Battery Backup - Stanley FatMax 1400 Peak Amp Power Station

[FoggyFroggy]

I carry a Stanley FatMax 1400 Peak Amp Power Station (Amazon link below) in my truck in case I need a jump start and nobody is around. It has two 120 volt AC outlets on the front of it. Can I use it to run my Airsense 10 for Her in the case of a power outage? The specs in the FatMax manual state that the 120 volt AC outlet can power devices that consume less than 500 watts. The Airsense manual states that its peak power consumption is 104W. I'm not sure if that is with or without the humidifier on...

I'd hate to plug it in and burn out my beloved APAP!

http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-FatMax-Po ... atmax+1400

[stienman]

Per the resmed faq( http://www.resmed.com/au/en/consumer/su ... -faqs.html ):

...you can use a modified sine wave inverter with a continuous power rating of 150w or higher for these devices. (not for use with older machines using H2i, H3i or H4i humidifiers). Enquire about purchasing an inverter at your local electronics store.

So yes, this power supply will run your machine, even if you have the humidifier on. The powersupply link doesn't provide the capacity of the battery, though, so I can't give you advice as to how long it'll run.

It'll be slightly more efficient if you use the Resmed 12V power supply, though. The fatmax has an internal converter, then the resmed regular power supply does another conversion. Each conversion is inefficient, and loses power. With the resmed 12v power supply there's only one conversion:

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... hines.html

So you'd have the stanley power station connected to the 12v power supply, connected to the CPAP machine.

[CapnLoki]

I carry a Stanley FatMax 1400 Peak Amp Power Station (Amazon link below) in my truck in case I need a jump start and nobody is around. It has two 120 volt AC outlets on the front of it. Can I use it to run my Airsense 10 for Her in the case of a power outage? The specs in the FatMax manual state that the 120 volt AC outlet can power devices that consume less than 500 watts. The Airsense manual states that its peak power consumption is 104W. I'm not sure if that is with or without the humidifier on...

I'd hate to plug it in and burn out my beloved APAP!

http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-FatMax-Po ... atmax+1400

The jump starter should be able to power the cpap just fine. The wattage load of the cpap, even with humidifier, is well under power limits, and new devices generally don't have a problem with the "modified sine wave" inverter. The issue will be that the battery in the Stanley (as with most jump starters) is small. The older model is 17 Amp-hours, and I assume this is about the same or it wouldn't fit in the same case. (You can check the manual or even open up the case.) If you're running through the inverter which is about 60% efficient, and leaving a safety margin (full discharge is bad for these batteries) you have about 8 Amp-hours of useful power. This is plenty for one night without humidity, but with humidity it might only last a couple of hours, depending on a lot of factors.

Bottom line, this is fine if you turn off the humidity and heated hose, otherwise don't count on a full night from it. You can help by getting the DC-DC resemed converter, which allows you to plug into any 12V battery and run at high efficiency. And you could easily get a larger battery, such as a 35 Amp-Hour U1 scooter battery.

[FoggyFroggy]

Thanks for the info guys! Sounds like the converter would be worth the cost. Think I'll order one soon.

[RogerSC]

Just want to mention the difference between deep discharge batteries and batteries that are intended to start cars. Batteries that are made for starting cars are made to discharge a lot of energy over a short period of time, and don't do as well with a steady discharge over a long period of time. Deep discharge batteries are used for marine applications (as an example), where you are steadily discharging it over a long period of time.

Something else to consider and look into. Personally, I have a Li-ion battery pack (lightweight and small) for my cpap that works well but was expensive. Still working after about 3 or 4 years, though, that's a good thing *smile*.

[CapnLoki]

Just want to mention the difference between deep discharge batteries and batteries that are intended to start cars. Batteries that are made for starting cars are made to discharge a lot of energy over a short period of time, and don't do as well with a steady discharge over a long period of time. Deep discharge batteries are used for marine applications (as an example), where you are steadily discharging it over a long period of time.

Something else to consider and look into. Personally, I have a Li-ion battery pack (lightweight and small) for my cpap that works well but was expensive. Still working after about 3 or 4 years, though, that's a good thing *smile*.

You're quite correct that starting batteries should not be used in deep cycle applications, unless you're willing to replace them after a few dozen cycles. However, I strongly suspect that this power pack uses a deep cycle agm battery. This has the case in every similar device I've seen, and they are marketed as "power supplies," not just jump starters.

The original poster has asked how well this particular device will work as a cpap backup. If he had asked if he should buy one for that purpose, I'd say no, only buy it if you also want to start cars. You get much more bang for the buck with a stand alone agm battery plus a small quality charger.

[Mr neon]

My fat max is not charging at all. I tried to plug it into my car and nothing. The display does not light up or anything when it is plugging in to the wall. Tried 3 different cords as well. Any thoughts? Unit is a year old and use it 2 or 3 timrs per month have not charged it in 6 months maybe I killed the charger by not using it?

[Guest]

Tried 3 different cords as well. Any thoughts?

it's not the cord?
kinda hard with the limited info provided. when was the last time it worked? could the battery be dead?
any lites on it at all when the cord is plugged in?

[CapnLoki]

My fat max is not charging at all. I tried to plug it into my car and nothing. The display does not light up or anything when it is plugging in to the wall. Tried 3 different cords as well. Any thoughts? Unit is a year old and use it 2 or 3 timrs per month have not charged it in 6 months maybe I killed the charger by not using it?

The fact that it doesn't light up when plugged in points to some other problem, like a popped fuse or breaker or a bad cord. (I assume its the FatMax display that doesn't light up, not the cpap display!) However, if you used it repeatedly without recharging, you might have killed the battery. These should be charged after each use, and recharged every 3 months or so. Replacement batteries should be available on Amazon for about $35 - they are fairly standard 18-20 Amp-hour AGM batteries. You could even pull out the battery and try charging it with a standard auto charger.

This genre of devices are great as a "all in one" for jump starting, and will work in a pinch as a battery power for a cpap. But they are basically a collection of cheap parts and have a poor reliability record. For cpap backup, you can get the same style of battery, but twice as powerful, plus a high quality charger for less money. It can even jump start a car.