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Power Outages
Bit of a scare this morning - power went out in my house about 5 in the morning. Nothing like waking up without air! Friends suggest I get an Uninterruptible Power Supply - seem to be several available online, not too expensive. Probably a good idea; I'll order one later this week.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tim on
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Lightning damage is always a possibility with AC powered equipment. Even if the CPAP machine is zapped, there isn't really a risk of injury to the user because the plastic hose isolates the user from the machine. If a humidifier is used, water in the hose could decrease the isolation capability of the hose.
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Permalink Reply by Banyon on
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Tim said:.... the plastic hose isolates the user from the machine. If a humidifier is used, water in the hose could decrease the isolation capability of the hose.
Under normal operating conditions and with a clean hose, water in the hose has been evaporated and condensed and does not contain any impurities. Water which has no impurities will not conduct electricity.
Most indoor lightning injuries happened when using an ungrounded land phone - use your cell phone instead. Here is some more advice on avoiding indoor lightning injuries: http://www.ehow.com/how_2209917_prevent-indoor-lightning-injuries.html
To prevent lightning injuries while using your CPAP, don't sit in the bath talking on a land line and fiddling with the TV buttons.
Interestingly (for us), Pliny taught that a sleeping person was safe from lightning.
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Permalink Reply by Yorkieman on
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I live i PA and we just had a very bad wind storm and the power went off around 9:30 pm. This is when I go to bed to get up for work around 5:30 am. I tried and tried to go to sleep with out the CPAP but couldn't. Around 1:30am the power came back on and I went right to sleep the problem was 5:30am came to soon. I will be getting something to run my CPAP when theres no power if I have to sleep in my car!!
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Permalink Reply by simanc on
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I'm interested in the research also. In fact this is on my list of next purchases. So far I've priced them for my machine at aound $300 (like Ann said). Very much worth the investment. Last fall we were without power for several days due to high winds and after the 3rd day I was ready to go to a hotel b/c the fatuige was starting to set in. Luckily, on the very night we were packing up to leave, the power came back on.
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Permalink Reply by Andy on
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HI all,
I've been thinking about this as I go through my day...
If the CPAP has a DC input, it makes no sense to use an inverter or UPS. There is a lot of power loss in an inverter and UPS. What you've be doing it taking 12 volts, bumping it up to 120 volts, sending it to the CPAP, and the CPAP will internally convert back down to 12 volts. Lots of converting makes for lots of power loss!
In theory, any 12-volt source should work. Except that this is medical equipment, so everything has to be doubly insulated and protected. [Cynic alert!] And the companies that make/sell these things know that these items are needed, so they price them ridiculously high.
The battery used should be a deep-discharge type, meaning that it's designed to be run until flat. Auto batteries are made for short, high-current use and not long, low-current use.
I'd prefer to use gell batteries instead of marine batteries for a few reasons. The first is that marine batteries under charge will emit a small quantity of explosive gas. Small, yet dangerous if it is concentrated. The second is that marine batteries contain acid, which would be very dangerous if spilled. The last is that a short of the cabling will heat up and burn quickly, causing sparks and possibly igniting that explosive gas.
All in all, not something I want next to my bed!
The gell batteries are sealed, so acid spills won't hapen, and gas isn't a problem. Far safer, as far as I'm concerned.
In order to power a CPAP for any length of time, I'm assuming a few gel batteries would need to be connected in parallel.
ResMed has a battery pack option, if I recall, that's some $300 or so. Way too much for a box with a battery!
If I were to go camping, I'd hit up my doctor for a script for a battery pack, then present it to the insurance company for payment. And see how that goes...
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Oh, and the typical UPS does beep every 15-30 seconds or so (as much as I had apnea events before CPAP!!) so really wouldn't be conducive to a good night's sleep.
I checked again, and the battery packs for ResMed are Lithium ion batteries, not gell, so better for charge/recharge cycles and do cost about $300.
The "dc converter" cable is about $70-80.
There's a very detailed paper on this subject here: http://www.myresmed.com/Shared/StaticFiles/-non-product-specific/ba...
