Overlanding/camping with a CPAP machine

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Eddie Linn

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I haven't been out since I've been diagnosed with sleep apnea & have been using a CPAP. Who all uses one & what do you use to power it? Thanks.
 
I would envision a quality inverter and good high capacity battery or a dual battery setup is all you need. Sorta like running a fridge no? If I don't stop snoring my wife is going to make me get one so I'll find out soon I reckon. lol
 
I took a friend out for three nights on the White Rim Road in Canyonlands. He had a CPAP and a rechargeable battery pack to power it. He recharged from the vehicle’s 12 v power socket. He also had an inverter. We were also equipped with a Battle Born battery (which ran our Dometic Freezer / fridge) recharged with a 175 W solar panel. This would be overkill to many but I like making ice in the desert. The point is we had backup Because the Battle Born also powers a couple of power sockets.
 
JCWages said:
I would envision a quality inverter and good high capacity battery or a dual battery setup is all you need. Sorta like running a fridge no? If I don't stop snoring my wife is going to make me get one so I'll find out soon I reckon. lol
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JCWages, it was one of the best things I done was to get one. My O2 levels was dropping to 72- 76% at night while I slept. If I don't use it I feel like crap the next day. I really don't like to go without it.
 
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MVO said:
I took a friend out for three nights on the White Rim Road in Canyonlands. He had a CPAP and a rechargeable battery pack to power it. He recharged from the vehicle’s 12 v power socket. He also had an inverter. We were also equipped with a Battle Born battery (which ran our Dometic Freezer / fridge) recharged with a 175 W solar panel. This would be overkill to many but I like making ice in the desert. The point is we had backup Because the Battle Born also powers a couple of power sockets.
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Thanks. I've been looking at a good battery & pure sine wave inverter set up. I was just wanting other input from others what they are using.
 
I just starting a biPAP machine, and have been reluctant in trying to get out there because of it. But I guess I should be ok too if I take all necessary precautions. Thanks for starting this.
 
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I did 5 nights without having to recharge my battery on mine. I had a old Optima yellow top. I used a 12v adapter for my cpap machine, along with a 12v alligator clip adapter, and it worked great. Just don't use the humidifier. That is what sucks up all the power.
 
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Eddie Linn said:
Thanks. I've been looking at a good battery & pure sine wave inverter set up. I was just wanting other input from others what they are using.
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Make sure to check and see if your CPAP required pure sine wave. My original one did, but my new one does not. They even have a 12v adapter for it, which is a lot more efficient than using a inverter.
 
hidesertwheelin said:
I did 5 nights without having to recharge my battery on mine. I had a old Optima yellow top. I used a 12v adapter for my cpap machine, along with a 12v alligator clip adapter, and it worked great. Just don't use the humidifier. That is what sucks up all the power.
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If the draw is less than 30a without the humidifier then a cheap option would include an $8 trailer harness to cigarette lighter adapter and a $40 pure sine wave inverter. I use this setup to run a hand blender and charge our ebikes while camping.

 
I have been camping with a CPAP for a while now. It started when I was motorcycle camping. I had a Goldwing at the time and I mounted an extra motorcycle battery in one of the bags and wired it up to charge as I rode. It easily got me through the night.
Check your CPAP, mine runs on 12V. It uses an AC/DC adapter to use it in the house, but I found an adapter for it on Amazon that is just a straight 12V DC plug to Aux plug.
I now have a dual battery set up in my Suburban and do the same thing. It works fine.
My wife also uses a CPAP, but a different brand. Hers runs on 19V. For us to use hers I have used an inverter. It does not need to be pure sine wave as it is converting AC to DC. AC/DC converters don't care, they are going to make DC voltage.
So, check you machine, if it runs off 12V DC you only need the right plug adapter and it will run straight off the battery. If it is higher voltage, you will need an inverter, any cheap inverter will work as long as the output Watts are high enough.
 
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oldmopars said:
I have been camping with a CPAP for a while now. It started when I was motorcycle camping. I had a Goldwing at the time and I mounted an extra motorcycle battery in one of the bags and wired it up to charge as I rode. It easily got me through the night.
Check your CPAP, mine runs on 12V. It uses an AC/DC adapter to use it in the house, but I found an adapter for it on Amazon that is just a straight 12V DC plug to Aux plug.
I now have a dual battery set up in my Suburban and do the same thing. It works fine.
My wife also uses a CPAP, but a different brand. Hers runs on 19V. For us to use hers I have used an inverter. It does not need to be pure sine wave as it is converting AC to DC. AC/DC converters don't care, they are going to make DC voltage.
So, check you machine, if it runs off 12V DC you only need the right plug adapter and it will run straight off the battery. If it is higher voltage, you will need an inverter, any cheap inverter will work as long as the output Watts are high enough.
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I'll have to check it out thanks.
 
bmwguru said:
My wife uses a Phillips Respironic Dream station (think thats what its called) It runs on 12v dc. I got an adapter for it and we ran it off of a 105ah AGM battery for 4 nights and she said it was all good.
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I have the same one and as you said, works just fine. However when I ran my wives, and mine with both humidifiers going and hers running off the inverter, we got 1.75 nights out of a deep cycle battery. The inverter kicked off at about 5am. We were also running a night light (LED) for my wife and charging at least 2 cell phones and a iPad.
I did this to see how long the battery would go if we maxed out the load on it. Now I know the worst case and can adjust from there. I think if you just ran the Dream Station with no humidifier and nothing else, 5+ days is possible with no recharge of the battery.
 
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My travel cPAP is a ResMed Airmini, and I have a compatible 24V Mediastrom 100 Wh battery. As a backup I can also use the pure-sine wave inverter on my camping battery (GoalZero 400 Lithium, mostly for the fridge), although of course it's less efficient (2 extra conversions). My 100Wh CPAP battery is good for about a night and a half at my settings, and gets recharged the next day (either from the GoalZero/solar setup or a cigarette adapter if driving). The next time I do a power upgrade I'd probably build up a home-brew higher capacity LiFePO4 system which would have various advantages, but my current setup is working well.

The Mediastrom battery has the advantage that you can carry it on a plane, e.g. I have used my CPAP on trains in India and a camper van in Iceland.
 
oldmopars said:
I have the same one and as you said, works just fine. However when I ran my wives, and mine with both humidifiers going and hers running off the inverter, we got 1.75 nights out of a deep cycle battery. The inverter kicked off at about 5am. We were also running a night light (LED) for my wife and charging at least 2 cell phones and a iPad.
I did this to see how long the battery would go if we maxed out the load on it. Now I know the worst case and can adjust from there. I think if you just ran the Dream Station with no humidifier and nothing else, 5+ days is possible with no recharge of the battery.
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Thats what I did. 5 nights out of the battery on a philips respironics, though I did not use the humidifier.
 
I just got back from a two night trip with my cpap. Night time Temps were in the 20's,whicha ffects battery performance. I also use a resmed airsense 10.

I used this battery for my cpap:

And this power supply :

Along with these DC to 12v adapters:

TThis setup worked great. Two full nights in the cold, and I still had a bar left on the battery.

JJust remember to turn off the reservoir and heated tube, and it will work great. They have bigger battery packs, so choose what works best for you.
 
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