OK boondockers, how does this work with solar. In my case I have 2 100 watt panels and usually 3 Sam's club 12v deep cycle batteries. Right now I have 1 12v deep cycle diehard and 2 6v deep cycle wired for 12v. ($30 for all three less than 3 months old is why before you ask)

Also any feedback on the best for source for th machine that I can get national service when I travel. I have Medicare and a supplemental that will likly cover most of the intial cost and maybe the deductable. I am in Dallas now but hope to leave for Memphis by next Friday.

All insight will be appreciated.

I have a good friend that travels with a CPAP equipment for his sleep apnea. His machine runs on 120 volt, so they rarely boondock for any extended period of time.

You did not mention an inverter. Is it safe to assume that your CPAP equipment runs on 12 volt? If not, you will need an inverter.

You will need to determine the amount of amps per hour that the equipment uses and the number of hours that you will use it per day. You can start there in determining the needed size of your batteries, etc.

Just to make things easier, have you considered the purchase of a small generator?

I have been using a CPAP machine for more than a decade and the last 2+ years in my TT.

Unless you need a humidifier, CPAP machines will use very little electricity.

I used a 140W inverter and a regular car battery for 4 nights, without having to charge the battery when I was tenting in the New Hampshire north woods during firefly 2005.

One of the best sources for CPAP equipment I found is

Cpap.com

You need a prescription when ordering one and you need the pressure setting which was determined during your sleep lab test.

I would not be concerned about service, I never had a problem with any of my CPAP machines.

If you ask your doctor, he can prescribe a CPAP for which a 12 volt adapter can be purchased. Respironics has such models. Then, of course, you would need a 12 v adapter next to your bed.

Small inverters also work well, but the 12 volt connection is probaly simpler in the long run.


We never had any particular problem boondocking, but I suppose it depends what type of set up you have for electricity, when no shore power is available.

With a CPAP, you will have to pay a little more attention to battery status, or you will awake in the middle of the night, without your machine running.

The only thing the CPAP has restricted us is on camping and canoeing activites, where no electricty is available. You can arrange to haul a battery with you onsuch camping trips, but that is pretty awkward.

When getting a macine, you may want to get one that can be used in Europe, where different voltages apply. (220 DC as I recaLL, but I am not sure. Perhaps some other CPAP-users have beento Europe recently and can advise.

The last time I ran my CPAP in Europe was on 1. Nov 2007 and the voltage was 220 VAC.

I do not know of any CPAP that does not run from 100 VAC to 240 VAC and it does not care if its 50 Hertz or 60, either.

Small, cheap 150 W inverter works best. No need to put a 12V outlet where needed, a 110 VAC extension cord will do nicely.

Not unusual that I did not mention that I knew an inverter would be necessary and I have 2 small (300w.& 350w) ones and a big Trace 1500w I can install. I just wasn't sure how much current they might require as I would have a hard time adding any more batteries. The thing you folks have brought up that I didn't know about was the humidifier deal. I may need that feature at least at times. Based on your answers so far the humidifier may be the bigger obstacle to boondocking. At the present I haven't heard back from the Dr., just the technician and the nurse but based on what the technician said about the results I am expecting him to want me to get one. In fact after the CPAP trial portion of the test I am anxious to get on with it. Even though I was restless with the wires and the CPAP that I wasn't accustomed to, I had a major improvement in energy level the next day.

bigjim,
If your doctor does prescribe the humidifier you could always run it as a cold passover one. That way you could still use an inverter and not have to worry about pulling higher amps at 120v.

