09-27-2024, 12:48 PM
CPAP power post hurricane
To start, I am not an electrician, though one of my sons is an ME. I wanted to share what I experienced this morning with 3 dead CPAP machines post hurricane. Hopefully this may be of use to you…
As the hurricane passed through Atlanta yesterday and today, we did not use our CPAP machines fearing we would lose power and be rudely awoken. When I looked at them this morning, the power bricks had no lights. Basically dead. No power coming out of the connector to the CPAP machine at all. Three machines, all non-functional.
Being the realist I am and knowing nothing about electrical things, I called my ME son. He laughed at me (in a good way) and said unplug everything completely, take the bricks to an actual outlet not an extension like we use, and plug them in. I did so and all of the bricks lit up and are working fine now. No damage was suffered that I can find.
He started talking about how power supplies sometimes need to be reset after electrical storms (we had a lot of lightning but did not lose power, though it did flicker a few times). Simply unplugging it and letting it rest a while is enough to get it working. He went into details about how they work but I lost interest and did not really pay attention. I am sure some of you folks know and understand it.
I asked him why he had me take the power supplies to another outlet instead of just unplugging and replugging it as it was setup. He said he just wanted to see if I would do it and that the time between unplugging and replugging elsewhere would likely be enough. Karma is a cruel mistress.
As the hurricane passed through Atlanta yesterday and today, we did not use our CPAP machines fearing we would lose power and be rudely awoken. When I looked at them this morning, the power bricks had no lights. Basically dead. No power coming out of the connector to the CPAP machine at all. Three machines, all non-functional.
Being the realist I am and knowing nothing about electrical things, I called my ME son. He laughed at me (in a good way) and said unplug everything completely, take the bricks to an actual outlet not an extension like we use, and plug them in. I did so and all of the bricks lit up and are working fine now. No damage was suffered that I can find.
He started talking about how power supplies sometimes need to be reset after electrical storms (we had a lot of lightning but did not lose power, though it did flicker a few times). Simply unplugging it and letting it rest a while is enough to get it working. He went into details about how they work but I lost interest and did not really pay attention. I am sure some of you folks know and understand it.
I asked him why he had me take the power supplies to another outlet instead of just unplugging and replugging it as it was setup. He said he just wanted to see if I would do it and that the time between unplugging and replugging elsewhere would likely be enough. Karma is a cruel mistress.