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Andy I'm thinking generator hooked in to my breacker box. I know its gonna be pricey but we'll have heat also.
Andy said:Oh, and the typical UPS does beep every 15-30 seconds or so (as much as I had apnea events before CPAP!!) so really wouldn't be conducive to a good night's sleep.
I checked again, and the battery packs for ResMed are Lithium ion batteries, not gell, so better for charge/recharge cycles and do cost about $300.
The "dc converter" cable is about $70-80.
There's a very detailed paper on this subject here: http://www.myresmed.com/Shared/StaticFiles/-non-product-specific/ba...
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"Water which has no impurities will not conduct electricity." -- yes, I know. Water inside a CPAP hose contains impurities in the form of dissolved gases, and carbon dioxide dissolved in water makes it slightly conductive. I don't know whether that matters or not, that is why I used the word "could".
Andy; There are AGM marine batteries that have their acid contained in a fiberglass mat, and like gelled electrolyte batteries, they are also non-spillable. Gelled electrolyte batteries contain acid, it is just in a gel form. Any battery used to power a CPAP should have a small fuse to prevent fire in the event of a short circuit. I use a 5 AMP fuse with my AGM deep sell battery. My li-ion battery has an internal current limiter.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Katzung on
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A couple more comments in response to new posts...
On most (not all) units, the (more efficient) 12 VDC input only powers the blower, not the humidifier. For some people (me!), pass-over humidification just isn't enough, so that can be a factor in DC versus AC backup power.
A number of UPC units have an alarm cancel switch. On APC units, when present, it's usually on a two-way rocker switch with "test". Thus, you can be alerted to the power switch over but not have to listen to it beeping for the rest of the night.
A generator is a wonderful option, but generally not an inexpensive solution. And if you're going to connect one to your breaker box, make sure your breaker box is off the mains at the time. A) You don't want to shock utility workers (especially when they're trying to restore your power :-) ), and B) trying to power your entire neighborhood is going to overload your generator.
For permanent installations, an automatic generator and automatic transfer switch can be set up to automatically kick in (simultaneously disconnecting from the mains) within a minute or so of losing power and transfer back when utility power is restored.
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Permalink Reply by M'Lady Wench on
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I have looked at this before as I have a ResMed S8 Elite II with an H4i humidifier. There is no documentation on what to use with my humidifier. I have only found the H2i or H3i listed. My partner was given a flyer from our supplier regarding batteries. I will have to find it again so I can post the link.
Andy said:Oh, and the typical UPS does beep every 15-30 seconds or so (as much as I had apnea events before CPAP!!) so really wouldn't be conducive to a good night's sleep.
I checked again, and the battery packs for ResMed are Lithium ion batteries, not gell, so better for charge/recharge cycles and do cost about $300.
The "dc converter" cable is about $70-80.
There's a very detailed paper on this subject here: http://www.myresmed.com/Shared/StaticFiles/-non-product-specific/ba...
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Permalink Reply by coolmotoman on
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I live in Houston, TX where we huricanes and lomg power outages, I realized during Ike I was in trouble. I went out and bought two portable generators, one for the house and one to help run my cpap at night + other stuff.
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Permalink Reply by 99 on
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you got no knickers on in your photo thats enough to send anyones temperature up
M'Lady Wench said:I have looked at this before as I have a ResMed S8 Elite II with an H4i humidifier. There is no documentation on what to use with my humidifier. I have only found the H2i or H3i listed. My partner was given a flyer from our supplier regarding batteries. I will have to find it again so I can post the link.
Andy said:Oh, and the typical UPS does beep every 15-30 seconds or so (as much as I had apnea events before CPAP!!) so really wouldn't be conducive to a good night's sleep.
I checked again, and the battery packs for ResMed are Lithium ion batteries, not gell, so better for charge/recharge cycles and do cost about $300.
The "dc converter" cable is about $70-80.
There's a very detailed paper on this subject here: http://www.myresmed.com/Shared/StaticFiles/-non-product-specific/ba...
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