Humidifier for camping?

I've been using my Resmed S8 Elite II for a couple years, and I'm getting great results. Camping has been a little different story, though.
I camp in a small slide in truck camper, wired for 12V power. I use Resmed's (spendy) 12V adapter for powering the machine, using the #i Humidaire in the off position (so as not to wreck it by not having pre sine wave) as a passover humidifier. I'm using a 120 AH Interstate battery for power. I'm NOT going to use a sine wave converter unless it's my only option. I'll probably go without a humidifier first.
The passover doesn't work very well. I'm close to rigging up some sort of propane heat heated humidifier for better humidification than I'm getting now. Question is, does anyone know of an off the shelf item?
No need to lecture me about saftey; I'm well aware what I may be setting out to do, and whatever the end result, it'll be safe. I'm actually considering a small heat exchanger that works in cojunction with my furnace- no actual mods to the furnace, just an addition of a small coil and thermostat.

Anyone?

do you want something to put on a "hot plate" that will work? if so check out the HC 150 chambers -


I am not saying they will work but they are about $15 each and sit on a little hot plate in the humidifier set up - worth a gamble to buy one and see

Respironics makes a 12VDC humidifier. There are some Resmed nuts who claims that Resmed makes one too but try to find one.

I know the M series has one not sure about the new PR1.

Pick-up a used 12VDC M series for camping = problem solved. NEXT.

Have you tried to run a 120 watt inverter on the same battery that you are currently running your CPAP on?
most of the newer inverters available are oure enough to run most electronincs and 110 watts max consuption yhou should be able to operate ok.

or

you could consider modifiing you unit to run off 12vDC

I have a M series cpap and humidifier that I am taking camping this summer in the high desert, I just bought a 75 amp hour deep cycle battery that I am going to use for the trip. with my pressure and humidifier settings I calculate I will get at least two full nights of sleep with lots of reserve, just in case. I then plan to use it as a UPS system, as we tend to get a few thunderstorms here. We have already had one night time power outage here and since I started taping my mouth shut I am a little nervous about it happening again.

KC5cychris wrote:Have you tried to run a 120 watt inverter on the same battery that you are currently running your CPAP on?
most of the newer inverters available are oure enough to run most electronincs and 110 watts max consuption yhou should be able to operate ok.

or

you could consider modifiing you unit to run off 12vDC

I'm currently running my Resmed off 12V when I go camping. I doubt I'll buy a pure sine wave converter because of price, complexity, and the need for more and more battery power. I'm currently using an Interstate 100 AH RV battery, but I doubt it'll last long with the lighting , furnace, AND CPAP inverter loads.
I'm liking the M series idea, though. I found a couple for less than $300.00 last night and I just might take the plunge, once I figure out EXACTLY what I'm looking for.
Of course, a Resmed 12V humidifier would be my first choice...

Frank

Hi,
If you Google Duracell Powerpack 600 you will see what I use. I got it for about $119, no tax, free shipping. I'm sorry but I forgot where I got it. It weighs 32lbs. so it's no good for backpacking

I now have a ResMed Autoset II and I tried it out on the powerpack for two weeks without the humidifier. it has a button you push to see what % of the battery you have used and it only used a small amount. My new sleep doc said I should use the hum. even if I only set it on #1. I have been experimenting to see how high I can set it without getting rainout. I now have it on #3. If you want, I would be willing to see how many nights it will last with the hum. on.

I used it to jump my neighbor's pickup and was very happy with the amount of power it had as his truck took quite a while to start.

Below are 3 reviews I found.

