please tell me your battery set up for your S9 autoset

[brucelegs]

I am tired (!!!) of dealing with no sleep when our power goes out up here in NH.

I cannot enjoy the ritual and comfort that this stupid machine gives me when we have no power - gotta bite the bullet and get a battery set up. Never thought that those stuffed animals on my bed from my childhood that used to to help me drift off to sleep would be replaced by a machine, hose and nasal mask, but when the power is out - there is no chance of a comfortable nights sleep - I miss my machine !!!! (whine, whine, whine)

all advice (including model # and where you found your battery is welcome and very much appreciated) I do understand I will need a converter from ResMed, its the battery that has me stymied (I am not the most technical)

thanks in advance
(sleepless in NH during power outages)

[moresleep]

How long do your power outages last? If one night, you might get by with a large jump start battery pack, such as the Clore Automotive JNC660. That would probably give you two nights for the Cpap alone, or less than one night for the Cpap plus humidifier. However, the best solution by far is a large 12 volt deep cycle battery (preferably AGM) plus Battery Tender charger. Unfortunately, that does require some simple wiring. Do you maybe have a friend who could help set it up?

[mstevens]

I just today put the following together to deal with our frequent New Hampshire power outages (prices in USD):

Optima D31M Battery. This is a 70Ah AGM deep-cycle "marine" battery with both threaded and SAE car-style posts. According to the ResMed site, from a full charge it should be more than enough to run my S9 Auto at my usual pressure with the humidifier at 80 and the Climateline hose for a full night with a "50% safety margin". Since it's deep-cycle, it should be able to withstand many more deep discharges than a typical car starting battery. It's an Absorbed Glass Mat design, so it's completely sealed and doesn't care how it's oriented. I wanted both post types for flexibility. It weighs a ton (well, 60 pounds) and would not be at all portable. I'm sure I could have got something similar for less from a boating store if I felt like hunting around. Optima make really good AGM batteries, though. There are 3 D31 models with different color tops. The red top has car-style posts, the yellow top has threaded posts, and the blue top has both. Apart from color and posts, they're identical. $212 delivered from Amazon

ResMed DC Converter for S9. This is much more efficient than an inverter and is certified to run the flow generator, heated humidifier, and heated tubing at the same time. It's used in place of the power supply that came with the machine. The "box" is the same size as the standard 90W AC power supply, but lighter and the power cord is not removable. There is a switched 12V plug and it comes with a capped 12V socket with battery post clips. $85 from CPAP.com.

Battery Tender Junior. This comes with both ring terminal and battery post clip cords. I couldn't find any reason to use a more expensive non-Junior model. $20 from Amazon.

Setup: I have the Battery Tender plugged in to a good surge suppressor and connected to the battery's threaded posts. I currently have the converter clipped to the SAE posts until I can find a 12V socket with ring terminals for the threaded posts. I prefer the threaded post option since it seems more secure than the clips and the cat can't knock anything off while spelunking underneath the bed.

My plan is to leave it like this and run it from the battery every night and let it recharge every day. This way, I won't wake up when the power goes out. The battery should last for a few years operated this way.

If you want a compact and elegant but very expensive ($700) solution, ResMed makes a battery pack that's small, attractive, and will power your unit directly without a converter. It'll run all your gear, but not for a full night unless you get a second ($680) battery that connects to the first with a special cable that comes with the kit. It charges using your standard power supply.

If you don't want to deal with 60 pounds of battery, CPAP.com sells a compact battery pack that will probably run your flow generator all night using the ResMed converter, but not if you use the heated humidifier or heated hose. It weighs 2.5 pounds and comes with a nice bag that might hold the converter, too. They have a kit for the S8 for $249 and sell a battery without a converter for $239. Since the S8 converter alone is $75, I'd buy the S8 kit and flog the converter on eBay to bring the total price down. I decided not to go with either of these options since lithium-ion batteries have a finite number of charge cycles. They'd be fine as a travel solution (on a plane, for example) or for single-night backpacking, but would not meet my goal of sleeping through power outages.

There's no "wiring" involved - this is plug-and-play.

Most of our outages are minutes long. Sometimes they last a few hours. Since I moved here in '95 we've only had two that lasted for more than a day, one of which was over a week. For the really long outages, I'll stay with my parents who have a full-house generator. Otherwise, this system should suffice.

[mstevens]

So, now that I typed all that up...

I just read in JohnBFisher's guide that there's a Y-adapter with an SAE connector on one end and SAE and 12V socket on the other (Powerlet PAC-026) . This is obviously the way to go for me, since it'll mean I can completely avoid having a second connection on the battery and won't have to search around for a 12V socket with ring terminals. It's also fewer cords and connections

[sol]

viewtopic/t72173/Updated-Resmed-Battery-Guide.html

[rested gal]

For new readers:

LINKS to Battery operation, camping, power outage
viewtopic.php?t=9682

[jazzer4]

I had the golf shop install a converter on my golf cart and an outlet to plug into.
If the power goes out I run an extension cord from the golf cart to my bedroom.

I'm the only golf cart that can be decorated with Christmas lights!