Bill

I don't want to hijack this thread so if I am just say so and I will repost as a new topic. You folks that are using CPAP, what pressure are you set at. My sleep exam came back at 13psi. It was enough that I could not keep my mouth closed. I had to use a chin strap. Well one night I was having a problem with nasal conjestion and with the chin strap on I couldn't breath. I woke up as if I was drowning. It scared me to death almost. I have not used it since then. Been about 4 years now. I was using the cold humidifier and that didn't seem to do much good either. Any comments on my problem?
Ray

My husband is on CPAP (pressure at 19) and I'm on BiPAP (13 and 8). He doesn't use any humidity but I use cold passover and sometimes heated. My Respiratory Therapist has said that the cold humidification really doesn't provide much humidity. She'd rather I use the heated only. But, I can't use the heater when we're running off battery power only. It drains the battery very quickly. I too have used a chin strap to help keep the mouth closed. Don't like it..I'd rather just deal with dry mouth on occasion. And keep reminding myself to keep my mouth SHUT!

What is BiPap? I have never heard of it before.

BiPAP stands for Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure.
The extra pressure from C-PAP allows users to sleep by keeping the airways open. The problem with C-PAP is that the person has to exhale against the extra pressure. With BiPAP air delivered through the mask can be set at one pressure for inhaling and another for exhaling. This makes BiPAP much easier for users to adapt to and also allows neuromuscular disease sufferers to use the device. Because of the dual settings, BiPAP allows people to get more air in and out of the lungs without the natural muscular effort needed to do so.
I used C-PAP for 3 months and ended up with severe sinus problems and very poor sleep. After another sleep study to determine the settings for the BiPAP, I've been using it for almost 2 years. I do not have those problems any longer. Occasionally still have "issues" with the mask..but nothing else.

Ray,

My CPAP pressure is set to 13 also. Try the heated humidifier, it does help even with sinus congestion. Also try different masks, to me this is more important. A proper fitting mask makes sleep so much better.

Bill

My wife has a CPAP set to 11 and has trouble without using a heated humidifier, so she won't think of not having the heated humidifier. We use a small 400watt hard-wired inverter for overnight dry camping and it draws 25 to 40 amp-hours from the batteries depending on how long she sleeps and if it is warm enough the inverter fan runs. Works well.
If I get up first and start a large load on the big 2000 watt inverter the small inverter sometimes beeps due to the voltage going to 11.2 for a moment. In hot weather the small inverter also starts running its fan some and is noisy.

All the information is helpfull but Bill yours is real specific and usefull. Thanks to all.

quote:

Originally posted by bigjim:
All the information is help full but Bill yours is real specific and use full. Thanks to all.

I have been on CPAP for almost 25 years. At first I was still a Scout Master and canoed 50 miles down the Kalamath River in California. I found that the Resperonics CPAPs has a place to plug in a 12 volt cord. So I got a small solar panel and a small motor cycle battery. With this combination I could place the solar panel on the roof of my tent and have a charged battery for night. That battery would give me 2 and three quarter days of use with out a recharge. So it worked well for the days it rained.

Next I found that the battery in a Jumpit 12v, 18AH was much lighter and could be tipped over with out a problem. It gives 1 and a half nights of use. So I always make sure it is fully charged. It is a great option for when we have a power outage here at home.

I have found that when I get a cold or other congestion I use a Vicks vaporizer in the room. This clears me right up and I can sleep really well all night.

I also, found that I need to adjust the water temperature of the depending on the humidity out side.

One last insight. I tent camped one time up at Lake Huntington in the High Sierras, Calif. It snowed all night and when I got up I had (what I think) was frostbite in my noise. OUCH! That was the worse night I have ever had. I went and bought 12 feet of extra hose. Now when it is really cold out side, I add the extra hose and run it down under the covers in my bed and back up the other side to my head gear. This gives me PreHeated warm air. Kinda weird at first to have and ice cold tube in the bed, but it warms up and saves my sinuses.

BTW: CPAP pressure is always measured in Column Centimeters of water pressure. My pressure is 9 cm H2O. That is how much water will be pushed up compared to the opposite side of the meter in the “U” tube. A good read - http://www.cpap-supply.com/Articles.asp?ID=132 You will also find how to make your own Water Manometer so you can check your settings.

I hope this helps.

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