Camping with Aircurve 10

[Dopey696]

Hello fellow mask heads.

I have read the battery backup thread but still have some concerns about leaving the outlet behind. With the Resmed Aircurve 10ASV my pressure is typically anywhere from 7-22. I bought the 12-24v inverter and two 35ah deep cycle batteries. Do you know if that would be enough for 2 nights of camping? From what I've read it seems I would draw 1.66amps at 12v and would need about 20ah per night but I'm not sure if my calculations are correct because the machine itself states that it uses 3.25a at 24v for a total of 78w which would mean I don't have enough power I think. Has anyone gone camping with the Aircurve 10ASV what solution did you use? Hopefully someone can help me with this and tell me if I have enough power or not.

[jaswilliams]

I have been camping with my ASV S9 I was away for 6 nights used a 100 AH Battery with solar panel and charged my phone etc and I had power left over but I was not using Humidification. I would predict you will prob get 2 nights out of one 35ah Battery without Humidification but as you have two just use one each night sorted.


The DC adapter will be rated to run the humidifier so thats why it has higher power stats

[srlevine1]

First, are you sure you are not speaking of a "dc-dc converter" instead of a "dc-ac inverters" which is suboptimal as it converts a measurable portion of the battery's energy to useless heat?

Second, for a more definitive answer that is responsive to your machine and particular battery setup, why not simply use the battery setup while at home and measure the results with a voltmeter and ammeter? You can determine actual current draw and remaining voltage fairly easily in a controlled environment with little or no risk The worst that can happen is that you will need to revert to house power while you re-think your setup. This suggestion is infinitely better than guesswork and is individualized to your situation. 

Third, protect the battery terminals with terminal covers and watch that the cables do not become a trip-and-fall hazard. 

Best of luck.

[Dopey696]

Thank you Jaswilliams for telling me of your experience using the ASV S9 while camping. I know the humidifier uses a lot more power than the rest of the machine so I was planning on going with the humidifier turned off. What wattage solar charger do you use? I was looking into getting a solar charger once I have enough money, and am still debating what size to get. I am leaning towards two 50w solar panels so I can hinge them together for storage and travel. I will document and update my build here once I actually start putting it together.

As for why I don't take the "infinitely" better advice to try it at home and check the results with a voltmeter is because I don't have one, I also don't currently have a battery charger to recharge the batteries once I have discharged them so I don't have that luxury of pre-testing my setup, and yes I did mean the 12-24v DC battery to cigarette lighter adapter from resmed that allows my AC medical device to run on DC power. But I am pretty knowledgable about electricity and know people on here have more knowledge than myself and figured with the myriad of experience and knowledge that people on this forum already have that I could get advice without spending money unnecessarily. Also, "advice" delivered in such a condescending tone is usually just sh**ty advice.

[srlevine1]

No "tone" or disrespect was implied. You might want to get a battery charger/battery-keeper unit and use your camping setup as a backup response to normal power-out conditions. 

As for the test equipment, I forget not everyone has a "full toolbox" because I am accustomed to doing many of my own home repairs (electrical, plumbing, carpentry, etc.).  

And, as a technologist, I always think preliminary testing under controlled conditions is "infinitely better" than finding out in the field or during an actual emergency. 

Sorry, but that's how I write.

[waldo1945]

I prefer this site over others on the internet.  One reason is civility.  I would appreciate that we all respect each other and deal with facts as much as possible without using offending language.  I was personally more offended with Dopey696 use of asterisks and its implication than with the tone of srlevine1.  So we each have our own tolerance levels.  Please be more respectful of each other, especially on this site.

[Sleep2Snore]

That is the trouble with the Internet and the printed word isn't it!
There is no facial expression or to go on and no way of telling how it is to be read, a comment can sometimes be read in two ways.
I always look at it this way, Unless it is a direct attack on you with a lot of abuse in the post then I always think of it as it was not intended to be abuse or an insult.  It only take one person to read a post wrong and before you know it there are insults being thrown in all directions when there was no intent to insult anyone in the first place.
I have had to ban people from forums before just because someone read something into a post that was not there.
When both parties were spoken to it was found it was a misunderstanding that got out of hand, to make it worse other joined in and it all got out of control.  The two main ones saw the funny side of it, but by this time there was a few people banned other than the main people involved.
So if you read something, take it as well meant and not an insult.  There is no facial expression or emotion in print nor an clues as to how things are to be read.
To help I have always said to forum users to put a    when they are having fun or pulling someone's leg.
Otherwise read it as well meant and not an insult.
If I were to take everything that was said to me in print as serious or an insult I would be in an institution by now

It is very easy for someone to start the ball rolling but it is very hard to stop.

Consider the other way to read a post before coming to the conclusion that it is an insult or meant to be one.
I would hate to this forum go the way of some others by people reading into posts something that is not there.

This forum exists to help others like ourselves.
If something pulls a string of yours by mistake, forget it and move on.  They probably didn't mean to to do it in the first place.

[PoolQ]

okay, I was in the same space as you several months ago. Here is what I got for my AirCurve 10 using no or passive humidification

100 Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Solar Panel
Sun YOBA Solar Charge Controller MPPT Solar Controller Tracer1210A 12V 24V
UPG 85980/D5722 Sealed Lead Acid Battery (12V; 35 AH; UB12350)
Resmed DC-DC converter

Lower cost ways to do the DC-DC, lots of threads. I have tried to go cheap many times and mostly not happy that I did. It took about 1-2 hours the next day to charge back up to full power. so overkill like I always do. I don't even what to get close to having it not work at 8,500 feet

MPPT is much higher efficiency and is more tolerant of sun alignment

I bought the DC-DC off the vendor list and the rest from where I buy most of my stuff

IIRC CPAP alone is 60W power and with humidity they use a 90Wpower supply. If you want humidity figure out how much more you want to draing the battery or how much of a bigger battery you want.

[Dopey696]

Thank you for your useful input PoolQ