Ed

#1 Duracell is a big name in batteries, and their jump-starters are no different. The PowerPack 600 is packed with features, with three front-facing AC outlets, one DC outlet, emergency flashlight, and 600 watts of power to keep appliances running for a while. The PowerPack 600 is also rather effective at starting a car with a dead battery thanks to... Read full review

#2 ...with this unit because it powers my wife's CPAP,which is the reason I bought it.First time we used it was camping for 2 nights & it ran the CPAP just fine without recharging.
Recently we had a large power outage,used it to run the CPAP again,.
Not only can you charge it from any 110VAC or 12VDC source the manual shows you how to hook up a portable solar panel to charge it.We live in the southwest,lots of sun here.
Yes it's heavy,but it carries easily & it helps keep your tent on the ground

#3 Having portable quiet AC is not only a great idea, but could save a life! Owning a cabin in the Canadian bush means not having the conveniences we do at home, like electricity. My wife needs a C-PAP machine at night to sleep but can occasionally do without, but for 3 nights that would mean she could not join me for the trip. The Duracell Powerpack 600, Model# 852-2007 can supply temporary AC that is limited, but enough to keep her safe when she needs it.
The unit tend to be somewhat heavy but it makes up for the weight in performance.

Just a heads up - there are prob 3 diff model of the M series heated humidifiers. Only one (I think) is 12VDC and can be identified by the coaxial DC connector (similar to the connector on the blower) or by finding the correct part number on the Respironics website.

The AC units have the power cord hard wired inside the humidifier case - the DC units do not.

Just beware there are others out there.

ps. I do not have a DC unit.

HTH

Edit: IF anyone does find a Resmed DC heated humidifier please come back to post some info here.

ResMed 120v heated humidifiers should not be operated from a Duracell Powerpack or any similar device as they have a modified sine wave inverter that can damage ResMed humidifiers. An HC-150 humidifier will run very nicely from a modified sine wave inverter such as a Duracell Powerpack.

bearded_two wrote:ResMed 120v heated humidifiers should not be operated from a Duracell Powerpack or any similar device as they have a modified sine wave inverter that can damage ResMed humidifiers. An HC-150 humidifier will run very nicely from a modified sine wave inverter such as a Duracell Powerpack.

Thanks for the excellent info. I guess I'm just lucky that i didn't use my S8 with the hum.

I checked out the ResMed site and saw that you were correct. If I'm reading the info correctly, it looks like the HumidAire 2i, 3i H4i and one other should not be run on any type of inverter.

The new S9 series with H5i hum. can be run on a 200 watt Modified Sine Wave inverter.

Ed

From ResMed's site-

Inverter type Products


Modified sine wave -
150 watt
• S6 • AutoSet CS™ 2/
VPAP™ Adapt SV
• AutoSet T
• C-Series Tango™ • S7 Series • S8™ series
• S8™ II series • VPAP™ III series • VPAP™ Auto
• VPAP™ Malibu • VPAP™ series • S9™ Series


Inverter type Products
Modified sine wave -
200 watt
• VPAP™ II LCD
series
• S9™ series with
H5i


Inverter type Products with humidifier (HumidAire 2i™, HumidAire 3i™, H4i™,
C-Series heated humidifier)
Note: These HumidAire™ products must not be used with inverters!


Pure sine wave -
300 watt continuous
Peak/Surge rating -
500 watt
• AutoSet CS™ 2/
VPAP™ Adapt SV
• C-Series Tango™ • S7 series
• S8™ series • S8™ II series • VPAP™ III series
• VPAP™ Auto • VPAP™ Malibu • VPAP™ series

Wow, What a pain. Guess I'll look into a used M series and use it for camping and backup. More than a couple nights might be a stretch, though. Between the CPAP, furnace, and the 12V fridge, it looks like I'll have to run a genset during the day to keep all the batteries charged. Shudder.
The propane powered humidifier idea is looking better and better.
Thanks to all for the helpful information.

Frank

Thanks for the info about the S9 series with H5i. I was wondering if ResMed would ever get an engineer who knew how to design a humidifier controller that could be used safely with modified sine wave AC. I always got a chuckle when I read about the humidifiers that shouldn't be used with any sort of inverter. Many places have commercial AC power that is far worse than the output of a pure sine wave inverter.