Operating CPAP w/o electricity

[thaimann]

We attended the Nebraska Star Party for the second time. There are very
few camping spots with electricity, and we were unable to get electricity
this year. I have Sleep Apnea and require a CPAP.  A member of my
club recharged a Celestron Powertank 17 at his cabin for me. The Powertank
lasted most of the night, but usually had to be restarted at least once
during the night.

Since we enjoy star parties and would like to continue attending them, we
are wondering about using a generator or a solar power/battery combination
for powering the CPAP.

It is crucial that I have enough power to run my CPAP for 8 hours. It
would be nice if I also had enough power to run the water pump on the
camper; recharge laptops, PDAs, or cell phones; and recharge the Powertank
daily.

What would be my options?

Thx,   Terry

[AustinBoston]

It is crucial that I have enough power to run my CPAP for 8 hours.

This pretty much rules out solar, unless you only camp where they never have cloudy days.

Austin

[ForestCreature]

If you read thru the thread titled Why? in this section it touched a little on CPAP use. Garym053 uses one. Maybe change the title of this thread to include CPAP so those who use one can advise you.
 
 I can't say I agree that it would rule out solar, but given the amount of wattage needed it may be just as economical to get a small quiet honda generator for recharging the battery.

[dee106]

http://www.healthyresources.com/sleep/magazines/psnews/
 
 http://www.sleepnet.com/apnea14/messages/934.html
 
 http://www.healthyresources.com/sleep/magazines/psnews/power02.html
 
 http://www.campingworld.com/cforum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/15897713.cfm
 
 http://www.cpap.com/
 
 hope these help,
 
 'at your search engine put in  "camping with a cpap"

[garym053]

Hi Terry,
I am also a "Hosehead", have been diagnosed for 3 plus years but I don't let it keep me from Dry Camping!
Get a good Inverter, (check with CPAP Mfg to see if they recommend one type or brand, Resmed did not, said any Good Modified Sine Wave inverter would work), get a Deep Cycle Battery, Group 27 works well. Mine will run my CPAP for 4 plus days. When I go for a weeks camping, I take two. I also have a wire rigged to plug into the plug on my tow vehicle so that I can recharge while driving around sightseeing.
Also, TEST everyone's theories! It's your quality of liofe and possibly life that is at stake! I've had people tell me I could go for a week on one battery charge- NOT true. I've also had people tell me that I'd never be able to go for more than 2 days- also NOT true!!!
Get a multimeter and test the battery every morning to see how much you've used the previous night.
Email if you'd like to chat!
Gary

[mike4947]

Just an additon to gary's excellent advise: I'd make the battery a second one that's not hooked to the trailer electrical system. Strictly battery to inverter to CPAP. If you have any large draw items such as a furnace or use the trailer lighting a lot it can draw down the trailer battery rather quickly. Also check the RC of the battery. Of course the higher the number the more hours of CPAP time you'll get out of it. A group 24 will have the least, then group 27, and a group 31 will have the most.

I figure breathing is more important than having the lights on or heat.

[garym053]

Thanks Mike. I also advised taking a separate battery somewhere in the "Why" postings, but forgot to mention it in the post to Terry.

This past weekend we went to Maine dry camping and since I knew we wouldn't need the Furnace I decided to hook up the CPAP to the Battery on the camper rather than carrying two. It worked fine, I used it this way for two nights and the multimeter read 12.59 Volts. We don't use the lights very much so any draw was the CPAP and Inverter.