Community Forums

pipefitter · 12-13-2016, 07:49 AM

Has anyone had experience with dry camping with a C-PAP machine?

Skip426 · 12-13-2016, 07:55 AM

DW, uses C-pap with humidifier , on 12 volt , coach has 4- 6 volt golf cart batteries , and even using the furnace and tv on the inverter , we have no problem lasting 24 hrs between re-charging cycles on battery bank.

Duoglide1 · 12-13-2016, 08:05 AM

Wife uses an Air Sense 10. I didn't want to run the 2000w inverter all night so either needed a small inverter or change to 12v. Hers operates on 24v with a converter so I have ordered a 12 to 24v converter brick from cpap.com and tapped into the closet light 12v. for a cigarette lighter style plug. Those are pricey-like $91.00 w/shipping & tax. If I had a do over I think I would go with a 300w inverter and tap the same wires. Also she seldom uses the humidifier even on park power so that saves a lot of amp hrs. Good luck.

2012 NuWay HitchHiker 363RSBDA, 2016 Ford F-350 Dually 6.7

ransil · 12-13-2016, 09:02 AM

Google PAP battery, I saw a few listed from Philips and Freedom, they were lithium ion battery packs, they were not cheap.

When I get to a computer I'll post links

n-e-d · 12-13-2016, 05:26 PM

I have Devilbiss with 12v adapter . I have used a 12v jumpstarter battery pack to power it dry camping

purrin along · 12-13-2016, 07:21 PM

Mine is 12 volt, and plugs into the cigarette lighter. I also have one that is 110 volt that I use a inverter with, and a small deep cycle battery. Hope this helps.

Ron_H · 12-14-2016, 08:49 AM

I have used a CPAP for 17 years and many of our nights have been spend dry camping in our past 2 1/2 years of fulltiming in our motorhome.

The two major issues in using a CPAP while dry camping are the type of power your CPAP uses and if you will be using a humidifier.

Humidifiers take far more power than the CPAP itself and they can drain batteries quickly. I don't use my humidifier unless I'm connected to shore power but going sans humidity does not bother me or dry my sinuses out.

Since you asked about 12v it appears you are way ahead of the game in that area as it's far easier to deal with than 120v. With 120v, running an inverter simply wastes a lot of electrical juice. I installed a 12v electrical outlet in our bedroom and plug my CPAP into that, with its humidifier turned off. During a full nights sleep my batteries (4x6v) will go down 0.1 volts or less when all other electrical draws are turned off.

okcnewbie · 12-20-2016, 01:23 PM

It seems it would be "most" helpful if some of the CPAP user could give the wattage. The watts would just make this a math problem. Everyone's battery bank is different.

Duoglide1 · 12-20-2016, 03:57 PM

I believe the Air Sense 10 is 3.75 amps X 24 volts so ~90 watts (less if humidifier is not used). We did get the converter brick for 12x24 conversion. My wife uses it on the 12V plug most of the time but she seldom uses humidifier.

2012 NuWay HitchHiker 363RSBDA, 2016 Ford F-350 Dually 6.7

n-e-d · 12-21-2016, 07:28 AM

My Devilbiss Intellipap Auto-Adjust draws10.4-15 vdc at 5amps without humidifier

Ron_H · 12-21-2016, 01:24 PM

Most of the online CPAP vendors list all the specs for each model.

okcnewbie · 12-21-2016, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron_H

Most of the online CPAP vendors list all the specs for each model.

If the Amp draw/wattage is anything like TV's than sometimes the listed wattage is max and not the real world value. If we could get someone with an AC model to plug it into a Kill-a-watt meter overnight than all the guess work would be taken out of it.

RV Vagabond · 01-24-2017, 10:45 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDxcnV8QQ_U

baphenatem · 02-04-2017, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pipefitter

Has anyone had experience with dry camping with a C-PAP machine?

I've found that my Philips Respironics CPAP machine, set to 7cm H20 pressure and with the humidifier running on the 3 of 5 setting, draws about 1 amp on a continuous basis. The startup current is about 4 amps until the water in the humidifier tank gets up to temperature. After about five minutes the current drops back to about one amp. Apparently, they don't run the heater continuously, but only long enough to maintain the temperature once it has been reached. I've checked the watt-hour draw overnight and it typically comes up to about 110WH using the AC power supply. This corresponds pretty closely with a 1 Amp load on a 12 Volt circuit for 9 hours.

Powering the unit directly from 12V DC should be slightly more efficient as the losses from the switching power supply would be eliminated. I found a 12V adapter cord for mine that had the cigar plug on one end and the correct connector on the other end, but had to reverse the polarity to make it work.

In any case a typical house battery (bank) has no problem accommodating a CPAP machine as the load is rather small.