Portable Generators

[FrankT]

My wife has sleep apnea so she has a CPAP machine that needs to be plugged in. I bought an invertor generator in case we had to camp in a place without electricity. Will this type of generator hurt the CPAP machine? The instructions that came with the inverter said not to use it for medical equipment. Also the medical place we bought the CPAP at said not to use it with a generator. Has anyone tried to use the CPAP with a generator?

[8ball_99]

lol well if the generator MFG says no and the Place that sales the machine says no.. I'd be a little scared to try it.. That said if you bought a good Inverter generator like a honda 2000iu You should be fine.. I own one and was told and read over and over that puts out cleaner power then what probably comes out of my Homes outlets...

[Shadow Catcher]

Many CPAP machines can be powered by a 12V battery, and or as long as you have a full sine wave inverter I cant see there would be a problem as they are used with sensitive electronics.

Just looking at what is out there the (quick Google 12VCPAP) there are some good solutions.

[Arne]

I have a honda eu2000... it is quiet and never failed me... anyone camping off grid, like I do about 50% of the time would not regret getting one of these units...

I've installed a 6 gallon auxiliary (marine tank) so I only have to 'feed' it every couple of days...

[Wolfgang92025]

Frank,

One reason for the warnings is mitigating the risk of lawsuits. If the generator was to fall, what would happen, is their a risk of personal harm or even death?

How sensitive are the electronics that run the CPAP?

There is nothing that will prevent you from using a generator, but you will carry all the risk. Can't lay the blame on someone else.



Wolfgang

[kartvines]

I too must use a cpap machine so I went out and bought one that will run on both AC as well as D/C, have never had to use the conversion yet, because of the shore power, but they are available, the only downside is if she also must use and heater and humidifier, they can not run on the D/C. So that would be my recommendation, if you have the fund to buy a new machine, I know they can get costly.

One more thing being mine sits high above my head due to the limited space in the teardrop, I can't use the humidifier anyway, so it is does not really matter. I am dry in the morning but at least I can sleep, I always try and have a bottle of water handy just in case.

If yo need to know the make and model I use let me know.

[rainjer]

I am also a CPAP user. I run mine on 12v DC most of the time. I have my trailer set up so I can plug in to 12v or shore power just by switching the plug.

What brand & model CPAP do you have?

Jeremy

[kartvines]

I have a Resprionic RemStar/Pro2 C/Flex, and I believe the C=flex means it can run both AC as well as DC, but not really sure. Mine also has the heater and humidifier, which I can not use in the teardrop because it is above me head.

[rainjer]

I actually have 2 machines. I have the Remstar Solo LX that lives in the teardrop. I have had ii for 9-10 years. I have a Resmed Escape in the house that I got about 1 1/2 year ago. Both have a 12v have a place to plug in a 12v plug. I don't use the heater in the humidifier but I do put water in it just for a little moisture.

Jeremy

[S. Heisley]

Last summer, I camped next to someone who used a generator every night, just long enough to recharge his battery on his camper. He would turn the generator off promptly at 10:00 PM. Without even asking, he came over and apologized to me, just in case I was offended. He explained that by recharging his camper battery before bed, he could use his CPAP all night, plugged into a 12V outlet. The generator was very quiet and really didn't disturb me at all. I asked what he used and he said it was a Honda 2000 and that he was very pleased with it and would buy it again.

Will your inverter-generator recharge your camper battery or could you set something up like that?

[Arne]

nice of him to come over and explain... makes a world of difference...

Yesterday, at the gym, the cleaning fellow was doing his job on the sinks and faucets... I told him I appreciated how clean he kept the place...

My battery charger has a diode in it (not untypical these days) to prevent 'back flow' of current. So, it is always plugged in. When I hook up to shore power or use the honda gen, the battery gets charged without me have to tinker around.

At home, the t/d is garaged and is always plugged in to keep the battery fully charged.

[8ball_99]

With a small load the Honda inverter gens are very quiet. That was my number one reason for buying one.. Wasn't even for camping.. Simply because I had borrowed a culmen generator during a power outage at our home and it drove me crazy even with a 100' cord.. Told my wife never again and got the quietest generator I could find. I can stick it outside the garage with the door open and we can't hear it inside the house.. Sounds like the jetsons car lol