12 volt plug for bedroom

[tvfrfireguy]

Can anyone on this forum advise me on the best route to take.  I sleep with a CPAP machine (for sleep apnea) and would like to get an adapter and a power source installed in the bedroom.  This Feb. we will be taking our first extended trip to the Southwest and I may run into a situation where there is no shore power.  I would love to hear what others have done for this problem.  We have a  2004 32 foot Alpenlite that doesn't have a 12 volt source in the bed area.  Thank you for any help. 

 

[Karl]

One of our regular members uses one too. Hopefully he will see this and advise.
Do you have batteries and an inverter in your rig for 120VAC power? Generator for charging them? Some electronics don't like the power produced by a modified sinewave inverter, so you may need a pure sinewave model for your needs. I picked up a 600 Watt unit for right around $250 a month ago which is probably more than adequate for your needs. Take a look at the spec. plate or label on the unit and let us know what brand, model, and electrical req'ts. it has. We can go from there.

 

[Carl L]

I will assume your CPAP has a 12VDC adapter. (I have used inverters and was not happy with the performance.)  You have two choices.  One is to wire in a 12V circuit from your battery to the bedroom.  The other is to get or make a male to female 12VDC extension cord and run it from the nearest 12V outlet.  Get as heavy a gauge as you can get for the wire to cut line losses.  Marine hardware outfits do better with 12V than RV, if you decide to cobble your own extension. West Marine is a good national resource.  Click HERE to see their 12V stuff.

One point I must warn you about.  In the SW you absolutely need a humidifier.  You will find humidities in the 10-20% range.  They are murder with a CPAP.   A heated humidifier may give trouble with battery current draw.  Try to get a passive humidifier with a large water surface area.   I have one from an old RemStar that is ideal, but I am damned if I know where one can be bought today.   BTW you will absolutely need two very good deep cycle batteries to handle a CPAP.

Another point is that your altitude out here can vary wildly, from below sea level one night (Death Valley) to 7000' above a day later (Grand Canyon Village).  Know your machine's altitude features and/or consult with your tech.

 

[Just Lou]

I use a ResMed model S6 CPAP machine that operates very well on a modified sinewave inverter (Vector 2500).  I have also operated it on the small 40 watt vector inverter and the 400 watt vector inverter.    BTW ;D I'm not pro Vector, I just got a discount for being a product rep at the time, so that's what I had to test with.

I did install two additional 6 volt GC batteries (total of 4) to ensure that I had the capacity to watch a couple of movies and pop some corn before I strapped that infernal machine on for the night.  Hope this helps somehow.  lou


PS.  You may have a 12volt receptical in the bedroom already (behind the TV) if so, use a small inverter and a regular extension cord to your bedside.  Just a thought... 

 

[Woody]

I plug my DC to AC converter into the 12v receptacle in the bedroom for the small TV. I then run a short extension cord to the bed table that holds my CPAP. I have the heater but rarely turn it on when I'm sleeping in the motorhome. I've never had a problem with it running my 2 deep cycles batteries down.

Woody

 

[Karl]

Years ago, we had an ultrasonic humidifier. It had two removable water tanks, one on each side, about 1 gallon each. Did a pretty good job, but the only problem was that it also vaporized the calcium and other junk in the water and left a dusty film on everything. Worked fine with distilled water, but that was too expensive for a whole house. Sorry, but I don't remember the brand, but try Googling it.

 

[Karl]

Here's one ultrasonic unit, the Sunpentown SU-2000 that got pretty good reviews on a number of sites.

 

[IowaCamper]

Check this url for the type of humidifer you were asking about.

We just purchased one for the house at Hardware Hanks.

They have smaller units available and they filter the water

which does not leave the dust behind that a regular humidifer does.

http://www.essickair.com/

Kind Regards,

John

 

[Carl L]

Whoa folks!    We are talking about humidifiers for CPAP units here, not whole room or whole house humidifiers.  CPAP humidifiers hold about one or two cups of water.  The passive humidifiers depend on passing the pressurized air stream of the humidifier over the surface of a container of water and then into the nasal mask of the user.  The active humidifers gently heat that water to raise the evaporation rate and increase the water content of the incoming air.

 

[Karl]

Carl,

Oh! Thought you were talking about a room humidifier.... Duh!