What's It Like When The Power Goes Out? Battery Backup (UPS)?

[SuperSleeper]

Not to stray too far from CPAP tunes, how does the HF solar stuff compare to other options?
Regards,
Dennis

Hi Dennis,

The nice thing about the Harbor Freight solar panels is that they are "Amorphous". Amorphous panels are much less expensive than regular crystalline panels. The HF panels have one disadvantage in that they produce less electricity per square foot than crystalline panels. But the amorphous HF panels also have the added advantage of producing electricity in low-light conditions, like limited overcast skies. The expensive crystalline panels must have unobscured direct sunlight, and produce no electricity at all without direct sunlight... whereas the amorphous panels can utilize diffused light and still produce electricity.

I currently have 3 HF kits wired together (9 panels total) and I still get my batteries charged from a low of 12.5 back up to 13-14+ volts within a 2-3 hours on a slightly overcast day, as long as the cloud layers aren't too thick. And even if you have scattered cloudiness with spurts of sunshine once in a while, that's usually enough to charge up my batteries in a couple of hours. The only thing that isn't currently stock on my system is that I upgraded to a SunSaver Duo charge controller, which has a lot more options (like a built-in desulfator and the ability to charge two different battery banks, and a lot of other setting possibilities) The SunSaver Duo is built much better than the cheapie charge controller that comes with the kit. But the kit's charge controller does work fine... but it's just not recommended to use it for more than one or two kits wired together.

There's a reason that the Harbor Freight kits are so popular: you get a lot of bang for the buck. It's an easy entry-level way to learn about how solar panel systems work. If you'd like a much more indepth look into this trend, there's a specific forum that has a lot of interaction amongst folks who do all sorts of stuff with these kits. Just do a Google search (without the quotes) for "Harbor Freight Do It Yourself Solar Energy Forum". The first link that pops up should be the non-commercial forum that I read a lot when I first started using these solar kits. Lots of info, personal experiences, pics and videos.

One caution and that is to make sure to use fuses with proper amperage-ratings on any 12-volt wiring (both the positive and negative leads coming out of the battery). If 12-volt wiring shorts, it will heat up, melt the wire insulation and start a fire if you're not careful. Proper fusing is an absolute must.

As far as price on the HF kits, they are hard to beat. I personally got three 20% off coupons and used them on three separate transactions to lower my cost. At the time, the local HF here was running the kits on sale for $149, and they allow me to use the 20% off coupon on top of that. So I paid something like $120 plus tax for each kit.

I also upgraded from my lead-acid Wal-Mart deep cycle marine battery to a true deep cycle lead-acid battery (my set of 240 amp-hour Trojan 6-volt golf-cart style, operating in series). I get more amp-hours (capacity) from them that I would have by operating two Wally World 12-volt batteries, which have something like 110 amp-hours I think. More expensive, of course, but you get what you pay for in batteries, generally. Maintenance is simply making sure the battery water level is topped off every so often with distilled water (I check mine once a month).

[Sleepster]

So is it that important or unnecessary to have a Battery backup i think most on cpap could survive one or two nights with out it?

It's probably ok to go without for a couple of nights. But once you get used to CPAP therapy you may find it uncomfortable to go without.

I'm not taking any chances. But that's just me.

[PaulaO2]

I once went 4 nights without it due to power outage. By day two, I was grumpy as heck and felt like crap. By day 5, I was packing to go to a hotel. My blood pressure was sky high, my heart was out of rhythm, and my dogs were afraid of me.

[archangle]

A likely physiological response, but this would usually be as a result of a slow onset situation of plugging up. A quick end to air input would me more like having someone come in and pinch off your nose...

Realize that the air doesn't immediately stop, you can still breathe. It's just that the air goes stale on you.

Or, have the wife sneak up and unplug the machine

Don't give her any ideas.

If the Anti-Asphyxiation vent on a full face is large enough to allow 20% fresh air with each inhalation cycle, then enough O2 should be available to keep one well alive, if not totally comfortable.

If the valve is working correctly, none of your exhaled air goes up the hose, it all goes out the vent hole, and the valve closes off the connection to the hose. You might get a little air from the hose when you inhale, but that should be fresh.

Most home computer UPSs will not run a CPAP for very long at all. Some people rig up a DC system with a deep cycle marine battery about the size and weight of a car battery.

I think this would depend entirely on the size of the UPS some are huge and are larger than a car battery. Are they not just sophisticated inverter systems, doing the same job that the 12v converter would do? And they are auto switching with line power loss.

You need to look at the manufacturer's specs for how long they'll run with an X watt load. They don't make that info easy to find. Even for fairly big home UPS systems, the results are often fairly disappointing.

However, you can probably find one that runs a long time if you check carefully.

[britincanada]

If a Battery Backup is necessary where you are located

You should have a very good argument to be covered under a medical plan for one ( A Medical Necessity )

Can a Doctor not write a script for one

[archangle]

If a Battery Backup is necessary where you are located

You should have a very good argument to be covered under a medical plan for one ( A Medical Necessity )

Can a Doctor not write a script for one

It seems that almost no one has been able to get insurance to pay for a backup battery for CPAP use.

You can argue that they should. That doesn't mean you'll get them to pay for it.

[Ribman]

So is it that important or unnecessary to have a Battery backup i think most on cpap could survive one or two nights with out it?

It's probably ok to go without for a couple of nights. But once you get used to CPAP therapy you may find it uncomfortable to go without.

I'm not taking any chances. But that's just me.

Sleeping without a CPAP is a very dangerous situation. Stokes do occur.

[britincanada]

So is it that important or unnecessary to have a Battery backup i think most on cpap could survive one or two nights with out it?

It's probably ok to go without for a couple of nights. But once you get used to CPAP therapy you may find it uncomfortable to go without.

I'm not taking any chances. But that's just me.

Sleeping without a CPAP is a very dangerous situation. Stokes do occur.

one or 2 nights without a cpap will not kill you it maybe uncomfortable for you but will not kill you

how long did you live without one

[Ribman]

It's probably ok to go without for a couple of nights. But once you get used to CPAP therapy you may find it uncomfortable to go without.

I'm not taking any chances. But that's just me.

Sleeping without a CPAP is a very dangerous situation. Stokes do occur.

one or 2 nights without a cpap will not kill you it maybe uncomfortable for you but will not kill you

how long did you live without one

All I'm saying is strokes can occur to sleep apnea patients, especially if you do not use the CPAP machine. I survived. Trust me ....

[trish6hundred]

I don't want to do without my CPAP machine either, that's why I have battery backups and I charge then every so often so that if I were to need them, they are ready for use. Once you get used to having a CPAP machine, you don't want to be without it, even if you could probably do it for a night or two, (but that's not the point,) why do that, if you don't have to? just a few thoughts.