3.0 Amp CPAP machine running off a Marine battery

[Lothlorian]

I was wondering if any of you have camped with out a electrical hook up and ran your CPAP machine run off your airstream battery. If I can get on solid night of electricity out of my battery I would be happy. I would hook my inverter up to the CPAP and plug it into my cigeratte lighter that is over by my TV in my airstream.

I have a Respironics 100-120..... AC 1.0 A Max. / DC 3.0 A Max. I really do not know what all that means, but I do know I have a Walmart Marine Battery which seems to work pretty well and is charged. Once I get where I am going I will have electricity. It is that one night that I will not have electricity that I need my CPAP

What do you think? Would it run on the battery all night if I plugged it into an inverter?

Lothlorian

[snake]

You should probably be okay, 3A at 12 volts for 8 hours would represent about 25% of your battery's capacity.

It would be most efficient to run the CPAP directly on DC, rather then use the inverter, you might need to get an adapter cable to plug in the 12 volt cigarette lighter outlet. Check with your machine's supplier.

[loudruff]

I have the adapter for my CPAP that allows me to run off of the cigarette lighter outlet. I purchased an extension cord for it to allow for a longer run if I need to reach a different plug. I have used my CPAP for three nights without seeing any significant drop in the battery. It does not use that much juice. Happy camping and sleeping!!!

[QuietWater]

It depends on whether you have a humidifier on the cpap. The heater on the humidifier will take a lot of juice. Otherwise, you can go a week on a marine battery. I take mine to Scout Camp every summer with a WalMart marine battery. I manage to go all week without a problem. I would think one night or two on the Airstream battery would work just fine.

[musketeer]

I have a Respironics CPAP, you should be able to get a cord that will go from of the the Airstream "cigarette lighter" type 12 volt outlet directly into the CPAP. If you need one in a hurry, Radio Shack can put one together for you for under $20 and 10 minutes (I forgot mine once). If you don't have or don't use your humidifier you will be golden. I do this all of the time and the CPAP doesn't seem to draw much from the batteries.

[Gator113]

I have a VPAP III by ResMed. It's like a CPAP only it's smart.

I am glad that you folks covered this subject. I have been wondering what I was going to do. My situation gets a bit more problematic, as I also need to run my Oxygen Concentrator. I don't need the O2 assist much during the day, just when I sleep, or at high altitudes, mostly.

I'd like to get all of these issues figured out before I get my trailer, but the way it's going, that may be a good long time. <sigh>

I was thinking that two golf-cart batteries might work. I'm not sure where to put them, perhaps lightweight, yet strong, metal box just to the rear of the hitch. If all else fails, I do have a Honda 2000 generator.

[snake]

It is my understanding that oxygen concentrators use considerably more power then CPAP machines, it would probably be wise to check out the power requirements of your unit. Oxygen cylinders might be a more practical alternative.

There is a small device called a "Kill-a-Watt", (do a google search, about $25) that will monitor actual power consumption of electrical appliances.

Once you know what your power requirements it's easy to figure out what you will need to provide for your health and safety when traveling.

[wkerfoot]

Originally Posted by Gator113

I have a VPAP III by ResMed. It's like a CPAP only it's smart.

I am glad that you folks covered this subject. I have been wondering what I was going to do. My situation gets a bit more problematic, as I also need to run my Oxygen Concentrator. I don't need the O2 assist much during the day, just when I sleep, or at high altitudes, mostly.

I'd like to get all of these issues figured out before I get my trailer, but the way it's going, that may be a good long time. <sigh>

I was thinking that two golf-cart batteries might work. I'm not sure where to put them, perhaps lightweight, yet strong, metal box just to the rear of the hitch. If all else fails, I do have a Honda 2000 generator.

My suggestion is to add solar panels to recharge the batteries during the day when you don't have electric available at the campsite.

Bill

[LovelySLEEP]

I have a ResMed S8 Elite II. You may want to take a look at the GoBe power kit at wattme. It's been a nice option that I can use camping or with my RV. Rather than drain my car or worry about a site's battery hookup the battery gives me easily 8 hours at a pressure 6 setting. In addition I can recharge the battery with its solar briefcase. I've also found the USB, DC, and AC outputs nice for other devices that I typically like to charge like my laptop.

You may also want to look at the S8 Elite II. Very efficient. I converted to it a few months ago. Battery usage is minimal. The one I have is without the humidiaire feature. It is effecient enough that I can easily power it off of my 14.5 amp battery.

[snake]

We recently returned from a 4 week trip, mostly camping in National Parks without any hook-ups. This was our first long trip since my wife started using a CPAP machine, so I thought I'd report how things went.

This was the first long trip in our Sovereign 21', on which I have installed solar panels rated at a total of 180 watts. The panels put out close to the maximum of about 11A within a couple of hours of high noon. The CPAP is a Respironics M series DS100 with heated humidifier, I'm not certain how much current the unit draws, but it did burn out the 3A fuse that was installed in the power cord, but was okay with a 7A replacement. We were able to go for 7 nights in Yellowstone and the Tetons until a mostly cloudy day brought the batteries down to about the 50% level. This was the only time that we needed to run the generator on the entire trip, although we did use the generator a couple of times in the Moab, Utah area to run the AC.

We had planned to stay about one night a week in commercial RV parks to do laundry and drain/refill tanks.

It was nice to be able to continue camping as we have in the past.