CPAP user

[autorouter]

First, I don't know much about CPAP machines. But googling CPAP suppliers shows that the Dreamstation2 is a very different shape, and those on the supplier websites are black. I presume they named their product a Dreamstation. Then when they came out with a different version, they called it a Dreamstation2. And any new original Dreamstations were called Dreamstation1. But the 'Dreamstation1' items already sold would still be labelled just 'Dreamstation'. Like yours, I guess.

A shielded cable has a big ferrite bead at one or both ends, to stop high-frequency interference that might otherwise pass along the cable, to cause problems with the CPAP machine or the vehicle electronics. You can see the two black bulges in the cable near each end in Red Sonja's link.

 

[rb62]

There have been a lot of problems with Philips machines

Philips Respironics Sleep and Respiratory Care devices | Philips

Patient safety is our top priority, and we are committed to supporting our patients, durable medical equipment providers (DMEs), distributors, home health partners, and clinicians through the complete remediation process. Throughout the remediation of this recall we will provide guidance and...

www.philips.co.uk

 

[ChrisL]

I was diagnosed in 2003, I had a Resmed S6 autoset which would last one weekend on one 100 ah lead acid battery through an inverter without solar or hookup, I now have an S10 autoset with an S9 as backup, both of those run on12v adapters. When on hookup I use a humidifier and when not on hookup I use them without, I currently have 250 watts of solar and 300ahs of lead carbon batteries, in the summer if it's mostly sunny I can stay off grid almost indefinitely if i'm modest in my electricity consumption eg. Watch tv on my tablet rather then on the tv, only use led spotlights rather then fluorescent tubes etc.

 

[Marlin2022]

Thanks everyone. I have just had my CPAP machine replaced by the Sleep Unit, as my other one was recalled for safety reasons. In fact, everyone in the hospital trust had theirs replaced.
My old machine came with a 12v lead, but that also had to be returned, and it wasn't compatible with this new one.
They are not supplying 12v cables because of cost, and when I asked what cable I should get, the nurse said she wasn't sure.
Hence my question !
You have also possible answered another question. ...how many nights does your machine last on 12v?
We have solar panels and a 3000w inverter. I am presuming as I'm running it from 12v, as long as the weather is nice, it will give us a few nights off grid before having to use a hook up to charge batteries?
Sorry for appearing thick, but I wanted to get good advice myself, without always having to rely on my husband to do and find out things for me.
Thanks again
Linda

 

[Marlin2022]

Sorry. Forgot to say, I do not need a humidifier.

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[ChrisL]

Thanks everyone. I have just had my CPAP machine replaced by the Sleep Unit, as my other one was recalled for safety reasons. In fact, everyone in the hospital trust had theirs replaced.
My old machine came with a 12v lead, but that also had to be returned, and it wasn't compatible with this new one.
They are not supplying 12v cables because of cost, and when I asked what cable I should get, the nurse said she wasn't sure.
Hence my question !
You have also possible answered another question. ...how many nights does your machine last on 12v?
We have solar panels and a 3000w inverter. I am presuming as I'm running it from 12v, as long as the weather is nice, it will give us a few nights off grid before having to use a hook up to charge batteries?
Sorry for appearing thick, but I wanted to get good advice myself, without always having to rely on my husband to do and find out things for me.
Thanks again
Linda

I spent two weeks off grid last June without any driving just the solar panels keeping the batteries topped up.

 

[Marlin2022]

Wow. That's good Chris. I presume that was somewhere hot ?
I just worry that the machine would stop whilst I'm sleeping and I would be stuck somewhere without being able to charge batteries up again.
But I presume that what the solar panels are for.
But what about somewhere where the weather is miserable, like here lol.
I guess I would have to make sure we were mo in around a little bit more

 

[ChrisL]

I presume that was somewhere hot ?

Walton on Thames it was quite hot though.
You can get a simple Bluetooth battery monitor which will record what your battery voltages are doing whilst you are asleep if you notice the voltages are dropping lower each night then you need to find somewhere to either get on hookup or drive somewhere, if you're touring and travelling a reasonable distance a every couple of days you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[Marlin2022]

That's a really good idea. Would make me sleep easier ( !) knowing what was left in the batteries.
I will google that now.
Thanks again.

 

[Secret Sid]

I use a CPAP machine. I am coming up to 70 and have lost my C1 entitlement to drive my Bailey autograph which is over 3500kg. Just done the medical but waiting to see if they will reinstate C1 . Really worried about it as it means I will have to downgrade which will cause a problem as my partner is disabled and needs to carry a mobility scooter. Also just got all the warranty snags sorted including replacement of the offside wall due to delamination. The noise on my CPAP it is very quiet and would not cause noise for others.

