# Deep cycle battery with inverter for camp energy



## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

I don't know why I didn't check here first, I've been wondering how to do this all day and surfing the net with no luck when the people here have forgotten more on the topic than the internet can provide. (props)

I am designing my one man campsite for deer season this fall. I have all of the camping equipment I need but because of cooler temps I need a smaller tent. I like the Guide Gear Tipi style tent. Nice, comfortable and easy to set up. I will also be buying a Mr. Heater Big Buddy as it usually runs between 20 and 35 degrees at night and I'm just too old to sleep on the frozen ground using a trash bag as a sleeping bag anymore.

Obviously I like my creature comforts and I am trying to figure out how to use my Cpap machine in the field. It is 110v only and draws between .03 and .05 amps. I'm sure I can run it using some type of inverter. I just don't know if I should buy a deep cycle marine battery with a small inverter or a portable power station with the built in outlets and stuff. 

I was sort of hoping to get an idea of how long a quality battery will last if I use it for 6 hours a night. Any other cold weather camping tips would be greatly appreciated.


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## Ralph Rotten (Jun 25, 2014)

Have you considered one of those little Honda digital generators. They are real quiet (meet Forestry standards) and sip the fuel. You really don;t need much, mebbe a couple LED lights and a heater.

If you are still tent shopping, you may consider this: 
http://www.amazon.com/Catoma-Advent...oma+tent&pebp=1422829371756&peasin=B00AHSRHW4
It is a little pricey, but the Catoma 4 season tents are awesome. This is the best tent I have ever owned. I take this thing in rain, snow, heat, wind. They'll maintain about 53F inside while you camped in snow (while you are out of your bag.) Vestibules on both sides so you can store gear on one side & piss on the other. Pair this with an ECWS sleeping bag and you will be good all season.

Honda generator:
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1...tbm=shop&q=generator&spd=12012388690872934586


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## Ralph Rotten (Jun 25, 2014)

"Cpap machine"

??


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

It keeps old people's airways open at night. It stops snoring and essentially keeps you from dying in your sleep. It also inflates your stomach at night so when you wake up even the dogs run out of the room.


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## Ralph Rotten (Jun 25, 2014)

I just snore real loud. Even the wife runs outta the room.


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## James m (Mar 11, 2014)

I got 76 ah by this. http://www.batterystuff.com/kb/tools/

I would still get a second opinion. Add in the dc to ac conversion and loss from just running through wires. I wouldn't listen to me though.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

About the most experience I have had with deep cycle batteries is with boats and RV's and can attest they last just about long enough for the warranty to run out which with most of them are 12 months. The guy at the RV place said the reason is the constant charging and discharging wears them out pretty quick The guy recommended instead of buying one to go to Sam's and buy two six volt golf cart batteries and hook them in series. He claimed they would last much longer than a single 12 volt marine battery but I never did not go buy those because I was sick of he RV by that time. You can get the inverter at Wally World. I got one which they claim can make a pot of Mr. Coffee which is supposed to be the torture test for cheap inverters. Guess you would need to figure out some way to charge it as with a solar charger maybe. Kindly keeps us posted as your adventures unfold I need a cpap too but a pal told me in order to get one you have to go to the ear...eye..nose and throat doctor who insists to stick a rubbber hose up your nose..so I chickened out. My wife snores like a chain saw. Maybe she needs one worse than me.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I know this only applies to my wife's CPAP, but hers has a "switching power supply" 120 VAC to 12VDC. I found a cigarette lighter plug and cord at Radio Shack, no inverter necessary. 

If yours only uses 120VAC, an inverter needs a minimum of 10 times the 110 VAC draw. So, 0.05 amps at 120 VAC would be 0.5 amp at 12VDC into the inverter. HOWEVER that seems like way too little. Check my wife's and hers needs 4.36 amp at 12VDC and that translates to 0.436 at 120 VAC. The power supply says it uses up to 0.5amp at 120VAC. So yu should be able to get away with a small inverter but you will need to do the math and figure out how long a battery would last. I'd look at a 12 volt marine battery.

