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Sailing with a CPAP

3K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  chef2sail 
#1 ·
I took my first overnight sail recently across the Sea of Cortez and loved it. Looking forward to doing more sailing.

But I use a CPAP and would be interested to hear solutions from those who also use one which would allow for longer voyage sailing. A battery pack, while otherwise a good idea, only lasts a couple of days from what I read.
 
#2 ·
I took my first overnight sail recently across the Sea of Cortez and loved it. Looking forward to doing more sailing.

But I use a CPAP and would be interested to hear solutions from those who also use one which would allow for longer voyage sailing. A battery pack, while otherwise a good idea, only lasts a couple of days from what I read.
Do a search here, there are a bunch of threads. There was just a discussion on this over at SBO, the thread was quite informative. You could give that one a read too.
https://forums.sailboatowners.com/t...y-anchor-or-moor-out.1249922636/#post-1612494

I am working out my own solution as well.
 
#3 · (Edited)
No reason one couldn’t figure out how to connect to ships battery power. I’m sure some CPAPs are more energy efficient than others, so one would need to do the math on ships capacity and draw. My gut tells me this is very doable on any boat with a reasonable house bank.

p.s. I’m assuming, while these may be typically plugged into 110v AC outlets that the motors are actually DC motors and the CPAPs covert AC to DC . Trick may be to either obtain a DC CPAP, if they exist, bypass the AC-DC converter and simply introduce a DC voltage converter if needed, or use a small DC to AC inverter (which is less efficient if the unit is just converting back to DC)
 
#5 ·
As the SBO thread I posted the link to has information about, you can get a battery pack for your CPAP or a 24V DC cord as well. The main draw is the heater for humidification. Take that out of the picture and you get a pretty low amp draw.
 
#6 ·
I use ResMed CPAP machines and both the S9 and the latest Airsense 10 models have a DC/DC adapter that you can buy. Basically just an overpriced boost converter. I started down the path of buying a cheaper boost converter and doing the wiring myself but Resmed uses a 3rd "sensor" conductor in the power cable that would take too much time and effort to attempt to trick or defeat.

You definitely should not use the humidifier and probably won't need it on the water anyway. With the humidifier you'd be pulling a lot of amps. Depending on the model and settings it could be 10+ amps... My new Airsense 10 without humidifier and wifi etc turned off pulls about 2 amps

Good luck!
 
#7 ·
I too am a hose head, my solution is easy. My CPAP runs off 12VDC, so I just have a simple power cord that plugs into a 12v socket (lighter style) and directly into the power port. I keep the humidifier turned off and can go for days on one 12v RV battery.

Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk
 
#8 ·
Good to listen to those with real knowledge of CPAP use vs those who can only give general help using internet searched information. Some good advice here from other CPAP users.

My wife and I Both use CPAP. The draw of energy will be determined by two factors. 1- the humidifier and 2- the level of your prescription required that your CPAP must operate at for you specifically.

I have a Dream Station . It is a a complete waste to buy a DC CPAP as all major makers have DC adaptors to use on their AC machines if necessary. They are specific to the brand vs universal. My CPAP at home works on AC current. One the boat it is AC when in the slip and DC when shore power is not present.

So let's discuss the DC aspect. Yes you can by an adaptor to have it run of a cigarette plug direct to you boats battery bank. It does draw a SIGNIFICANT CURRENT. if you don't have a large battery bank it can / will deplete it. Again dependent on your specific level. My dream station can use 37 ah on a 6 hour usage . My level is 13.

To mitigate this I have purchased a separate battery. It's very portable and can be taken anywhere. I have had two different batteries and have found the best one is the MAXOAK. (300w). It lasts over 5 nights in a row without a recharge, however can be charged through an inverter when running the engine so you do not affect the boats battery bank.

We have a 720 ah ( 360 usable) large battery bank on a 35 ft boat. Many weekend sailors are like us and have bought similar. You can waste money buying smaller batteries, but this one seems to also get great recommendations.

We charge the battery before leaving and that is easily enough for a 5 day run.

https://www.amazon.com/MAXOAK-Airse...BWTBFAYQGFF&psc=1&refRID=888RY6XT3BWTBFAYQGFF
 
#10 ·
My unit is 4 years old. We charge the portable battery pack that I mentioned in the previous post by running it on the AC inverter when we run the engine.

Another advantage of the battery pack is that you don't have wire hooked up everywhere. It is portable so no matter which spot you crash on the boat it sits right beside the CPAP machine.

https://www.amazon.com/MAXOAK-Airse...ID=888RY6XT3BWTBFAYQGFF&tag=sailnetconvert-20
 
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