CPAP Emergency Power

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mmayo

mmayo

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An artist friend mentioned that she almost choked to death when he CPAP machine stopped during a late night power outage. That was enough for me to make her this unit. It is a 32 amp hr sealed battery with a 500 watt peak power inverter. I made a custom case with carry handle and prettied up the cables. At least on night when she knows there will be an outage she will have power. It should also light a light, charge her Mac and iPhone. It has two AC outlets and two USB ports.
 

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Great! I used CPAP for a few weeks, I had Obtrusive Apnea, got nose and throat surgery and problem fix!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Wait, okay Mark, you're a woodworker extraordinaire and you do electrical as well? This is very nice and a great thing for a person who requires a CPAP. You should score big points for this device! What else do you have up your sleeve? Maybe Orthopedic Surgeon, Neurologist?
 
If more were as conscientious as you, the world would be a better place. I also love the craftsmanship and pride you show in your gift - a simple box would have done the job just fine, but this is a reflection of your care and concern for a friend... A possible life saving device that also looks "Purdy!" I applaud you.
 
wolf creek knives said:
Wait, okay Mark, you're a woodworker extraordinaire and you do electrical as well? This is very nice and a great thing for a person who requires a CPAP. You should score big points for this device! What else do you have up your sleeve? Maybe Orthopedic Surgeon, Neurologist?
Click to expand...

Thanks for your kindness.

Many years ago during the summer after my sophomore year in high school I was hired to work at Vega. The company later became Cerwin Vega. I made 18" speakers and also 15" and 10" models. I spent all breaks watching a guy build 1000-300 watt amps. I wanted to be him badly. One day Eugene Cerwinsky (the Man himself) told me his amp builder quit and I was up. It was daunting. The first amp worked perfectly but was not polished. I worked daily to improve and they looked pretty after a couple of weeks. Later the owner of Polytone amps asked me to build amps for him. I ended up working two jobs totaling 12 hrs per day. Before you complain about child labor please know this changed my life and formed my lifetime work ethic. Before this time I thought I was lazy; I just needed a chance.

I better know how to wire up a battery to and inverter!!!

Never a neurologist, but I did do research at the USC Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology for about 20 years.
 
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Mark, your work is terrific. I have been using CPAP nightly for going on 4 years now. Could you give me a build list with trade names so I can do a couple of these - one for me and another for a friend? What is the approx. cost of components, so I can budget.
 
Maybe there is something I don't understand about sleep apnea but why not rig an alarm to wake the person up? Once up they could make the decision to wait out the outage or plug their machine into a battery power supply. Here in the winter I would prefer to know the power was out so I could turn on the gas fireplace to keep the house warm. They cool pretty quick at -40. ;)

Don't get me wrong, Your power supply is great and thoughtful.
 
I have been using CPAP for 26 years. . It never occurred to me to worry about a power failure during the night !

Perhaps that is testimony to the (perceived) reliably of our hydro-based power grid here in this part of the world.
Or perhaps it is testimony to something else ....... 🥵

Thank you, Mark, for bringing this matter to our attention !!!!
 
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magpens said:
Perhaps that is testimony to the (perceived) reliably of our hydro-based power grid here in this part of the world.
Click to expand...

Whether the source of power is hydro, natural gas, oil or nuclear has absolutely nothing to do with the reliability of power at your home.

The real issue is the wires between those sources and your home - when those wires come down, you will lose paper no matter where it comes from.
 
Here are the main components available in one or two days from Amazon. I used 3/4" Baltic birch plywood and a 1-1/8" dowel purchased at Home Depot. You will need a couple of connectors to terminate the supplied cable to the battery. They crimp on and then I used heat shrink slipped over the connectors. Hers has four rubber feet.

The unit is not light, but if moved near the person's bed I could stay there and be plugged in there nicely.

When building the box please be mindful that the battery has to fit inside when you complete your work. My design put a priority on making the handle secure, it has 1" of plywood above it, it is glued in place and there is a screw that was run through the plywood and into the dowel. Be sure to drill the plywood wide enough that the screw slides in and out without effort. Use a smaller drill for where the screw hits the dowel. To that end, the bottom screws in place with six drywall screws. To change batteries you unscrew the bottom, slide out the old and slide in the new. Mine is three years old and humming along nicely.

Be sure to buy sealed, AGM batteries for safety - they can work upside down!
 

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30 years ago we moved into our house which is 2 miles from the power plant and thought great I should never lose power again. We lost power more times in the first 5 years than in all my years before. My CPAP allows me to breath even if it loses power though it is noticeably harder. But a very good idea.
 
Mark, that was a wonderful gesture that I'm sure was graciously received. On a side note, I may have owned some of your great work at one time as I used to own a set of V30 and V35 speakers, as well as a pair of home models I can't remember right now. Growing up I was a huge CV fan as I loved their slogan, "Loud is beautiful if it's clean"....
 
David350 said:
Mark, that was a wonderful gesture that I'm sure was graciously received. On a side note, I may have owned some of your great work at one time as I used to own a set of V30 and V35 speakers, as well as a pair of home models I can't remember right now. Growing up I was a huge CV fan as I loved their slogan, "Loud is beautiful if it's clean"....
Click to expand...

We did a concert in the late 60's for Lee Michaels - his personal PA was loud. When we showed up and saw his system set up, we turned it toward him and set up six or eight folded horn 18" speakers with 4-10" top boxes facing the crowd. We had 8 - 3,000 watt power amps.

He said something like WTF and I asked him to sit at his Hammond organ and hit two low notes- he was totally floored as he was almost blown off his seat. During the gig we could feel the bass well at 1/4 mile out. Good times but my back has never been the same...
 
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