Power outage when asleep

I'm sure this has been asked and apologize for being lazy this morning to search. Power went out several times early evening and then right after I put on my mask for bedtime. What would have happened had I fallen asleep first with the mask and unit on?

I'm assuming no pressure, no air and I'd wake up snoring like a walrus. Or do I choke and/or worse, quietly pass away into the night and disappear from this board?

Hi dtsm

When I have had my mask on, and the machine not on, I simply keep on sleeping, but without therapy.

It's happened a few times, and never been a problem.

cheers

Mars

My machine senses breathing when it's off, and would automatically resume pressure when the electricity came back on. Does your machine have this automatic on feature?

Papillon2 wrote:My machine senses breathing when it's off, and would automatically resume pressure when the electricity came back on. Does your machine have this automatic on feature?

I think this is SmartStart feature of ResMed - but it's not turned on.

When my power went out, took off mask, hung on bedpost. About 2 hrs later when power came back on, heard the machine kick on blowing like crazy...assume I needed to shut off manually or else it comes back on automatically.

Something similar happen to me but I woke up. You have to make a big effort to breath in when the machine is off, that wakes me up.

Try to make a dry run. Put the mask on, hose attached to mask and machine. Don't start the machine and try to breath normally. You will see that you will have to make an effort and that is enough to wake me up.

There was an outage here last night about 2 hours after I went to sleep. I woke up when the machine went off. The power was off for about an hour and a half, but I didn't get back to sleep until about a half-hour after the power came back on.

Thanks everyone - posted this after not sleeping very well last night. I called the sleep center and the nurse assured me that this happens all the time and the masks are designed to operate without pressure. Looks like as long as behave ourselves and stick with cpap, we'll be here for a long long time. Cheers!

So glad you asked that question tonight DTSM! In NJ we are having a wicket snowstorm - about 20 inches in total and my electricity keeps going on and off. I've been concerned. I'll now do my best to sleep with the cpap in spite of its going on and off. Hey, it stayed on long enough for me to write this message!

dtsm wrote:... the masks are designed to operate without pressure ...

They have a valve to allow CO2 out when there is no presure / power. It is known as an Anit Asphyxia Valve. See the following search for more information:

search.php?keywords=anti+asphyxia+valve

The CO2 vent in nasal masks and nasal pillow masks is enough to keep you breathing without air pressure. Without pressure, many people would open their mouth and breath normally -- or take the mask off. It is much better to have a backup battery that is connected so that the CPAP automatically switches to battery when the mains power fails.

bearded_two wrote:The CO2 vent in nasal masks and nasal pillow masks is enough to keep you breathing without air pressure. Without pressure, many people would open their mouth and breath normally -- or take the mask off. It is much better to have a backup battery that is connected so that the CPAP automatically switches to battery when the mains power fails.

Yes, had the backup battery project on my list of things to do. And of course, know exactly know where to go for comprehensive instructions. Btw is your masterpiece ready for the wiki yet?

dtsm wrote:... Yes, had the backup battery project on my list of things to do. And of course, know exactly know where to go for comprehensive instructions. Btw is your masterpiece ready for the wiki yet? ...

I assume (perhaps incorrectly) you were asking me? Unfortunately work and my own health adventures have kept me from finishing that. At the moment, it is under heavy construction:

wiki/index.php/Battery_Backup_Setup_for_xPAP

The info in the post ...

viewtopic/t49115/Battery_Backup_Design.html

... is pretty good, much more complete and I'm always happy to answer any specific questions. Besides, that will help me refine the final wiki article.

There are a couple of solutions to this, using pure sine waveform UPS is your best best for your existing CPAP/APAP for short term backup power that will turn on automatically. Make sure it is rated with enough power for at least a couple of hours.

Devilbiss has solved this by allowing you to plug both AC and DC power sources into the CPAP at the same time and it will switch automatically for you. So if you have a battery back up (trolling motor batteries work great) and a DC plug for your CPAP you can get a poor mans UPS with a lot of reserve power. Some of the CPAPs are smart enough to turn off the humifier heat (passive only) when running on DC to save your battery.

The Resmed machine might do this for you also since they have two power ports(one for AC and one for DC) although I havent tried this yet on a Resmed.

Most people will wake up (unpleasantly) when the power goes off. I have a plug in CO detector that beeps when the power goes off, this isnt a bad idea if you dont want to wake up with no airflow.

I use an IntelliPAP and have plugged a li-ion Battery Geek CPAP Battery into the 12VDC input jack. The IntelliPAP normally operates from the mains AC, and it automatically switches to the battery when the power fails. I also have a large AGM battery, but it has to be manually connected.

You can get continuous operation when the power goes out with machines that do not have a mains power jack by plugging the battery into the 12VDC jack and connecting the charger to the battery. In this case you replace the Respironics power brick with a battery and charger. Mains AC power keeps the battery charged and the machine operates from the battery at all times. When the mains power fails, the battery continues powering the CPAP, it is just not kept charged. The battery is charged when the mains power comes back on.