need recommendation on Battery pack for CPAP

Hello Everyone,

I am new to the forum but not new to CPAPs. I have a Remstar Pro CPAP w/ C-Flex and the heated humidifier (the humidifier keeps malufunctioning). Anyway, I have CSA with no blockages so using my CPAP is pretty important and has changed my life considerably. The problem is that my son is now in Boy Scouts and we camp once a month plus a week long campout for summer camp. I just can't deal with the fatigue that comes with no CPAP for the Friday and Saturday night outings. I am looking for a battery pack system to use with my unit. I've seen several makes and models out there that claim to be compatible with my unit however I have no information about them and would love to hear from someone here who has experience with a specific model.

I really only need it to run for 2 nights (without the humidifier) which shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for any information

Michael

Welcome to the forum.

Please fill in your equipment on your profile to help us help you.


Unfortunately, "Remstar Pro CPAP" could mean one of three machines. Does it say "Philips Respironics" anywhere? If so, it's a PR System One REMstar machine. If it says "M series," it's a Respironics M Series REMstar machine. If it says neither, it's a Respironics REMstar machine, usually called "Legacy REMstar" on this board.

This page may help: https://www.cpap.com/cpap-machines/cpap ... /1:1::::20:

Are you hiking, or could you stand to carry something the size and weight of a car battery with you? A more portable battery pack will cost a lot more money, but will be lighter.

The weight is not that big of a concern since it won't be used for backpacking hikes. However, if I had to I would just make due. I would prefer a unit that didn't weigh the same as a car battery since I still need to carry it with my gear to the camp site (which is usually within 100 to 200 yards of where we park).

I just need to make sure it will go 2 nights at a setting of 7. I wasn't sure if Respironics makes one specific to their machine or will most any unit work as long as you use the respironics DC cable.

If someone has one please comment. I plan on using it at least once a month.

Michael

I use a 18 amp agm battery and solar panels for camping. I have gone 9 nights on this set up and could of gone more. I would think a deep cycle large battery you could go several days. I would not mess with a battery backup system do to the cost. You should get a battery and and do a dry run and see how long you can go. I keep my battery by my bed in case of a power outage.

Albert

A car battery sized deep cycle lead acid marine battery can be had for under $100. It would run your machine and humidifier for a couple of days easily. These have a cost advantage due to the large quantity of them that are sold. They're like car batteries in that you can spill the acid if you turn them over.

You can get a smaller "gel cell" lead acid battery that will probably run for the required time period, but you'd need to do some experimentation. Gel cell batteries cost more per amp hour. Gel cells are better in almost every way except cost. There's no liquid to spill.

AGM (Adsorbed Glass Mat) deep cycle lead acid batteries are somewhere between normal deep cycle and gel cell batteries.

Lithium ion battery packs are much lighter and have some great charging characteristics except that they tend to die on you with little warning and sometimes for no apparent reason. You must use the manufacturer's charger or they may explode, catch fire, or simply quit working. Cost is a lot more than lead acid batteries.

There may be someone who makes appropriate Nickel Metal Hydride or Nickel Cadmium batteries. I'd put them between Lithium ion and Gel Cell batteries.

No doubt a deep cycle battery will last longer but if you need something more mobile read below. Then again if you are handy you could add a deep cycle battery to this jump starter to extend the time between charges. The key is the cable between any battery and your machine. Either make it from heavy guage wire or buy it pre-made.

GumbyCT wrote:On 2nd thought if you are technically challenged it would be easier to buy a car Jump Starter to power your cpap. Then you would just need to buy (or make) a cable to connect to your cpap model.

The larger the amp hours on the jump starter battery the longer it should be able to power the cpap.

I found a Sears model that has a replaceable battery.

Edit: viewtopic/p597062/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4 ... rs#p434501

Use the cpap on DC each nite and just remember to charge the starter each morning. Problem solved.

Good Luck

> There may be someone who makes appropriate _Nickel Metal Hydride_ or Nickel Cadmium batteries.

Toyota. :)

Say that you're car camping and that you own a Prius.
Is it possible to tap into that?


Today's newspaper had an article that said that due to the earthquake Toyota is way behind schedule on the new lithium ion battery for the new/next model Prius.

Look for an AGM type motorcycle battery! Much smaller than a car battery, a 22AH battery will run my Resmed for three nights with no problemo!

Philips Respironics make their own battery. It's expensive in Australia but probably cheaper in the US. I looked at others but I wanted something I knew would work without me needing to know anything technical. I have it charged just in case the power goes out but I havn't had to use it yet (it's more for peace of mind for me as I now dread going even one night without CPAP - how quickly your perspective can change!) .
PR assured me it would last for a few nights even with a humidifier. It's not too heavy.

xyz wrote: Say that you're car camping and that you own a Prius.
Is it possible to tap into that?

The Prius battery is something like 400V, so you would probably get some sort of exciting results. I presume the Prius has some sort of mechanism to provide 12V accessory power to the passenger compartment, but I don't know how it works, and if it has much battery capacity.

stripboat99 wrote:Look for an AGM type motorcycle battery! Much smaller than a car battery, a 22AH battery will run my Resmed for three nights with no problemo!

Be sure it's a deep cycle battery. Even an AGM "starting" battery will only last a few cycles if you deep cycle it and it's not designed for deep cycling.

It's actually not good to deep cycle a "deep cycle" lead acid battery. It's just that you do less damage to the deep cycle battery each time than you do to a starting battery.

I have the Respironics battery too and have had it for several years. I have used it maybe a half dozen times.

The information with it tells me that will last about 27 hours at my 90% pressure of 12 cm. I have not had to test that but have used it for a full night. It would last longer than that at a pressure of 7. Go to cpap.com and see how long it will last for your pressure. They have a fill-in chart there.

I, too, keep it charged up in case of a power failure. It weighs about 14 lbs.

I am not very knowledgeable about batteries and the discussions on them here on the forum just confuse me. All I know is that this one works!

stripboat99 wrote:Look for an AGM type motorcycle battery! Much smaller than a car battery, a 22AH battery will run my Resmed for three nights with no problemo!

If I am not mistaken that Sears Jump starter I mentioned comes with 22AH battery installed.

Wow,

Thanks for all of the information. I'm kind of torn right now. I like the idea of going with the Respironics brand so that I don't have any issues with messing up my machine (I'm no battery expert). I'm not too crazy about the 12 lb battery however I'm not planning on using it for hiking so that much weight shouldn't be an issue. I like the weight and sound of the Lithium Ion battery packs that I've been reading about and at 2lbs they sound like a good deal. I found one that claims to be for the Respironics units that was actually cheaper than the Respironics Lead Acid battery but was unsure about it's duration. I mainly just need it to go 2 nights for 14 hours of runtime before quitting. The question that I really don't know is how long will the Lead Acid battery last compared to the Lithium Ion since I will be using it once a month and can the batteries be bought and replaced separately through a battery shop as opposed to buying a whole new setup. We have a company by me that specializes in making battery packs and I wonder if they could put something together that would work that would be more economical to maintain such as replacing batteries going forward.

thanks again,

This is good information.

383bigblock wrote: We have a company by me that specializes in making battery packs and I wonder if they could put something together that would work that would be more economical to maintain such as replacing batteries going forward.

Do Let us know what their prices are like.