I agree that the 2 golf cart batteries are the best way to go if you need over 100 amp hours.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

That tent is a ripoff of a North Face nebula tent.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

Figure 20% loss from parasitic losses from wiring and inverter efficiency (probably between 13 and 18% actual loss) so 76 amp hour x 120percent is roughly 92 amp/ hrs. A type 24 12v deep cycle battery is rated around 95 amp/hrs and weighs about 55 lbs. But wait, it gets worse, since you damage a battery every time you draw it under 50 percent charge so to protect that heavy battery you need a get a second battery and hook them in parallel, that or get a huge 100lb plus battery.

Golf Cart and RE (renewable energy) batteries have much thicker plates in them to make them more durable and resist damage when drawn down too far,,, more expensive too. Common sizes are 2v, 6v, and 12v. Unless you run with something like a lithium ion battery (lighter weight but expensive) you really want to minimize how often you draw them under 50 percent at which time their resting voltage will be 12v. While this varies by battery type a fully charged 12v battery will read 12.6v when full and when it gets down to 11.0v it's down to about 10 percent power remaining. These voltage reading are only go assuming the battery has been sitting about an hour after charging or being used.

Most inverters have an automatic shut off around 11v to help protect the battery from going to 0 which is really hard on the battery.


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## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

csi-tech said:


> Obviously I like my creature comforts and I am trying to figure out how to use my Cpap machine in the field.


I was just thinking about that EXACT dilemma this morning.

So here is the answer to your question - sort of... I once ran a satellite receiver and flat screen TV for about two to three hours a night during a storm recovery. Did it with the battery out of my truck and a 350W inverter. The low voltage alarm never tripped but I limited max use to three hours because I didn't want to ruin the battery and because I didn't want to have a storm recovery AND three hours of Sponge Bob.

Figuring that the TV and sat-box pulls way more than my CPAP does, I feel I should be good for a solid 5 and probably 6 hours if not more.

BUT! Here is what I started wondering...

My battery is DC.
My CPAP is DC.
Why do I want to convert to AC (suffering about 5% to 10% loss due to inefficiencies - estimated) and then back to DC (suffering another 5% to 10% loss)? I could be wasting up to 20% of the power I consume.

So I looked up my CPAP manual online.
http://www.apria.com/wps/wcm/connec...th+A-Flex+M+Series+User+Guide.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

I'm using 2.1 amps at 120V for 252 watts of AC power.
But DC, it only needs 12v at 5a - or in reality about 60watts DC.

So if I could find a way to run a straight line off the battery (WITH A FUSE!) and plug the CPAP in on that, then I'd be using less energy, creating less noise (cooling fans), and probably getting a cleaner source of electricity for the CPAP. That's what I'm looking for now. So far everything I see tells me I can straight wire it with zero circuitry, but that sounds too good to be true. I don't want to gamble with a $4,500 CPAP.


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## Tennessee (Feb 1, 2014)

When we go camping in the mid-summer and winter we need power to run the heater and air conditioners for our camper. A few of the camp sites won't allow us to run generators at night so I looked into converting over to batteries. A good 100 amp heavy duty deep cycle battery will cost you around 200-300 dollars. With a 3 to 5 year service life. And they are very heavy to lug around.

If it were me I would get one of these http://www.costco.com/Smarter-Tools-2000-watt-Parallel-Capable-Inverter-Generator-with-Yamaha%c2%ae-Engine.product.100121916.html at Costco. I can run my AC all night on a tank of gas. My cousin has a Honda and the Yamaha is just as quite. And if I place it next to the stream you can't even here it. It will last you a lot longer than a battery and will give you more options down the road.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Based of my experience running a solar/wind array on my 37 ft boat...I would definitely go with a Gel Cell Battery. Yes its more expensive than a conventional battery but its less maintenance and in my experience holds up better to repeated deep discharges for about 4-6 years depending on how hard it gets used. Hard is defined as how deeply its repeatedly discharged before being recharged again with a trickle charger. I have had some last about 9-10 years but the typical life span seems to be about 5-6 years for me. You wanna look for one that's rated in Amp Hours not cold cranking amps. For example if your using a 8D 220 amp hour battery and your using 1/2 an amp an hour, then on paper this battery would last you 440 hours of run time before being completely drained and requiring recharge. Remember your inverter changing 12v DC to 110v AC is gonna draw some power too. And yes there will be some parasitic loos of juice as well due to resistence in the wiring.

