Please design me a system

[taugust]

Well, this situation just came up for me. My mother is going with me on a weekend trip this week and she won't leave her machine behind. She just upgraded here machine to a new one as well. It has a transform power supply and runs at 12V, 4.16A, which is about an amp higher than her old one.

I have a dual battery system that will handle the load. My original thought was to buy a cig. lighter adapter and a long extension, but I couldn't find an adaptor with a rating higher than about 1.2A at Fry's, and I could only find extensions on RV websites. I bought 50 ft. of 16ga. speaker wire, and a plug to match the power socket on the machine. I also bought some battery clips and soldered it together today, using 25 ft. of the wire. It works great.

I would recommend a battery that you can recharge and something similar in the tent with you. After I bought the parts above, I found that Radio Shack does carry a cig lighter plug that is rated at 5A, and comes with any tip you need for $10.50.

I didn't want to run a 12V DC device through an inverter, then back through a transformer. Too much wasted power in the conversions.

 

[Darton]

HMMM I've never thought of using speaker wire for an extension. It'd be very pliable.

Well, this situation just came up for me. My mother is going with me on a weekend trip this week and she won't leave her machine behind. She just upgraded here machine to a new one as well. It has a transform power supply and runs at 12V, 4.16A, which is about an amp higher than her old one.

I have a dual battery system that will handle the load. My original thought was to buy a cig. lighter adapter and a long extension, but I couldn't find an adaptor with a rating higher than about 1.2A at Fry's, and I could only find extensions on RV websites. I bought 50 ft. of 16ga. speaker wire, and a plug to match the power socket on the machine. I also bought some battery clips and soldered it together today, using 25 ft. of the wire. It works great.

I would recommend a battery that you can recharge and something similar in the tent with you. After I bought the parts above, I found that Radio Shack does carry a cig lighter plug that is rated at 5A, and comes with any tip you need for $10.50.

I didn't want to run a 12V DC device through an inverter, then back through a transformer. Too much wasted power in the conversions.

 

[Big Silver]

I understand this is an old thread but want to offer some additional information that may help someone out. I have severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)and can not function for long without a CPAP machine. I camp and backpack regularly with my machine and would like to pass along a few tips and details on how I keep breathing in the back country. When I was diagnosed two years ago I knew I needed to find a machine that could be battery powered. Turns out most, if not all of the CPAP machines can be battery powered. Car battery that is. This works fine for car camping but for backpacking I needed a better solution. What I found was the AEOMed Everest machine that uses Li-ion battery packs. The battery packs will last through about one and a half nights each if you don't use the humidifier and each battery weighs is at about 1.5 lbs. For a weekend backpacking trip I wind up with about 7 pounds of machine and batteries to carry. Manufacturer has updated machine to higher efficiency since I bought mine and now claims humidifier can be run on battery over night. This is a BIG deal. 30 degree air up your nose all night is painful in the morning. Frost bite anyone? I have relied on putting the machine in the sleeping bag with me and wearing thermals to stay warm. For those not familiar with CPAP machine, imagine a small vacuum cleaner with the exhaust running up your nose. The machine pulls cold air into the sleeping bag constantly so you need to layer up to keep warm even in a good bag. You need to put the machine inside in order to warm up the incoming air and keep the battery warm. I sleep with the hose running over my chest, longer the better here, to further warm up the air feeding into my nose. As expected there are occasional undesirable effects to various foods so think about what your eating well before you go to bed.... In talking to the manufacturer, they have not been able to solar power the rechargeable battery due to high? (19v) system requirements. The Li-ion batteries are tricky to charge.
16 VDC,
4S3P Li-ion, replaceable cell pack
Recharge time: < 4 hours with
depleted cells
Charge indicator: 4 bar capacity
indicator key
Dimensions: 5”x7.5”x1.175”
Weight: 1.5 lbs.
Operational time: 11 hours @ 10
cmH2O with non-heated
humidification; Heat settings will
reduce battery time by > 50%
I just wanted to let you know you can easily car camp with a CPAP machine, and you can still backpack with one.
Good Luck Darton.

 

[Hawk Thor]

If it were me i´d get a small deep cycle battery (You said you needed about 16Ah right?), get a couple of 50A Anderson plugs, get a small 70A voltage regulated relay, run appropriate cable to tongue of trailer and to tow hitch of Jeep, connect via Anderson plugs and charge your battery while driving.

You could also put a solar panel on the trailer to get you through one day of not starting your motor.

 

[ALF]

xantrex powerpack

I would go with a 300 or 400 series xantrex powerpack. It is portable light and and can be used for numerous events. I have had one for five years and just now need to replace the batteries after 100's of full discharges.

It comes with 120v recharging as well a 12v recharging and has a low end air compressor built in. It also has jumper cables.

All in all great unit and has 20AH battery so can cover your needs and then be recharged by your car or other 12v or 120v source.

ALF