts or amps will give the other. you should allow 10% so you are not maxing out the circuit. this will shoreten the life of the inverter. so if ya need 600 watt get one 660 or more. the b&d 400 is 12v dc only if i', correct

Gerald wrote:. . . I'd run the M-Series on 12V DC instead of 110V AC when using the B&D 400....because you could go for a bunch of days that way....without re-charge. . . .

Bull!

This cheapo unit claims a 19 amp-hour (ah) capacity. You can’t use much more than half of that without shortening the battery life considerably. Figure 10 or 12 ah available from full charge if the battery is otherwise in good shape.

How many amps does your xPAP draw? My REMstar Auto at 10-14 cm draws about 1 amp on average using the DC cord and no heat for the humidifier. Divide 10 or 12 ah by 1 amp. That would give me 10 or 12 hours under ideal circumstances. Not my idea of “a bunch of days” without recharging. Substitute the DC amperage draw of your xPAP to estimate how many hours/nights you will get out of this battery.

Wayne

Paul56 wrote:Is the output from the Black & Decker 400 modified sine wave or pure sine wave?

Although they don't say, this has to be a modified sine wave inverter.

1) If it were pure sine wave, you can be that they would have claimed that. Their silence on this speaks volumes.

2) The least expensive good-quality small pure sine inverter costs upwards of $150 without built-in battery, charger, air compressor, radio, etc. What do you expect for 100 bucks?

Another thought: If anyone is going to use one of these inexpensive inverters to power their xPAP on 120 VAC, I suggest you carefully check the output voltage from the inverter first. If the voltage is too low, you will burn up the power supply in your xPAP.

If it were me, I would expect to use this "jump starter" for no more than one night without recharging and I would run my xPAP only on straight 12 VDC.

Wayne

The short-term UPS systems really aren't a workable solution. After a few times without power, they fail, and you end up having to buy a new one. We have a conventional APC UPS battery backup for the modem and router, but after less than two years and just a few multiple-hour outages, you end up with a dead UPS. That's an expensive solution.

I've looked at Rested Gal's links to power supplies.

Is there a deep-cycle system that I can keep plugged into the wall that I can use as a fail-over so my cpap won't stop in the middle of the night when we have an outage that only lasts seconds? Sometimes my cpap just doesn't start back up and I don't get therapy for hours. I'd also like to be able to take it with me on week-long trips to whatever remote location so I can get therapy while camping. I'm probably never going to be able to hike again, since they don't make a portable enough battery to do the whole AT without packing sixty pounds of solar cells, but I'd like something portable enough to carry in a car or on an airplane that will last multiple days without seriously affecting the condition of the battery.

I'm looking for the dream battery.

SPEC for:

BLACK&DECKER 400 WATT POWER INVERTER-POWERS UP TO 3.6 AMPS
CONVERTS VEHICLE’S 12-VOLT DC POWER TO AC POWER
DUAL AC & USB OUTLETS WILL POWER AND/OR RECHARGE PERSONAL ELECTRONICS
HIGH AND LOW VOLTAGE PROTECTION
LOW BATTERY SHUTDOWN PREVENTS TOTAL BATTERY DRAIN
ELECTRICAL FAULT INTERRUPTER CIRCUIT
INCLUDES 12 VOLT DC POWER PLUG AND BATTERY CLIPS & CABLE SET
MAXIMUM CONTINUOUS POWER 400 WATTS
HIGH SURGE CAPACITY: 800 WATTS
INPUT VOLTAGE: 12.8 VOLTS
OUTPUT VOLTAGE: 115 VOLTS
FUSE: 25 AMPS X 2
OUTPUT WAVE FORM: MODIFIED SINE WAVE
POWERS UP TO: 3.48 AMPS
2 YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY

DreamDiver wrote: I'm looking for the dream battery.

That would be a two pound, 12 volt 80 amp hour, with Solar Charger on top, That comes with a Led double AA flashlight, that can recharge the battery in 5 minutes by shining it on the top of the battery. Added features the battery would be nontoxic, non gassing, leakproof and non corrosive. Costing under $10 US.

When you find one let me know. Jim

DreamDiver wrote:Early yesterday morning we had a power outage for about two hours. Luckily the computer UPS started beeping in the next room so I wasn't asleep too long without CPAP. We often get power outages on Sundays around noon in our neighborhood, but random outages have become increasingly 'normal'. This one spanned several neighborhoods. I'm about ready to fire our power company. Yeah, right.

So I'm in the market for a deep-cycle battery that I can use for travel and as an UPS so that I don't have to spend another half-hour not realizing my cpap just turned off - one that doesn't beep at me if the power goes off but just silently takes over. I'd like for the battery pack to be able to give me at least a few nights of therapy in case we get a serious power outage, and be able to last for at least as long as I have the same cpap machine.

In fact - why don't they make it standard to prescribe just such a battery pack with the machine? Could I get a prescription for this? Would insurance pay? Has anyone had luck with this? (Hey, no laughing now... )

My insurance company wouldn't pay for one.

My Pulm told me when he prescribed my machine that there was a battery pack available for it. We do a fair amount of camping and he was talking about how I could take my machine with me while we were outdoors. I never followed up on it because I use this as an excuse to not camp now. (ha ha ha) I would be happy to call him and see if he has any information though.

DreamDiver wrote:Is there a deep-cycle system that I can keep plugged into the wall that I can use as a fail-over so my cpap won't stop in the middle of the night when we have an outage that only lasts seconds? Sometimes my cpap just doesn't start back up and I don't get therapy for hours. I'd also like to be able to take it with me on week-long trips to whatever remote location so I can get therapy while camping. I'm probably never going to be able to hike again, since they don't make a portable enough battery to do the whole AT without packing sixty pounds of solar cells, but I'd like something portable enough to carry in a car or on an airplane that will last multiple days without seriously affecting the condition of the battery.

I'm looking for the dream battery.

That is exactly what I am looking for as well. A system that I can plug into the wall for charging the battery... where it is the battery that powers the xPAP machine thus isolating it from wall power fluctuations and outages.

To achieve this I think we will need to assemble such a system ourselves. I know I would base mine on either the yellow or blue top Optima battery... I haven't researched enough to know which one. Then would need to add a charging system.

The show stopper for me is that this setup will not power the Resmed Humidifier.

I would love a system that could automatically take over. However, I could not find something workable. Since I tend to wake up when the air filter in my room goes off, I won't sleep without my machine long if the power goes off. So, I just keep my battery backup unit charged and nearby so I just have to reset all the various cables.

Not an elegant solution but it will have to do until they realize we really do need these things any time we sleep - including during power outages - and make us a system to do what your asking.

Goofproof wrote:...Costing under $10 US.

When you find one let me know. Jim

A pocket fusion reactor might be better, cleaner.
It should fart oxygen. Or gold.
Anything that can use banana peels as a
fusion source as got to be environmentally green, eh?