Narrow boat doesn't have 240volts!

[John B]

Can anybody help?

I need advice on powering my machine when I am cruising along the quiet warterways of England, often mooring-up where there is no hook-up, of course.

I have an NHS ResMed CPAP S6 machine - and was advised to buy an inverter from Argos. "It plugs into your battery power" said the helpful person at the clinic, "like in a caravan". Well, it's not quite as simple as that.

Advice, please. Surely I can't be the first!

[GrumpyBiker]

As I see it you have a couple of options. First of all the inverter - what is the problem there? Is the boat 24V? If so, there are 24v inverters availale - this one for instance.

You could go the route of a 12V leisure battery - 0r cheaper a UPS battery - this one will give you a couple of nights use out of one charge, which you can charge when you get hookup or by using a portable generator on deck during the day.

You could also buy a Breathex travel CPAP which is designed for use where there is no reliable mains supply.

Andy

[James @ Intus]

Be careful with the inverter. Ozzie stuff runs differently from UK electricals and you own't be the first to blow up your machine (not so much with a bang and fireworks, but broken nontheless). I recommend getting the proper ResMed cables for it. May cost double the money but you stay covered for warranty.

Having said that, an inverter will upscale to 240V and drain your battery. Pretty sure the S6 indeed isn't 12V natively, like the SleepCube, Sandman, REMstar and many others. Those machines can run straight from 12V without an inverter, just with the right shielded cable.

The BreatheX is a good idea, but does also need 240V to recharge so if it's a long trip, maybe not so handy.

So your real options are:

- Get the right inverter, but only if your boat's powersource can handle it.
- Get a 12V machine like those mentioned above. They're smaller too. No power worries with these.

[John B]

More narrowboat / 12volt issues

To James at Intus

I have spent a while pondering what to do. But me and electrics don't go well together! On the narrow boat there are standard 12v sockets fitted throughout, all of which run to a fuse-box, of course.

If I assume that I won't drain the battery overnight (and also assume that I can recharge it by running the engine during the day as we chug along - note the technical term "chug"!) do you know what fuse rating I would need for the "GoodKnight 420G" CPAP machine?

Your website says
"With the optional DC cable, the GoodKnight 420G can be run off a 12V source easily, making this is a great source for people who don't want to give up camping and travelling because of their sleep disorder."

Have any other readers of this message any comments about this machine?

Regards
John B

[James @ Intus]

Hi John,

I don't think the fuse ratings matter in this instance. If it's 12V we're talking, everything is fine.

But let me throw another spanner in your train of thought.

The 420G is a nice machine, sure travel friendly. But if you're after a fixed pressure, second machine for travelling, I'd go for the SleepCube Standard. Why?

- It's more affordable, £250 instead of £345 for the 420G
- It's much more modern, launched just 18 months ago compared to half a decade ago for the 420G
- You may even prefer it over the S6
- Better warranty, better support. The 420G is at the end of its lifecycle, if anything happens, support will be slower than current machines.
- If you want to add a humidifier, the SleepCube becomes an altogether even more attractive package.

All in all you'd get something slightly bigger, but more reliable, more future-proof, more expandable and much more modern. And its 12V DC cable is just £9 too.

[Floatyboaty]

I regularly travel on a boat. I though have a resmed escape. I was told by the clinic to buy an adapter at Maplin. The machine is reverse polarity and also does not like starting if the battery is low but will run all night once started (I do not switch it off if I get up in the night.) It plugs direct into the lighter socket. You can take your machine to Maplin to select the correct plug into the machine, some cable and a lighter plug. In the caravan I plug it directly into the socket in the battery box (as the socket is too far away). You should get a week out of a 110 leisure battery easy. Can't guarantee it will work for your machine but well worth looking into.
The humidifier does not run on 12v so I just fill it with water so there is a little humidity though not really needed on the waterways!