CPAP Cannot be Checked Luggage?

[Pugsy]

You cannot check a CPAP. The magnetometer that is used on checked baggage will destroy the CPAP programming. So, you gotta carry it on board with you.

While there are any number of reasons for not putting your cpap machine in your checked baggage...this is NOT one of them.
Just last December I packed my cpap in my checked suitcase and it still works just fine. In fact it's been through several such flights.
And yes, I am aware of the other risks with putting the cpap in the checked baggage but I was okay with it and had my reasons for packing it in the suitcase that were sufficient for me. So no need to lecture me on the dangers...I already know about them.

My only point is that the magnetometer reason isn't a good reason.

[D.H.]

The original link (from 2010) is no longer good!

In any case, you should carry your CPAP on-board. I only had a real issue once, where a flight attendant started questioning the item only because I made the mistake of asking my travel agent to make sure it's OK. The flight attendant came over after the item was in the bin and started asking questions. Only after I explained that it had no battery, no oxygen, and it would not be used on the flight was she satisfied. Note that this was an internal flight in Myanmar (Burma), which is clearly a third world country.

[ChicagoGranny]

My only point is that the magnetometer reason isn't a good reason.

There is no warning under travel in the user manuals. I think Bill in Sarasota is into alternative facts.

I never checked my CPAP, but I have checked a laptop several times - no damage from the magnetometer.

Bill...FYI....You are replying to a person that posted in 2010...

Pick a very old post - maybe the person is dead and won't challenge your bad statement.

[Pugsy]

I think Bill in Sarasota is into alternative facts.

Sometimes I wonder what alternate dimension these yahoos are in when they come here with crap like that.
Seems like we have had a bounty of them today...what with cpap causing blood vessels in the eye to break and I no telling what other total misinformation they are believing and worse yet...spouting off.
Normally I won't bother responding but this one was so far out there in la la land that I just had to say something.

[Guest]

You cannot check a CPAP. The magnetometer that is used on checked baggage will destroy the CPAP programming. So, you gotta carry it on board with you.

While we know that is not true it may be any easy way to get people to carry-on.

[CapnLoki]

I think Bill in Sarasota is into alternative facts.

Sometimes I wonder what alternate dimension these yahoos are in when they come here with crap like that...

I haven't researched this deeply, but my understanding is that "magnetometers" (or metal detectors) are only used in "walk through" situations to detect weapons. Checked luggage might be subject to xray and "sniffers" but a metal detector would be of rather low value there. The xray machines used for checked luggage are about the same intensity as the carry on machines, so there is no extra risk there. It turns out that magnetometers actually have a worse reputation for destroying electronics than xray machines.

Actually, the US mail is potentially more dangerous, since they have used high intensity radiation to kill anthrax! Although they originally planned to use this extensively, they are used only on mail directed to some government offices.

[palerider]

You cannot check a CPAP. The magnetometer that is used on checked baggage will destroy the CPAP programming. So, you gotta carry it on board with you.

bullshit. perhaps you should look up 'magnetometer'.

they xray checked baggage, and *surprise* it doesn't bother the programming.

the real danger to putting your cpap in checked luggage is *LOSING IT*

dinner in paris, luggage in new york.

[palerider]

My only point is that the magnetometer reason isn't a good reason.

There is no warning under travel in the user manuals. I think Bill in Sarasota is into alternative facts.

I never checked my CPAP, but I have checked a laptop several times - no damage from the magnetometer.

mag·ne·tom·e·ter
ˌmaɡnəˈtämədər/
noun: magnetometer; plural noun: magnetometers

an instrument used for measuring magnetic forces, especially the earth's magnetism.

"alternative 'facts'" or "lunatic fantasy".... you decide.

a magentometer measures magnetic fields, which means. it does not produce them just like a thermometer measures temperature, and a speedometer measures speed, or to keep it somewhat relevant, a manometer measures mans? no, pressure. (how'd we get from pressure to man?)

[D.H.]

This is reminiscent of the old question of whether it is safe to allow photographic film through the detectors. I was never able to get a definitive answer. The question went away since photographic film is now obsolete.

[CapnLoki]

mag·ne·tom·e·ter
ˌmaɡnəˈtämədər/
noun: magnetometer; plural noun: magnetometers

an instrument used for measuring magnetic forces, especially the earth's magnetism.

"alternative 'facts'" or "lunatic fantasy".... you decide.

a magentometer measures magnetic fields, which means. it does not produce them just like a thermometer measures temperature, and a speedometer measures speed, or to keep it somewhat relevant, a manometer measures mans? no, pressure. (how'd we get from pressure to man?)

Well, that's like saying guns don't kill people, bullets do. Metal detectors generally work by producing a magnetic field and then, with a magnetometer, measuring the distortion to deduce the presence of ferrous metal. The important part of the device is the magnetometer, so they often went by that name.

[CapnLoki]

This is reminiscent of the old question of whether it is safe to allow photographic film through the detectors. I was never able to get a definitive answer. The question went away since photographic film is now obsolete.

Obsolete??? Bite your tongue! I just got my darkroom set up!

Actually I was a very early adopter of digital photography, thanks to my job. But my daughter thought that was too easy and started doing traditional darkroom work a few years ago. Of course, I got enlisted to do all the grunt work.

[Janknitz]

Actually, the US mail is potentially more dangerous, since they have used high intensity radiation to kill anthrax! Although they originally planned to use this extensively, they are used only on mail directed to some government offices.

The moral of this story is: Don't mail your CPAP to a government official!

[palerider]

Well, that's like saying guns don't kill people, bullets do. Metal detectors generally work by producing a magnetic field and then, with a magnetometer, measuring the distortion to deduce the presence of ferrous metal. The important part of the device is the magnetometer, so they often went by that name.

you might note that the allegation was that a magentometer would destroy a cpap.

a magnetometer, no matter how you want to try and twist things, does not produce a significant magnetic field.

a magentometer will not, cannot harm a cpap.

a metal detector, which may include a magnetometer, (though probably not, since one isn't necessary for that operation) isn't going to harm one either... and I don't know what circles you wander through, but i've never heard the metal detectors at the airport ever referred to as a 'magentometer'..

leaving aside the fact that *checked luggage* doesn't go through a metal detector, it goes through an xray, so the entire point is moot, and the post that inspired this petty argument was simply *stupid*.

now, if you tried chucking a cpap through the opening in a MRI machine, all bets are off.

[palerider]

Actually, the US mail is potentially more dangerous, since they have used high intensity radiation to kill anthrax! Although they originally planned to use this extensively, they are used only on mail directed to some government offices.

The moral of this story is: Don't mail your CPAP to a government official!

too bad they don't nuke everything, I'd start mailing myself frozen chicken and beef...

[msla]

I left the international air port in Buenos Aires last January with-out my checked bag after someone else picked it up. So damage isn't the only thing that can go wrong. That is why I carry it onto the plane. Oh, the Delta agent was able to locate it, retrieve it from the other party, and deliver it to my hotel. However I'd much rather have to buy some clothes than a CPAP. Edit: TSA is only interested in the blower. Someone on this board had the suggestion to put the blower in its own zip-lock bag. Then if it was taken out fro a separate X-ray, they would not touch the surface of the PAP. I have done that since that time. One agent actually thanked me for having it in the plastic bag. Now, several years later, it seems they are used to seeing them in the travel bag and I haven't had to remove it for a long time.