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[ChrisL]

I use a CPAP machine. I am coming up to 70 and have lost my C1 entitlement to drive my Bailey autograph which is over 3500kg. Just done the medical but waiting to see if they will reinstate C1 . Really worried about it as it means I will have to downgrade which will cause a problem as my partner is disabled and needs to carry a mobility scooter. Also just got all the warranty snags sorted including replacement of the offside wall due to delamination. The noise on my CPAP it is very quiet and would not cause noise for others.

If your machine has an sd card you may be able to print a report which you should send with your medical, as long as the report shows you are using your machine every night and the number of events per hour are low you should be okay.

 

[Pausim]

I have been using a CPAP machine for over 20 years. The official requirement is
“You must tell DVLA if you have:
confirmed moderate or severe obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS), with excessive sleepiness”
This applies to your B licence as well as your C1 licence.

I use software called Oscar to monitor my CPAP performance and make sure I have the report available when I go for the D4 medical. Make sure you set the data card to read only before copying the data from it.

 

[ChrisL]

Resmed's latest machines have a built in connection to their server, the machines must connect via a cell service as it does not seem to require connecting via wifi, you can use an app called myAir to access your data and print reports, you create a myAir account using the serial number of your device and the software does the rest, you will need wifi of course for the app to work.

Below is my sleep report which I can send to the DVLA when required.

 

[scotzsue]

Wow. That's good Chris. I presume that was somewhere hot ?
I just worry that the machine would stop whilst I'm sleeping and I would be stuck somewhere without being able to charge batteries up again.
But I presume that what the solar panels are for.
But what about somewhere where the weather is miserable, like here lol.
I guess I would have to make sure we were mo in around a little bit more

We spent 5 nights off grid in Whitby, pouring rain, no sun, and fog so thick you couldn't see the fence behind the van, we had 2 leisure batteries and solar was I think 180 (2 vans ago) so an older less efficient set up. Did at that time use the TV, but not constant, was fine. It's surprising how well some set ups work in poor weather.
I blame (thank?) global warming and a thinning ozone layer.

ChrisL that technology is what our hospital now uses instead of FtF check ups, saves the parking and travel costs for us and am sure they can sort out more per hour. Physical appointments can be arranged for those who need them.
Oh and it is John who has the CPAP not me.

 

[Marlin2022]

There is a wealth of info here that the hospital doesn't tell us.
Maybe we could all get together and form a CPAP consultancy business

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[stevewagner]

I would think this would be fine. If in doubt check with the hospital. Dreamstation 1 has no humidifier. Dreamstation 2. Has.
View attachment 873485

You need a regulated 12 volt supply which I don’t believe that one is

 

[autorouter]

You have also possible answered another question. ...how many nights does your machine last on 12v?
We have solar panels and a 3000w inverter. I am presuming as I'm running it from 12v, as long as the weather is nice, it will give us a few nights off grid before having to use a hook up to charge batteries?

To work out how many nights it will last, you need to know how much charge it uses in a night, how big your leisure batteries are, and how much charge is being put in by the solar panels.

The machine should have usage figures in one form or another. Often it tells you how many hours it will last on the internal battery. It should also tell you the size of the internal battery, in watt-hours (Wh). If the battery is given in amp-hours (Ah) instead, then you also need to know the voltage (V) to work out the energy capacity in watt-hours. It's likely to be about 100Wh.

Your leisure battery capacity should be available, probably in amp-hours (Ah) on the battery label. Typically a leisure battery is about 100Ah, and since it's a 12 volt battery the energy capacity in watt-hours is amp-hours x volts. So a typical 100Ah battery has a capacity of 100 x 12 = 1200Wh. However only about 50% of that is usable, so best to think of it as having a usable energy capacity of 600Wh.

So a single leisure battery (600Wh) has a much larger capacity than a machine (100Wh) If the machine lasts one full night on its internal battery then the leisure battery can charge it up six times before it gets too low.

Then there's the solar panels. A 100W panel can give you 30Ah to 40Ah over a whole day in average weather, and more if you are lucky. In watt-hour terms that's 30 x 12 = 360Wh to 40 x 12 = 480Wh. So you can see that even a 100W solar panel will give you enough to recharge the 100Wh machine on most days. Of course if you have more than 100W of solar, you will get more energy.

 

[Puddleduck]

Does anyone else use a CPAP machine? How do you get on with it in the moho? Is it noisy, does it vibrate do you have enough power to last the night?

Martin has a CPAP machine and it lives in a drawer beside his side of the bed. At night the drawer is left open. I put a rubber mat under it so no vibration and it's not that noisy anyway. I actually wake up if it stops working.

