Contributor III
I haven't been camping since I've started using a c pap machine. Any suggestion on how to power it if not at a campsite with electric hookups.?
Sleeping with a c pap machine
- Thread starter jeepcourt
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I had a charter guest aboard my boat years ago with a cpap machine. Ran off inverter just fine, but my boat has a 2500W inverter and a 550AH battery bank.
Find out what it draws in watts and then do the math. It may be able to run on a relatively small inverter and battery.
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Find out what it draws in watts and then do the math. It may be able to run on a relatively small inverter and battery.
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There was a thread about cpaps a while ago with some good recommendations.
https://www.overlandbound.com/forums/threads/cpap-and-overland.8221/#post-125187
https://www.overlandbound.com/forums/threads/cpap-and-overland.8221/#post-125187
Pathfinder II
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Looks like for the standard c pap your typical consumption is 53w with peak at 104w.
I have a 1000w inverter installed in my truck which would be far more than you'd need to run a c pap. You could do with a 250 watt inverter (pure sine wave inverter is what I recommend).
I didn't do the calculation to determine what kind of battery or battery bank you'd need because I don't recall the formula off the top of my head, but I would have an additional battery to run the c pap from rather than your cranking battery
I have a 1000w inverter installed in my truck which would be far more than you'd need to run a c pap. You could do with a 250 watt inverter (pure sine wave inverter is what I recommend).
I didn't do the calculation to determine what kind of battery or battery bank you'd need because I don't recall the formula off the top of my head, but I would have an additional battery to run the c pap from rather than your cranking battery
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For my CPAP I bought the terminal to plug into the machine. Made an adaptor to plug it in the cigarette lighter/power socket of a jumper pack I picked up at Walmart. Before this I had it setup with large clamps. I would bring an extra battery and clamp it to the battery terminals. You have to look at the CPAP's power cord. Read the output voltage and amps. Build adaptor accordingly. If you want I can post a couple pictures tomorrow of what I have done.
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The pic above your post shows 5A at 12V. So at 60W, that falls in the range you posted. I assume its a continuous load (?). If so, assuming the user hits the rack at 9PM and is awake by 6AM (at least off the CPAP machine) then thats 9 hours of use at 5A. 9H x 5A = 45AH (Amp Hours) at 12V. Some loss will occur via the inverter. 15% loss is pretty common in smaller, usually less efficient, inverters so thats gives us 45AH x 1.15 = 51.75AH.
So, a fully charged 100AH battery should be about 50% discharged by 6AM...or still at about 12V. You dont want to go much lower than that because its bad for the battery. This should be a deep cycle battery so it can handle repeated deep discharges, not a starting battery. (Note: there are a number of different methods used to calculate a battery AH ratings. Which method is used may change the logic above).
If the machine uses a power supply ("wall wart") then those are often very inneficient and could add significantly to total AH's used.
A CPAP driven directly by 12V would be more efficient.
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Ha, just looked at the image again. It shows the device is DC, so scratch inverter loss if you CPAP can be directly 12V driven.
Also it specifies 12V. While an automotive system is "nominally 12V", voltages normally rise higher when battery is fully charged. Some eletronics are voltage sensitive. So, would be best to find out if you device can tolerate a few more volts (battery charging volts should normally be < 15V) or if it needs exactly 12V all the time.
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Contributor III
Im am in the process of making a portable Solar generator. Kind of like a Goal zero Yeti but DIY style. I wanted to have two nights of power but charge it every day. Its a small 20ah 12v battery so if i need to charge it while i drive i can do it. My cpap draws less than 2 amps when i dont use the humidifier so i should be golden. if not i will just add another battery. It all fits into a harbor freight tool box.
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http://www.thecpapshop.com/our-cpap-machines/travel-cpap-machines. This is one of many sites. Transcend is a big player with great quality. No need for AC conversion.
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Member III
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Most modern cpap's have a 12v input. I routinely run mine on the trail. I have never run the battery down. Just make sure you aren't running a humidifier as well.
I have a local surplus medical supply where I can pick up new/refurbished cpap's like mine for $70. I actually picked up a spare and simply mounted in my teardrop.
I have a local surplus medical supply where I can pick up new/refurbished cpap's like mine for $70. I actually picked up a spare and simply mounted in my teardrop.
Camping all these years people would talk about the Bear they heard through the night. About 2011 I got my resmed 9s with humidifier. Ran it with my Honda 2000 generator for years until I found the 12v plug. With just the truck battery I could go two night running my machine and not driving the truck. However the battery was weak on the second morning start up. If you are driving the truck each day; you should be fine. I just got the resmed 10s and ordered the 12v plug. Looking forward to testing it out.
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Just a standard battery? I was worried that I would drain the vehicle battery, so I bought a deep cycle and built something similar to this. While heavy, it's portable, so I can use it in a tent as well, and not be limited to sleeping in the truck.
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On behalf of everyone in the campsite of those of you bringing your cpaps, let me say, Thank you. My dad never took me camping but if I got stuck in a car, hotel room, pretty much anywhere he was sleeping, I would go insane. He was so loud that once, when another kid was spending the night at my house, he woke my brother up to tell him someone was running a motorcycle through our yard.
Two of my buddies are in sales together. One night they had to share a hotel room. My non-snoring buddy said he started the night concerned my other buddy was going to die because he would stop breathing. He said after a couple more hours he hoped he would die so he could get some sleep. Those machines are great, not only for the users but everyone around them. Do what you have to do but don't leave those things at home.
