Camping and Sleep Apnea

kaptain_zero

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Dec 17, 2020
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Lost in Oblivia
The system that HDM uses would not work with my N20 mask as the moist air is exhausted right at the mask unless modified with the special gel canister hose.

Airfit N20 standard.pngAirfit with Gel attachment.png
 

Cantab

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Mar 15, 2020
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Christchurch NZ
Im thinking i will end up with the Bix 12v to 24v converter for the PS-45, i'll contact Chad at Antigravity and make sure the battery plug end is compatible with the 45 output.

I dont reckon that turning off the humidity is going to cut it but i will try.
 

kaptain_zero

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I got a full second night with the humidifier set to 2 and it shows 25% charge left. As the calculations on my end seem to hold up, I'm going to guess you got a full night without the humidifier.

In any case, that means if I can run without a humidifier (if I can get a hold of that gel device for my mask and make it fit, AND it works well enough) I should be able to get 4 to 5 days between charges. That would be great as I have a couple of trips planned where I plan to stay in the same spot for 1 to 2 weeks.
 

Cantab

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Christchurch NZ
That's great you got another night using humidity, I may well look into those passive gel type humidifiers.
I got 8hrs last night without humid or heated tube, EPR set at 2 AND I still had 75% battery left :)
Wife complained that 'your machine ' made strange noises last night and could hear the motor winding up and down, so back to full normal settings on mains.
Anyway it's a great win for me and weekend camping, a minor known side effect was a lightly dry mouth.
 

kaptain_zero

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Lost in Oblivia
I will be dropping a line to my online dealer about those gel humidifiers. I'm hoping I'm wrong about the proprietary connector... it's just so hard to see in that tiny photo. I should point out that it only works with two different Resmed masks, the N20 and P10. I already use the regular N20, so I should be able to just swap out the hose part.

Weird noises? I suspect the dry air might affect your breathing slightly and the machine had to work harder. You are lucky you only get a "lightly dry mouth", my sinuses scream at me in the morning from the pain of dryness! The up and down motor noises relate to the pressure relief when you are breathing out. I started CPAP therapy back when there was no such thing. That was brutal!

So before you order a voltage converter that is a complete unknown (it seems odd to me, if it really were so much more efficient, they'd be bragging about the numbers in the sales brochure), lets look into the gel humidifier thingy. At least we have confirmed you could get by without the humidifier and get a full nights sleep with power to spare as it is. Not having to spend extra money is ALWAYS good!
 

kaptain_zero

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Lost in Oblivia
As I feared, Resmed has made the gel canister to fit a proprietary hose that interfaces with their travel CPAP only. So...... I'll settle for a reduced amount of humidity for now.

I recall Respironics made a passover humidifier that was a universal fit, but it's no longer available. Another solution I considered was a Fisher & Paykel humidifier water chamber for a stand alone unit. I have read of someone using just the chamber with 2 or 3 of those hotpocket hand warmers underneath and having it wrapped up in something to retain the warmth. Fisher & Paykel are not common as far as I can tell in Canada, so I've been unable to find one to try. I've also considered trying to make my own passover humidifier from a tupperware container, but I'm lazy and what I have should work fine. I'm just tossing these ideas out in case someone else wants to give it a go.

Knowing what I know now, I might have gone with the smaller 300w Jackery. Still enough power for one full night+, but smaller. I'll see when I get my bike how things are going to work out. Right now, I'm trying to minimise the size of everything else I need to take camping and hopefully there will be room for the Jackery and my CPAP machine. If only spring would get here soon.....<sigh>
 

gunslinger_006

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Seattle, Washington
I used the PS45 last night with my Airsense S10 Elite with Humidity at 4 just to see how long the batt would last - 6hrs it turned out, I just plugged it straight in on AC.
Mine is a CPAP , pressure starts at 5 then ramps to 13.

Its charging up now so will try again tomorrow night, next i will try Humidity at 1 and try again then without Humidity but with water in the chamber.
You can get like 2-3x more hours if you go pure DC with the resmed 12v power supply


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

kaptain_zero

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Lost in Oblivia
@Cantab Orders are rolling in, and I have great many things on the go. I have procured 4 electronic up-converters to boost 12v to 24v. I believe I've found the correct connector that will fit the power input on the cpap machine, but the machine maker seems to have gone out of their way to make the stock plug not fit. I'll have to carefully modify the shoulder on the plug so it can seat fully. It will be interesting to see if it makes any difference. The 12v output on the jackery is regulated which eats some power by itself. The up-converter is listed as low consumption and only using about 8%, but that's what the manufacturer says.... Only a real test will tell the truth.

I'll get one made up for me and if it does what it claims, I'll make a second one for Cantab. Unfortunately, I was so unsure of the plug I ordered, I only got 2. Thankfully Mouser doesn't mind sending small orders, but shipping is a bear considering it's a flat rate up to a given weight.
 
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kaptain_zero

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It will depend on your mask and where the exhaust is. If the moist exhaust from you breathing escapes the mask/tube before reaching the inline humidifier, it won't work. That's why Resmed uses a different hose on the 3 masks it works on. The hose eliminates the original exhaust and moves it to the other side of the cartridge. Unfortunately, they decided to use a different/proprietary hose connection so we can't use it with our normal cpap machines, only the portable unit uses that hose and thus if you want to use that cartridge, you HAVE to buy the travel machine.... which as I understand it is also less quiet than the S10.

In my travels on the net I discovered the MAXOAK CPAP Battery backup bank. It has both 12v and 24v outputs, 300Wh capacity and is much smaller than my Jackery. Had I known, I might have purchased it instead, but it does not have an inverter built in, so it's limited to DC devices. Amazon in Canada is offering it for Cdn $359 which is downright cheap, but it is not listed for air travel, so keep that in mind if that is needed.
 

kaptain_zero

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Dec 17, 2020
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Lost in Oblivia
If you go to my post # 101, you can see the mask I use with the air outlet directly at the mask and next to it is the same mask with the humidifier canister. Note that the canister has the outlet on the bottom and the one at the mask has been closed off.
 

Midnightventure

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Feb 20, 2016
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Location
Eldon, Mo close to the Lake of the Ozarks
I have one of the HDM Minis. Runs on 12 volts. I have my old battery from my Tenere wired into an Anderson Powerpole connection in the left saddle bag. Camp overnight and pack up. Start the bike and plug the connection together. The battery charges while I am riding. I really think it would go for 2 nights but I haven't tested it. Of course I also never sleep past 4:30 AM.
 
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