Using CPAP in American RV

[janich]

My husband and I are hoping to hire an RV in the States later this year but as this will be our first time we’re not clear about the electrics involved. We can cope somehow with all other electrical equipment but my husband is uncertain about my CPAP and what converters (or inverters ?) we might need. He won’t take the plunge of this holiday unless he’s assured I won’t have problems (bless ) maybe he remembers all those nights listening to me stopping breathing......

I use a REMstar Pro M series.

Can anyone help with any advice ? I’ve used the C-PAP all over Europe, States, Canada and China but always in hotels or self-catering rental cottages before now.

[Sleep2Snore]

Depends on the RV, some are 12volt, 24volt and some even 36volt.
Depending on the size of RV you are going to be running around in. Unlikely to be 36volt unless you are a millionaire!

Contact whoever you are renting it from (I trust you are renting it), some have 12volt plugs for laptops etc. You may be able to run the machine off this (watch the polarity of your machine if it has 12volt socket as some are not the polarity of a standard lead.

You may get a better replay when they log on here from Intus.

[janich]

Thanks

Thanks Sleep2Snore

I didn't realise they weren't all 12v (and no, we're not millionaires ) I'll pass on your comment about polarity to my husband as it means zilch to me

Sensible to contact the hire firm but husband wants to be reassured before he'll even commit to booking..... Partly I suppose so we can make sure we book the right spec. The thing is we think we may want to camp at some of the National Park sites which don't have electrical hook ups so will need to run the CPAP off the batteries all night.

Off to see if I can find any RVing forums I will crack this as I'm really keen to do this holiday.

Cheers for now.

[Fredxx]

I was in a similar position a couple of years back... OK, not quite so glamorous as an RV in America, just a boat on the Norfolk Broads. I opted to get a Super CPAP battery pack to run the machine off rather than run it off the boat electrics (It meant we were confident that the battery would start the boat in the morning!) The battery recharges off the mains, so I'd recharge it off the boat inverter when the engine was running.

[Sleep2Snore]

A lot of RVs in America also carry a small petrol engine that runs to generate power, but you might upset the neighbours if you ran it all night.
If you intended running it off 12v, make sure you buy the proper power lead for your machine. Most machines will run on 110v in America, though some will not run the humidifier as it may be 220volts.

A lot will depend on what size of RV you hire.

[janich]

Of course the daft thing is that the machine is actually 12v DC - it's the transformer that converts 100-240 AC to 12v DC

Luckily no humidifier to cause more complication.

Fred - thanks for your input. Not sure I'm keen on the cost or extra weight of a battery but still a possibility.

Thanks everyone - I feel this is a bit like a wobbly tooth - I'm going to keep at it until I get it sorted !

[Sleep2Snore]

Of course the daft thing is that the machine is actually 12v DC - it's the transformer that converts 100-240 AC to 12v DC

Luckily no humidifier to cause more complication.

Fred - thanks for your input. Not sure I'm keen on the cost or extra weight of a battery but still a possibility.

Thanks everyone - I feel this is a bit like a wobbly tooth - I'm going to keep at it until I get it sorted !

Ah yes, that machine has the external power supply.
Run it off 12volts but make sure you get the proper 12v lead for it because it has strange polarity connections on the 12v connector.
If you don't have one, you should be able to get one from Intus.
Maybe even Ebay, but be careful.

[janich]

It seems that Phillips sell a cable for it with a cigarette lighter (or whatever they're called now that smoking is non-PC !) connection.

Now all we need is a 12v RV with a ciggie lighter socket near the bed or I'll be sleeping in the cab

I'll start asking the RV fraternity where they keep their ciggie lighter sockets

[Sleep2Snore]

You can get an extension cable for cigarette lighter sockets.
Make sure you get the heavier duty ones (fused).
The only thing to watch is that you don't run the battery down overnight.
You could always charge another battery as you drive from the lighter socket, that way you will not run the RV battery flat.

