Anyone with a CPAP machine go camping?

[WantoN]

The mrs wants to go to a lovely site, that doesn’t have any EHU points. It’ll only be for a night or two.

I’ve got a Philips resperonics with a full face mask, the power supply is rated for 80w @ 12v I believe.

Anyone know / use a reliable solution for providing power for a couple of nights?

Philips do a power pack, but it’s £300 minimum and hard to find!

 

[WantoN]

Will you die without it?

Yes > Dont go camping

No > MTFU

Useful and knowledgeable post mate, thanks for your contribution.

So I’ve done some research and called a couple of companies.

Tracer do suitable lithium polymer batteries that are small in size. I’ve linked cheapest sites below to help others out. The 8Ah battery is permitted on planes so great for overnight flights too.

1 to 2 night battery 8Ah - £116.66
https://www.tracerpower.com/12v-4ah...MIiZfKxP7I2gIVA58bCh1fmw9SEAQYASABEgJDi_D_BwE

2 to 3 night 14ah - £210
https://www.tracerpower.com/12v-14ah-lithium-polymer-battery-pack.html


3 to 5 night 22ah £269.99
https://www.eu-pap.co.uk/tracer-12v-ultra-cpap-battery-pack.html


Cable for Philips DreamStation (cable#3?) £34.99
https://www.eu-pap.co.uk/respironics-12v-dc-cables.html


Fast chargers £39.99
https://www.eu-pap.co.uk/tracer-cpap-battery-chargers.html

Not the cheapest, but this seems like the best setup. You can charge the battery in the car or at home, the quick charger reduces mains charging by a few hours.

The battery connects to a 12v lighter adapter, which connects to the Philips cable, which connects to the cpap machines 12v input. No inverter or original cable required. You can also connect anything like phone chargers via the lighter adapter.

There are a lot of adapter cables available, so I’d you have a different machine they probably do an appropriate cable.

 

[WantoN]

Had no idea what those devices were called. I'm actually just watching Sopranos and someone has been issued one of those. Never knew how serious it was!

Continuous positive air pressure.

Yep it can be incredibly serious, especially if you have other illnesses. Had a very positive impact on my life when I was diagnosed! Even one night without it leaves me utterly exhausted and unable to enjoy the day.

Delighted I’ve found a solution.

My initial guess was spot on about you just being a pillock!

Unfortunately I’m noticing this far more on these forums. I try my best to ignore it, but I am not a perfect person

 

[WantoN]

I'm guessing you have sleep apnea op

Could I bother you with couple questions since you are here? are you older / overweight / snore? what were signs / symptoms.

Reason is i'm debating seeing GP for same thing, I get terrible sleep.

Yes mate I do. I’m 33, I’m not overweight (though this can definitely contribute), I snore heavily.

I get sleep paralysis and night terrors. My sleep paralysis was horrendous, 10 times in a row sometimes. I have chronic fatigue but I was absolutely shattered, I woke up feeling like I hadn’t slept at all, groggy and confused in the mornings, always nearly falling asleep at the wheel. I woke up gasping for breath and often stopped breathing for long periods (I wasn’t aware of this, mrs noticed).

Go to your doctors if you’re concerned, they fitted me with a night monitor and diagnosed it pretty quick. Modern machines are small, attractive and even connect to your phone reporting on the quality of your sleep. I wear a full face mask, I don’t notice it anymore.

If you have it and you get a cpap, the difference to your life will be incredible.

Interested in this too as this is one of the reasons I've stopped going to festivals I can get an official battery pack (Resmed S9) but it's something daft like £700!

Have you seen my links, you could have a 1 to 2 night setup for less than £150. You’d need to call up eu-pap and have them recommend the right adapter.

 

[WantoN]

That sounds both horrendous to live with and utterly terrifying to experience. Glad you've found something to make it easier on yourself!

Will you always be reliant on that device or is it something that goes away? Sorry for the invasive questions I just find it interesting.

It is mate, especially with my sleep paralysis as I feel like I’m suffocating to death. Machine has pretty much fixed everything.

Not bothered at all by the questions. For some people it resolves over time, especially if you’re overweight and lose it. Most people use them for life I believe, I likely will due to other illnesses.

I’m not really bothered, it’s just another gadget I have to pack and bring with me. The only issue is if you’re going a long time without acces to power, like long haul flights or camping.

 

[WantoN]

By the way it’s actually awesome to read of others experiences and know I’m not alone on here.

Thanks for sharing fellas!

 

[WantoN]

I have one too. Philips respironics dreamstation with humidifier. Mixed emotions about mine. I call it my life support machine. It does help me immensely and I am definitely better off for using it but feel limited in what I can do now. I have got a 12v lead and have run it off a leisure battery in my van while camping but the leisure battery is a bit big for weekends away on the bike!

My post details lithium polymer batteries which are small and powerful. The 22Ah one does 3 to 5 nights on one charge

1 to 2 night battery 8Ah - £116.66
https://www.tracerpower.com/12v-4ah...MIiZfKxP7I2gIVA58bCh1fmw9SEAQYASABEgJDi_D_BwE

2 to 3 night 14ah - £210
https://www.tracerpower.com/12v-14ah-lithium-polymer-battery-pack.html


3 to 5 night 22ah £269.99
https://www.eu-pap.co.uk/tracer-12v-ultra-cpap-battery-pack.html


Cable for Philips DreamStation (cable#3?) £34.99
https://www.eu-pap.co.uk/respironics-12v-dc-cables.html


Fast chargers £39.99
https://www.eu-pap.co.uk/tracer-cpap-battery-chargers.html

I don’t use the humidifier, does it help you?

