Power cord trick that might come in handy

I'm more than a thousand miles from home on a seven-day trip. I went to set up my CPAP around 9:30 p.m. and discovered that I had failed to pack the power cord. It seemed too late to do anything about it, so I was looking for specifications for the ResMed S8 power cord on cpap.com and hoping I could find a place tomorrow that carried one. I found that there is a replacement cord that works for all the S8s, all the Series Ms, and a bunch of other machines too. This was a clue that it is a highly standard socket. I went to the hotel lobby and asked the night manager if he had a box of cords people had left behind. He had nothing that looked right at first glance (maybe most CPAP users aren't as careless as me), but he had dozens of phone chargers and a few power supplies for laptop computers. One of the power bricks had a removable cord with an ordinary two-prong wall plug. This is a pretty common pattern, although many power supplies use a three-prong plug instead. Sure enough, the wall cord part was just what I needed, except for being inconveniently short, mating perfectly with the socket on the S8. I had not thought of that possibility, but with the box of cords for inspiration, it turned out that the equivalent part for my wife's Sony laptop would work, therefore I didn't even need to borrow from the hotel. So if you ever find yourself in a jam because you forgot to pack the power cord for your blower, check your laptop computer if you have one with you. You may have the part you need, and if not, the hotel or someone else in your party may be able to help.

WARNING. After writing this I got worried and edited the entry. I don't mean to suggest that the direct current lead coming out of a laptop power supply should be connected to the direct current input on the S8. I'm just talking about removing the 110 volt alternating current cord going from the wall to the power supply, if that is a separate piece, and connecting it to the 110 volt input.

many CPAPs use the IEC type cord that is also used for computers, electric kettles and other kitchen appliances or can be bought for a few dollars from tandy, etc

the end that plugs into the CPAP tends to come loose first and should always be pushed in tight if CPAP isnt working normally

a few older CPAPs need a 3 wire connection IEC cord but these are rare

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Some Hewlett Packard Deskjet printers (among others) also used the same type of cord.


Den

The same cord fits my APAP, laptop and Nikon camera charger. When I travel I use the laptop cord for all three (which is always in the bag anyway).

It's shaped like a figure-8 when you look into the business end.

harry33 wrote:many CPAPs use the IEC type cord that is also used for computers, electric kettles and other kitchen appliances or can be bought for a few dollars from tandy, etc.

Good to know what to call it should the need arise again.

IEC is the international standard for MANY connectors.

This specific one is "IEC C7" it appears. There is an IEC C7 polarized version, where one end of the "figure-8" is squared off. In a pinch it could be modified with a little pocketknife work.

Those are probably good numbers to know if you are in a pinch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_connec ... connectors

I posted this information a couple of nights ago for one of the members who had went from Casper to Denver and forgot his power cord. (slightly edited) I did a search on some of the information I found on one of my power cords.

Here are some links to look at. The bottom one is to Radio Shack's cord, too.

http://www.unicable.com/productDetail.a ... N3Bg%3d%3d

http://www.unicable.com/ProductCategories.aspx?ImgId=2

Part number - 1840-25M-BB


http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=3875428#


Den

I too found my self in a hotel room one night about 10 years ago without a power cord. My wonderful talented hubby took an extension cord and well, made it work by wiring it direct.

After that we found an old laptop cord that fit my machine and it became a permanent item in my travel bag.

I now have a new machine and will have to look around and see if there is a cord will work.

The cord for charging some cordless shavers will work. My older-model Braun is one such example.

I did the same thing--duh forgot the powercord a long ways from home to my ResMed machine. I just found out that it's figure eight style cord is actually a standard item at Radio Shack. The chord # is 61-210. You can call them to see if they have it. It did the trick!

I left my power chord at my mom's summer home, bought a replacement. Over the weeken
- noticed she was using it to power her Dell laptop.