[janich]

This would be a cable that Phillips sell as an accessory for their own CPAP for running off 12v for camping etc. so I guess it should be the right one.

I'm now worried as the RV community seem to think there aren't often ciggie lighter sockets near the bed and you've set me off wondering if we'd drain all the batteries of the RV anyway if we weren't at a camp with electrical hookup for a couple of nights. This is quite likely, because part of the point of choosing RVing is to camp in National Parks (where there often aren't electrical hookups).

I could cry. But I won't - I'm made of stronger stuff ! I can't belive there isn't another Brit out there who hasn't cracked this.

Jane

[Fredxx]

I can't belive there isn't another Brit out there who hasn't cracked this.
Jane

I go back to my comment on the battery! A CPAP battery costs about £160. You charge it during the day when the engine is running, or when you have a power hook-up, and use that next to the bed at night. Worked great for me on a boat for 2 weeks with no power hook-ups at all.

[janich]

Think I'm there

I go back to my comment on the battery! A CPAP battery costs about £160. You charge it during the day when the engine is running, or when you have a power hook-up, and use that next to the bed at night. Worked great for me on a boat for 2 weeks with no power hook-ups at all.

Fred - I hear what you're saying but £160 and another 6k baggage is quite a lot for potentially a single use.

However, I'm getting good responses from the US RVing fraternity about using CPAPs using the RV's aux 12v batteries with the ciggie lighter connection. Apparently there is usually a socket in or near the bedroom for TVs.

I think I'm sorted but will keep in touch.

[Fredxx]

Only 1-2 Kg, and it is always there for future use - mine even helped out during power cuts at home.

If the RV has an Auxilliary battery then you shouldn't drain the main battery with the CPAP so you can always start the vehicle. Worst case scenario is the battery runs out in the night so you only get 6 hours sleep with the CPAP - much better than nothing!

When we had the boat I got chatting with the boatyard engineers - they said the only time they had problems with the batteries running out was when you had people using their hairdriers and straighteners off the battery!

Enjoy your trip. We are thinking about doing teh Canadian Rockies in an RV sometime in the next couple of years

[Sleep2Snore]

This would be a cable that Phillips sell as an accessory for their own CPAP for running off 12v for camping etc. so I guess it should be the right one.

I'm now worried as the RV community seem to think there aren't often ciggie lighter sockets near the bed and you've set me off wondering if we'd drain all the batteries of the RV anyway if we weren't at a camp with electrical hookup for a couple of nights. This is quite likely, because part of the point of choosing RVing is to camp in National Parks (where there often aren't electrical hookups).

I could cry. But I won't - I'm made of stronger stuff ! I can't belive there isn't another Brit out there who hasn't cracked this.

Jane

Don't worry about it, you DO get extension cables to extend from cigarette lighter sockets that should be long enough to reach the cable for your machine. As for running the RV battery flat, I don't know how long it would run your CPAP and still allow the RV to start.
You could always charge another battery as you drive along to run the CPAP at night. Other way is to run and inverter and charge up a CPAP battery, but this I don't think would last you all night.

[tallishbloke]

RV

hi jan

As you said, the Philips Respironics unit is 12v DC - so to use it on the RV you should just need the 12 volt lead with a cigarette lighter connection (as long as the RV delivers 12v). Some Sleep services supply this lead as part of the Service. You do of course need to park and hook the van up to a mains hook-up.
Camping is a bit more difficult. unless you can get it rechaged you can only get a night or 2 at best out of a battery. THey can also cost quite a lot, and weigh a lot. Philips Respironics do a hire scheme for CPAP system called MOST. I dont know if they have anything similar for ancillary equipment like batteries. They operate worldwide, and before Philips bought Respironics, Resporonics were an American company. It may be worthwile contacting them, they can only say no, it costs nothing.

Good luck and have a fab holiday


Best wishes

TB