 

[WantoN]

The humidifier did help with the dry mouth issues I had when I first started using the machine. I would still struggle to find room for the cpap itself too.

Ah ok, luckily enough I don’t don’t a dry mouth! Something at least!

There’s some pretty cool travel cpaps. I’ve managed to find a compact one that has a travel humidifier too.

https://www.eu-pap.co.uk/cpap-sleep...MI6JKKjafL2gIVDzobCh3PcAAcEAAYAyAAEgKsXvD_BwE

Don’t know if it’s any good to you but hopefully worth a look.

I’m a bit of a glamper at this point so I don’t mind the full size dreamstation, but if I were biking I’d consider that one and the 1 to 2 day battery for a very lightweight and portable setup.

 

[WantoN]

Mine was bad enough they took the HGV licence off me. Thankfully I sortta knew it was coming and planed ahead

Bit gutting for you mate, sorry to hear that.

Happy how it turned out?

 

[WantoN]

Cheers lad. Probably for the best tbh

That feeling of being totally unable to stay awake when driving is sketchy.

 

[WantoN]

I’ll be buying the 22aH setup in May.

I’ll also be buying an inverter to see if I can inflate and deflate our mattress with built in pump and get at least 2 nights out of th me battery.

I’ll also be buying a couple of their proprietary bullet connectors so I can attach various devices.

Will update for those interested.

 

[WantoN]

If using a "leisure"/car battery a solar trickle charger might help eek some extra run time out of it. Not sure how effective it would be in Britain though...

Something struck me though, what is the fail over state of these masks? Does it make it extra hard to breath when the power goes?

Good question.

In my experience no, not at all. The masks are fully ventilated and you can breathe pretty much normally while wearing them. Some people only use nose masks, or nose inserts, which I imagine would similarly be fine. Only issue of it failing is you would start suffering from apnoea immediately.

I do have a 21w solar panel on order, I think it outputs 5v so you I assume would need to invert it for it to power the machine, or charge the battery. Unless some chargers accept a 5v input?

 

[WantoN]

There's panels specifically for lead acid/12v batteries (probably 24v too)

That’s interesting to know.

Any you know of suitable for camping?

 

[WantoN]

I’ll be updating this thread soon. The super fancy tent I backed is finally arriving this month, a year later than promised.

As long as it doesn’t turn out to be two sticks and a bit of tarp, I’ll be getting a battery for my CPAP as our favourite site doesn’t have hookup.

 

[WantoN]

is the tent built for CPAP users?

What, like four inches of sound proofing, and an automatic poker that jabs me when the masks slips and I start snoring like a mating boar?

 

[WantoN]

I have sleep onset apnea on a semi-regular basis... in the instant you wake up you become aware that you have stopped breathing, but you start again the instant you wake up. It's just become normal. Disconcerting for the briefest of moments and then you drift off again.

No idea what happens in my sleep after that tho. My cat never tells me if I've stopped breathing.

Had no idea what these CPAP machines were, only ever seen them on that advert for some mask cleaning bath or something.

I get that, didn’t realise it was a medically defined thing. Apnea also triggers my sleep paralysis, which is the bloody terrifying and lasts for minutes.

It made a huge difference for me. It also completely cured my (bonkers loud) snoring. I do get fed up with the mask sometimes, but I wouldn’t be without it. If I have to sleep a night without it I really notice the difference (as does the neighbourhood).

 

[WantoN]

I'll get an appointment sorted today, cheers mate!

I'm only 27 and relatively fit, but might be an underlying issue as to why i'm always exhausted and maybe some mental health stuff too!

Mine started a few years ago. I’m in pretty good shape. Weight, age or fitness don’t necessarily have anything to do with it.

They’ll ask you questions, give you a score then you’ll have an appointment at the clinic. You’ll take a machine home and it will monitor your breathing and osats.

Then you’ll probably get a Philips or something similar. Great little machine, very quiet.

 

[WantoN]

Although the question was asked a while ago and may not be needed by the OP anymore, I came across these recently. I don't know how long it would last but I thought I would post it here in case it's of use.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NOVOO-Port...power+bank+ac&qid=1559892970&s=gateway&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jackery-Po...c&qid=1559892937&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

Still in the market mate. My tent is arriving about a year late and our favourite spot doesn’t have hookup!

Those may fit the bill very well mate. The option I’m looking at costs £200 to £500 so even two of these could be very handy.

Thanks man.

 

[WantoN]

I wonder how they powered these during the war?

Weird comment. There’s plenty of illnesses, diseases and disorders that went undiagnosed, and untreated, in our past. That’s why we live longer these days.

 

[WantoN]

So my tent finally arrived, after a year of waiting. It looks awesome and I’m excited to try it out. With all the fancy bits, and how easy it is to put up and down given its size, im quite impressed, but it’s early days

We’re doing a test run locally with electrical hookup, but I’m going to get one of the battery banks off Amazon with a dedicated plug socket that @Hades suggested, I’ll check the wattage of my Philips unit and give myself some headroom.

Hopefully it works, as the dedicated ones are very expensive, especially the 3 to 5 night variants.

I’ll report back on its efficacy and link it when I’ve finished testing.

EDIT : Hmmmmm, I’ve just looked at those power banks. It states 2-5 hours for a CPAP machine for one with an apparent 40,000mah rating, early double that of the 2 to 5 day version from Eu-Pap at half the capacity. Perhaps it has something to do with stepping up and converting the voltage, then the stepping it down and back to DC on the CPAP adapter.

May end up with an Eu-pap battery after all.