[idamtnboy]

ResMed DC Converter for S9. This is much more efficient than an inverter and is certified to run the flow generator, heated humidifier, and heated tubing at the same time. It's used in place of the power supply that came with the machine.

Apparently not true across the board. It's difficult to make an exact one-on-one comparison of inverter power draw and converter power draw in the new battery guide. From what I've been able to decipher though, the greater the CPAP power draw the less difference in efficiency between the two. And, it looks like if the power draw is mostly for heating as in the S9 with H5i and Climateline hose, running in Climate control mode, the converter is significantly less efficient than the the inverter.

I wonder why, but based on the tables, assuming they are correct, you and I both are better off with an inverter when running in Climate control mode. Doesn't make sense, but that's the numbers Resmed has published. I wonder if they had a major foul up in their lab tests?

[Lizistired]

Just saw this tonight. It looks simple & interesting. You have to drill down in their website to find it without the solar panel.
http://www.cpaplibrary.com/accessories.html

[brucelegs]

Just saw this tonight. It looks simple & interesting. You have to drill down in their website to find it without the solar panel.
http://www.cpaplibrary.com/accessories.html

wow just what I was looking for (not wanting to get into all this converter stuff)

thanks

[Lizistired]

You might also do a forum search for "jump starter" for threads that member "Gumby" has posted. That is what he uses. Think it's a Sears Diehard. Suprised he hasn't posted.

[archangle]

The goalzero 150 is a 150 watt hour unit. That's about 12 Amp hours.

Resmed recommends 10 to 17 Amp hours for an S9 AutoSet without humidifier for a single 8 hour backup when using an inverter, which is what the 120 VAC outlet is. With humidifier, you need 31-80 Amp hour.

The Resmed battery guide is here. Kudos to BillBolton for the link.

Buck up, get a real 100 Amp hour deep cycle marine battery, a battery box, either an inverter or Resmed converter and cables. Be sure to put a fuse at the battery. Be sure it's "Deep cycle", not "dual purpose" or "marine starting."

The only battery charger I would use for this is the Schumacher SE-1-12S. I've used 3 or 4 of these to keep batteries topped up for years at a time, and it is the only charger that has never eaten up a battery unexpectedly. $25 or so at Northern Tool or Autozone.

Be sure to put a fuse at the battery.


-edit SE-1-12S,not 125.

[mstevens]

It turns out that a Battery Tender Junior is most definitely NOT the correct charger for my setup above. The charging amps are 0.65, so to charge a 70 amp-hour battery takes... way long, according to the algebra.

This is not a theoretical problem! I have a rotten cold and stayed home from work for 2 days last week. When all my bits arrived from Amazon and CPAP.com last Friday I hooked everything up. In short order the battery charger showed the battery was charged. I slept a long time that night. The next night I slept even longer, right up until I was jolted awake when the battery died and took my CPAP with it.

No problem, I figured, since I'd slept so much longer than usual. Yes, problem as it turns out. The battery has remained on the charger ever since - we're now at about 60 hours - and is not recharged yet.

With the Battery Tender Junior the charge rate is just too slow to recharge the battery. That might be fine if the goal were a backup, but my goal is an uninterruptible supply that I'd use every night. This will require considerably more charging current.

I've obtained a Battery Tender Plus, which is especially aimed AGM batteries. My fear is that its 1.25 amp charging current will still be too low to recharge the battery over the course of each day. We'll see, if my battery ever reaches full charge in the first place.

This is the problem of using a large-capacity deep-cycle battery: they also take lots of charge to recharge. I think I'm going to have to get a 5 or 10 amp charger at least.

[idamtnboy]

This is the problem of using a large-capacity deep-cycle battery: they also take lots of charge to recharge. I think I'm going to have to get a 5 or 10 amp charger at least.

That's what I figured out last summer while camping. I fixed up a connection to my pickup to recharge my 125 amp-hr deep cycle. Running the pickup at fast idle for 2 or 3 hours recharged it less than 1/3. Much longer than what it takes to recharge a car battery.

I have a charger/battery floater from NAPA. It recharged my deep cycle from about 2/3 discharged to full over night, I think. Not sure how many amps it is. You may need to get two chargers, one heavy duty to do the bulk of the recharging and then a good float charger to top it off and keep it there.

[mstevens]

You may need to get two chargers, one heavy duty to do the bulk of the recharging and then a good float charger to top it off and keep it there.

It's starting to look as if that might be true. Of course, that would mean we can't make an effective uninterruptible power supply for CPAP this way - if one must switch chargers anyway, then one might as well just leave the battery on a float charger until the power goes out and use wall current the rest of the time.

I think there may be a few combo chargers out there that have high charging current (10 amps or even more) for bulk charging that then switch to slower charge rates as capacity is neared and finally change to float charging for maintenance. Of course, those are spendy. I know Battery Tender makes a version that has a 5 amp bulk charge rate, which is quadruple that of the BT Plus.

In other news, now that I've switched from a Battery Tender Junior to a Battery Tender Plus (1.25 amps, about double the charging rate of the Junior) my battery is now somewhere above 80% charged. That's from Sunday morning until Tuesday night on the Junior and overnight on the Plus.