Upcoming Trip to Egypt--Think I'm SOL with my CPAP?

Well in the final documents I just received, it says: "A constant electricity supply cannot be guaranteed during overnight stays. And in some places a generator may supply electricity, and lighting may not be as bright as you are used to." Groan~~

What to do? I was not even thinking of taking a battery, and weight restrictions completely eliminate the possibility of my being able to carry a UPS. Would either my cpap or a recharging Battery Geek 222 be ruined with such electric current issues?

Stay home or bring a spare machine come to mind?

Edit: Meaning so you won't ruin your main machine with unstable power.

Well, staying home is not what I will be doing. And I was hoping there might be some other realistic options than to just plan to destroy a $500 cpap machine. Any travelers out there have other suggestions? I am still wondering how a battery would do with recharging under these circumstances.

Breathing issues aside, how about a surge surpressing power strip that will handle surges on a 220V system?

You're using the PB 420E for travel, I assume. It has an external power block, and a fuse, both of which should protect the machine itself - as far as I understand the subject.

O.

Try poking around this page:

http://global.respironics.eu/

You're supposed to be able to pull up a list of providers for various countries, including Egypt, though I'm getting an error message tonight.

Find an Egyptian Respironics rep. Contact them. Perhaps you can buy something suitable to the erratic power (or which you could use to recharge a BG-222), or they may have another suggestion.

If the page is munged, contact Respironics US, tell them you can't reach their Egyptian affiliate information, and what you need, and ask them to get the information for you.

Thanks, Ozij and Kiralynx for your thoughtful suggestions. I do have a 220 surge protector, but am thinking I have read here that this is geared to the spikes in current, and will not help the "brownout" situations. However, I would love to be told I misunderstood that piece! Is there a way that I can replace a fuse in the brick if that should pop?

I will be taking my 420E rather than the Remstar. I actually so have the Respironics battery for winter outages, but it's a 13 whopping pounds and my total limit is 44 pounds, so it's just not an option to consider that machine & batt for traveling.

This has all come to light, of course, in the eleventh hour before the trip, so I have no time to methodically sort this out. Did not sleep much last night for worrying about it, but cannot make any other contacts till tomorrow. So I may be bumping this question here today in hopes that you all may have other lightbulb ideas.

Hi, this affliction really makes travelling harder work.
You will probably not have to worry about electric spikes/supply if they have a generator as hotels usually shut the thing off
any time after 9 or 10 p.m.
Any chance you can rent a fully charged car battery from a garage, one of the hotel staff or wherever? I was wondering if that would be feasible for trips I hope to make , you can rig up a cable to connect your machine to the battery easily enough. I use that system when the power goes off at home or when I'm on a boat I connect to the boat battery via a cigarette lighter plug. there was a posting within the last few days about doing this.
that's all I can think. 44lbs is a lot of luggage to travel with, I take as little as possible. I did 1month in India with a day pack, pre-cpap days.
have a great time.

plr66 wrote:Well in the final documents I just received, it says: "A constant electricity supply cannot be guaranteed during overnight stays. And in some places a generator may supply electricity, and lighting may not be as bright as you are used to." Groan~~

What to do? I was not even thinking of taking a battery, and weight restrictions completely eliminate the possibility of my being able to carry a UPS. Would either my cpap or a recharging Battery Geek 222 be ruined with such electric current issues?

First make direct contact with the place where you are staying and speak with management... yes a phone call. Get the direct scoop and proceed from there.

You may not have much choice but to take your battery which still leaves you with 31 pounds for other items... health comes first. Lets assume the place has a generator that shuts down at night. You can charge your battery from the generator during the day and run your equipment from the battery at night.... but make that phone call and find out first hand the exact situation.

Hi again, I found that posting for you but don't know how to link it to this but
it was on page 3, and it's headed "Testing DC-12 Converter with 12A battery this weekend" this one explained the battery hook up cord you could rig up.

there was another one from

Sam 123 on Thurs.Jan 22 which was more recent.
good luck.

here is a good posting for the battery idea posted Sun. Dec. 21 o8 "Power outage plans" by Dave Munson

NOTE WELL:
JUST REMEMBER THAT YOU CANNOT use your humidifier with this type of set up, ie using a 12 v battery , the battery system will only run the CPAP machine, as, I think" that all humidifiers only run on 110 V,

Thanks, Paul. I found your post reassuring, actually, and plan to contact the tour company ASAP. I was thinking that if the battery was charging during the day and the power was irregular, it might burn the thing out. Hoping that is not the case. Does anyone know?

Ms Piggy, I do appreciate the time you have taken with me here. I am a lifetime independent traveler, and this is my first trip with CPAP. Since I began this therapy at the first of Sept, I have not missed one minute of bedtime without my machine, and so there is just no question that this is top priority for me. Ironically, I'm going with a small tour group for the first time--but this means a fast schedule with multiple changes in location. So the idea of trying to work out the battery idea once there, just won't be possible.

I may not be thinking clearly, but at this point I am beginning to think my best option (though seemingly over the top in terms of financial excess...2 machines already seemed like a luxury to me!!) may be to fast-order an Everest 2 with its integrated battery and HH. I have been using my humidifier without heat, so that won't be an issue. I wonder if the Everest humidifier tank can be installed without hauling the heater base along with me?

plr66 wrote:Thanks, Paul. I found your post reassuring, actually, and plan to contact the tour company ASAP. I was thinking that if the battery was charging during the day and the power was irregular, it might burn the thing out. Hoping that is not the case. Does anyone know?

Ms Piggy, I do appreciate the time you have taken with me here. I am a lifetime independent traveler, and this is my first trip with CPAP. Since I began this therapy at the first of Sept, I have not missed one minute of bedtime without my machine, and so there is just no question that this is top priority for me. Ironically, I'm going with a small tour group for the first time--but this means a fast schedule with multiple changes in location. So the idea of trying to work out the battery idea once there, just won't be possible.

I may not be thinking clearly, but at this point I am beginning to think my best option (though seemingly over the top in terms of financial excess...2 machines already seemed like a luxury to me!!) may be to fast-order an Everest 2 with its integrated battery and HH. I have been using my humidifier without heat, so that won't be an issue. I wonder if the Everest humidifier tank can be installed without hauling the heater base along with me?

As a passover tank -maybe - don't know how that would work though. How about carrying on the CPAP - no weight limit there - you SHOULD ALWAYS carry on your CPAP - never check it - it will be broken in short order - have you seen the way they throw around the bags?

NeurosurgeryNP wrote:... you SHOULD ALWAYS carry on your CPAP - never check it - it will be broken in short order - have you seen the way they throw around the bags?

Believe me. Never for a heartbeat have I ever considered checking my cpap! In this case, the battery would/will have to be checked, but I see no problem with that. Just need a lighter battery.....

Got you!

NeurosurgeryNP wrote:Got you!

Yep--Nothing jumpy or on edge about me right now!!