It doesn't take much power as he doesn't use a humidity attachment. A single 135 aH leisure battery easily lasts us 3 days off grid in rain and parked up for all our needs (I don't use a hairdryer so the battery powers lights, and fan for the heater, water pump and CPAP) but we often carry another battery with us dedicated to the CPAP machine "just in case".

Get the 12v adapter from the manufacturer of the machine - we had an extra 12v power outlet put my the bed for the machine and there was no VAT to pay, exempt due to disability and the outlet is marked "CPAP only".

 

[A-Mech]

Thought I would ask you about CPAP machine that was working fantastically and it improved sleep situation dramatically.
No alterations to environment, humidity control and the pipe fills with water?
I have called help line and no return call yet after two weeks.
I have adjusted the duration times and humidity amounts with no success, so has to stop using until I get it sorted.
Anyone had the same problem?

 

[ChrisL]

Thought I would ask you about CPAP machine that was working fantastically and it improved sleep situation dramatically.
No alterations to environment, humidity control and the pipe fills with water?
I have called help line and no return call yet after two weeks.
I have adjusted the duration times and humidity amounts with no success, so has to stop using until I get it sorted.
Anyone had the same problem?

That could happen for a couple of reasons, condensation in the pipe from your bedroom air temperature being colder then the humid air in the pipe, overfilling the water tank might be another reason. Resmed make a heated tube called a climate line for newer models, I also set my pipe up so it goes up from the machine to a stand before running down to the mask, this ensures any condensation runs back to the tank and I can turn from side to side without getting tangled up with the pipe.
If anyone has a Resmed machine and wants to know how much current it draws they have charts on their website, if you have trouble finding them let me know the model of your machine and I will try and find out for you.

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[Pausim]

I use a Resmed machine with a heated tube but an insulated cover for the tube should help if your machine is not compatible. What CPAP are you using A-Mech

Pardon our interruption...

 

[nickw22000]

Thanks everyone. I have just had my CPAP machine replaced by the Sleep Unit, as my other one was recalled for safety reasons. In fact, everyone in the hospital trust had theirs replaced.
My old machine came with a 12v lead, but that also had to be returned, and it wasn't compatible with this new one.
They are not supplying 12v cables because of cost, and when I asked what cable I should get, the nurse said she wasn't sure.
Hence my question !
You have also possible answered another question. ...how many nights does your machine last on 12v?
We have solar panels and a 3000w inverter. I am presuming as I'm running it from 12v, as long as the weather is nice, it will give us a few nights off grid before having to use a hook up to charge batteries?
Sorry for appearing thick, but I wanted to get good advice myself, without always having to rely on my husband to do and find out things for me.
Thanks again
Linda

 

[nickw22000]

First, I don't know much about CPAP machines. But googling CPAP suppliers shows that the Dreamstation2 is a very different shape, and those on the supplier websites are black. I presume they named their product a Dreamstation. Then when they came out with a different version, they called it a Dreamstation2. And any new original Dreamstations were called Dreamstation1. But the 'Dreamstation1' items already sold would still be labelled just 'Dreamstation'. Like yours, I guess.

A shielded cable has a big ferrite bead at one or both ends, to stop high-frequency interference that might otherwise pass along the cable, to cause problems with the CPAP machine or the vehicle electronics. You can see the two black bulges in the cable near each end in Red Sonja's link.

Does anyone else use a CPAP machine? How do you get on with it in the moho? Is it noisy, does it vibrate do you have enough power to last the night?

Does anyone else use a CPAP machine? How do you get on with it in the moho? Is it noisy, does it vibrate do you have enough power to last the night?

Responding to DumfriesDik's original post, loads of answers here, apologies if I duplicate. I had a grey Philips Dreamstation and I had the add-on humidifier. I bought a 12v lead so that I can use it in the Moho, I was careful to buy the genuine Philips item to avoid any incorrect power supply issues. When my CPAP was recalled, it was replaced by the black Dreamstation 2 with its integral humidifier, the same 12v lead fits and is of the correct rating. I always use the 12v supply, but did experience a middle-of-the-night failure once, our leisure battery didn't have a stable enough output. Resolved that by upgrading our solar controller, no problems since. We're on hookup much more than not. It's not noisy, no different to using it at home, and no vibration.

 

[scottp]

I’m awaiting my CPAP machine, does this mean we’ll always have to be on EHU?

no, some people use an inverter

 

[Bfb1150gs]

I use a dreamstation 2... Luckily the dreamstation 1 12v lead fits and i bought a bluetti ac180 the other day because i wasn't sure if whatever motorhome i finally get would have enough power in the leisure batteries to last the night....ive been running it off the ac180 ever since it came and with the humidifier set to level one im only using 12% per night so i got over a week no problem... Best thing is it only takes 15 mins to recharge that 12%from the mains so with a 1400w pure sine wave inverter i can recharge in no time so i should be able to run indefinitely

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