camping with CPAP (no electric hookup)

[Chad_Jen]

We would like to go to some places this summer with our travel trailer that don't have electric hookups but my son needs his CPAP for sleeping during the night. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on how to manage this. It seems (unless I'm missing something) that we can't run the CPAP when we don't have a power pedestal. I figured others had CPAPs they used and might have a solution to this. We have a TT that has one 12V battery on the front of it, if that helps any. Thanks for any help!!

[ppine]

I used to camp with a guy that used a CPAP. He just ran it off a motorcycle battery for up to a week.

[Sam_Spade]

rdhetrick wrote:
You'll need one of two things:
1. a dc adapter for the CPAP so it will run off of 12v dc.
.

IF it is capable of that.
If not, a different CPAP machine is the best choice.
I just got a flier last week advertising several "portable" models that should have lower battery drain or their own built-in battery.

Talk to your CPAP supplier about alternatives and then clear it with the doctor.

NOT using the humidifier cuts the power drain WAY down.

Regardless of what you do, you will need a way to recharge each day (generator).

[ktmrfs]

I've got 10 years experience camping with a CPAP. A lot of "fear" that IMHO is unjustified. My observations

1) unless the CPAP is REALLY ancient it actually runs off either 12VDC or 24VDC ALL the time. the wall wart takes 120 and converts it to DC
2) CPAP is more efficient running of 12VDC (even 24V units have a 12-24VDC converter)
3) there are multiple sources including the OEM to get a 12V adapter for the unit... Get one
4) for longest battery life turn off the humidifier, turn it to airplane mode if it has wifi. If you want you can put warm water in the humdifier tank at night and you will get some humidification from the airflow. Personally I just don't use the humidifier function when on battery power.

If you do this, you will likely draw 1-2A DC. or 8-16AH each night. Even a 75AH battery this will get several nights out of even a single 12V battery. More than likely the other things on 12V will use this much or more current each day. Fridge on propane, a few lights will equal or exceed the daily AH of the CPAP.

so, with one 12V battery, even without a CPAP you can run the battery down to 50%SOC in a few days, especially if you don't have LED lights and aren't careful. I suspect many times when the battery is dead in the morning the CPAP gets the blame, when it's really daily draw and CPAP together and the battery would be dead by the next night anyway. Or that the CPAP is on humidify and using a inverter to get to 120V then to the CPAP wall wart, not very efficient.

Using humidifier current draw can rise to 6-8A, enough to run down a single 12V in one night. current draw is highly dependent on temperature, so if it's a cold night....... current draw will be highest.

good camping. And to the OP, if your going to dry camp for more than a few days I assume you have a good generator and I'd suggest having two 12V batteries or a pair of 6V and likely need to swap out the common WFCO charger with a PD or similar drop in unit if you want to charge the battery quickly with a generator. The WFCO is known to often only give about 15A of charging current rather than the claimed 45A or so. Makes for a very long charging time.

[beemerphile1]

The most common CPAPs are either 24vdc or 12vdc. Either type has a power cord from the manufacturer that allows connection directly to 12vdc.

Not only does our CPAP operate on the RV batteries but the automated SoClean machine does also.

[Double_Haul]

I run mine off a single 12v deep cycle sealed agm battery when I'm camping without my trailer. I'm using the same cigarette lighter connection with battery clamps shown. I bought the tip that connects to the machine through radio shack (If you can find one). Saved money over the manufacturer setup. I've gone 3 nights easy without running the battery down. Use this setup when the power is off at home also.

[Vintage465]

Mickeyfan0805 wrote:
A lot of the previous posts give you good ideas of how to adapt power, but I think the more pressing question is your power source. If you are dry camping in a rig that has a single battery, you do not have much power to work with. While others on here can probably be more helpful with the specific math, my guess is that if this is more than a single overnight you will either need additional battery(ies) or a way to recharge during the day.

This would be correct. Some kind of sustainability is gonna be needed if this is to be the norm

[Mickeyfan0805]

A lot of the previous posts give you good ideas of how to adapt power, but I think the more pressing question is your power source. If you are dry camping in a rig that has a single battery, you do not have much power to work with. While others on here can probably be more helpful with the specific math, my guess is that if this is more than a single overnight you will either need additional battery(ies) or a way to recharge during the day.

[Vintage465]

The pic above is the 24v inverter for my wife's unit. It came with quite a bit more goodies on the cord than mine did and it has a straight u p battery adapter.

The unit above is for my 12v Dream Station. Just a cord that plugs in.

My wife pretty much insists on the humidifier on hers. Drops me to 12.4 volts on 2 each 6v batteries in series. If I run the humidifer on mine, even set pretty low it drops me to 12.2v. Thats a little risky on my batteries so I jumped up to 4 each 6v batteries with the series and paralleled works much better.

[2oldman]

Post in Tech issues

[Vintage465]

Both my wife and I use CPAP machines in our rig and we normally have no hook ups. Many, if not most CPAPs run off 12v and have a transformer built into the cord to reduce the voltage from 120/240 down to what ever voltage the specific CPAP takes. Mine is 12v, so I ordered an adapter cord that goes from a standard 12v outlet(cigarette lighter) to the plug in on the CPAP. The adapter cord came from the CPAP manufacturer and it completely replaced my cord. My brides is a 24v unit and we got a 12v to 24v inverter from the manufacturer of her unit and both work perfectly. Easy as that. I did have to run 12v wire and outlets to each side of the bed so I can plug them in. I suppose if you wanted to you could put in an inverter direct from the batteries and plug your units into that. If you plan on using 110v appliances in your rig when your not hooked up to shore power that may be the best way to go. We don't use any 110v appliances at all when we camp so I have no inverter to plug my CPAPs into. I'm somewhat the minority on this subject as many like to have Mr. Coffee and microwaves etc.

[ford_truck_guy]

I use the Transcend CPAP with the optional battery when dry camping.. It will last all night

[Happytraveler]

My son's father in-law with his CPAP camped with us for a few nights. We had no choice we ran our little Honda 2000 generator all night. It wasn't bad because it doesn't use up a lot of gas and it's quiet. .

[Pangaea_Ron]

My CPAP runs off a 12vDC transformer from 120vAC. If you have adequate battery capacity (which you probably don't) you can run it off your house battery with a 12vDC adapter. Before I installed (4) 6vDC batteries, I would not use the humidifier function on the CPAP to save amps. You can also get a stand alone 12vDC (car) battery to power the unit, or the CPAP manufacturer probably has expensive 12vDC options.

[wanderingaimles]

Check the model of your son's CPAP. Many are actually run by 12 volt DC. Those models generally ave a "brick" in the household power cord which converts 120VAC to whatever DC voltage.
Many of the manufacturers offer 12 volt power cords for their machines.
If yours does not have that option the use of a small inverter 500-1000 watts will allow the unit to be powered by a battery via the inverter.
Suggest you get a pure sine wave unit to protect the CPAP.
For DW and I, we can run both of our units overnight on a single group 27 marine/rv battery. And we can then recharge that from any capable source the next day, from solar, to portable genny, to jumper cables for an hour to a running car or truck.

[rdhetrick]

You'll need one of two things:
1. a dc adapter for the CPAP so it will run off of 12v dc.
2. an inverter to convert the 12v to 120v.

If he uses the humimdifier, 1 battery will just get him through one night.

It's been discussed here many times before, try the search funciton....