(05-11-2016, 10:47 PM)archangle Wrote: (05-11-2016, 08:53 PM)OMyMyOHellYes Wrote: Well, a little less than a year after hooking up my homemade CPAP UPS system, it finally got a workout last night.
How about a description of your system, or a link to a previous post?
I've included description before, but for simplicity sake, here it is again.
This recipe takes a very tiny amount of electrical and mechanical aptitude if one wishes to make up some of the components, however, all parts can be readily purchased already assembled and just plugged together if not so inclined. The Anderson
PowerPole system makes it really easy and pretty much foolproof. The
PowerPole is really just another name for a type of plug. It has become a standard in the ham radio world for DC
power distribution because of its simplicity and ease of configuration/assembly/dis-assembly. Also, short assemblies can easily be connected together with an extension cord plugged between them. The website for
Powerwerx is where I got started several years back; they have pretty much all assemblies mentioned, except for the battery and smaller DC
power supply (the assemblies can get expensive). Some online outlets for ham radio supplies that I have found which would carry
power supplies, and maybe the Super PWRgate and
PowerPole assemblies include Ham Radio Outlet, Gigaparts, DX Engineering, Universal Radio, etc.)
Ingredients:
* One 35 AH SLA/AGM Battery (which is the size I chose as the best balance between ease of handling and sufficient
power capacity for my needs - YMMV. I selected either CSB or
Powersonic batteries)
* One Super PWRgate PG40S made by West Mountain Radio (automatically switches from AC to DC
supply as needed, but also serves as a four stage smart charger, like the Deltran Battery Tenders)
* One small 12V DC
power supply, typically used for ham radio (I chose the Astron SS-12 @ 12 A, with voltage adjusted up from the standard 13.8 to 14.5 for charging AGM batteries per PWRgate manual)
* One 12 V DC
power cable/
supply/converter for whichever CPAP machine you use
* One Female cigar lighter cable, terminated with Anderson
PowerPole connectors (which connect to the Super PWRgate)
* One
fused wiring assembly (I think I run mine with 10A fuses) with terminal rings at one end to attach to battery and Anderson
PowerPole connectors at the other end (these attach to the PWRgate)
* Extension cord to allow you to position the battery in an out of the way location, again terminated with Anderson
PowerPole connectors
* Cord to attach the
power supply to the PWRgate, terminated in Anderson
PowerPoles on one end and whatever your
power supply takes on the other, maybe rings or banana plugs or even bare wire if it has screw-down terminals or spring-clip terminals)
Instructions:
Detailed instructions for configuring and attaching the SuperPWRgate to a battery and
power supply are included the user manual. Review and follow those instructions. This is a brief summary to show the basic simplicity of the process - with changes for connecting a CPAP instead of a radio:
* Configure the fuses on the top of the Super PWRgate per instructions in the manual for the size battery you have (p. 10) - this controls the charge amperage; I have mine configured for 7 amp charging so I remove the left fuse, leaving the fuse on the right.
* Connect the
power supply to the "
PS"
PowerPole connector on the Super PWRgate.
* Connect the battery to the "
BAT"
PowerPole connector on the SuperPWRgate.
* Connect the cigar lighter plug to the "
OUT"
PowerPole connector on the SuperPWRgate.
* Plug the CPAP's 12 V DC
power cable/
supply/converter into the cigar plug.
* Plug the CPAP's 12 V DC
power cable/
supply/converter into the CPAP.
* Turn on the
power supply.
* Turn on the CPAP.
* Sleep.
West Mountain included the following illustration in the SuperPWR Gate PG40S user manual. It is a simplified version of what I am talking about - just substitute a CPAP machine for the radio transceiver.
And for quick reference, the Cigar plug with
Power Pole connection from
Powerwerx's site -
(The PWRgate is the heart of this system; you can google it to get a real good, detailed idea of what this system is and how it is put together by reviewing the user manual.)