FWIW...I frequently use one of those 7.5 amp hour batteries that alarm companys use for temp power in a brief power outage to keep the alarm system up and running to run my color 5" FF on my Kayak as well as my 360 white LED night navigation light and it will usually give me about two full nights of use before needing to be recharged. Both of these are 12v systems and don't require and inverter. I have on numerous occasions used a small inverter to recharge my phone or power my lap top for several hours during the course of a night using the same small 7.5 amp hour battery. These batteries are pretty small and compact and run about 25-30 bucks depending on where you buy them at a sporting goods shop or Ace Hardware.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

GT, Does your unit have a transformer (big black box) built into the plug? If so read the output voltage. If it says between 11 and 13v you can hook directly to a 12v battery.


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

No I checked, it's AC only so I would have to have a generator or an inverter. This land is completely private and relatively isolated. I may break down and just buy a generator since I will absolutely need one eventually. I want to put a nicer travel trailer on the land and I'll need power for the rooftop A/C units and other things. I have alot to think about.


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

I have found a cheap digital portable television that will run on batteries, I found a company that will rent me a portable toilet for the entire season and I also located a source for the 4 component military sleep systems at a cheap price. If I bring my portable DVD player, hunting season may be an absolutely relaxing event.


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## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

FoolAmI said:


> GT, Does your unit have a transformer (big black box) built into the plug? If so read the output voltage. If it says between 11 and 13v you can hook directly to a 12v battery.


Aye. It does that indeed.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

GT, The black transformer will have its output voltage printed in it along with either AC or DC. You ay need good light to read that little print on the transformer. If it's DC (which it usually is) find a large battery with roughly the same voltage and a male jack to plug into your unit. It should run fine directly off the battery. How long it runs off the battery depends on the unit's power needs and how large the battery is. If you get a solar panel roughly in the correct power range you can recharge the battery automatically each day.

After determining your unit's voltage needs let me know and I can point you to an acceptable battery size and solar setup.

I run both direct 12v DC and 120V ac off my solar system but some units are 6v, 12v, 24, 36v, and 48v.


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

Crap! I never realized that solar may help keep the battery boosted. Lunatic, thanks for the info. It is Gel cell all the way for me. I had gels when I ran a 12/24 32' thrust trolling motor and those things were worth every penny!


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

csi-tech said:


> No I checked, it's AC only so I would have to have a generator or an inverter. This land is completely private and relatively isolated. I may break down and just buy a generator since I will absolutely need one eventually. I want to put a nicer travel trailer on the land and I'll need power for the rooftop A/C units and other things. I have alot to think about.


Inverter system it is then,,,,,, If you even need a replacement unit do a little research and find one that uses a DC wall transformer since your 120v AC unit probably has a tiny built in transformer with a DC air pump motor and electronics anyway. Most small motors are DC anyway and the difference is you're simply looking for a unit with the transformer that plugs into the wall instead of a built in transformer.

Please realize that I'm not a Doc nor any sort of master electrician but I deal with AC and DC small systems pretty often for my work.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

csi-tech said:


> Crap! I never realized that solar may help keep the battery boosted.


I keep a small home build solar system running as part of my preps.


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## tinkerhell (Oct 8, 2014)

Just wondering, are you planning on running a heated humidifier as well? because just like toasters, frying pans, etc. a heated humidifier takes up quite a bit of power. If this is your case, I'd recommend a 1000W Honda generator. I had one for my tent trailer, it was so quiet, it took me a few years to realize that whenever I ran it, it was actually on the ground below my pillow. 

I have a respironics cpap. The power cord from the wall steps down to 12Volts before it reaches the CPAP. So I dug into my box of old power adapters and found a plug that fits the cpap. I have it wired to some banana clips. A 12V 15Ah rechargeable lead acid battery gives me 9hrs+ without going dead.

Once, I used my cpap in a motorhome plugged into an inverter, it killed the motorhome's deep cycle battery but not until the 4th day or so.I actually thought my cpap was defective because it would work for 20 minutes then stop, work another 10 minutes then stop, and so on.


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## tinkerhell (Oct 8, 2014)

I have a small solar panel similar to this one:
Coleman 2.5 Watt 12 Volt Solar Battery Maintainer | Canadian Tire

At 2.5W, it only produces about 50mA of charge current, not enough to charge my 12V battery for my CPAP during hurricaine Aurthur last summer.ie a 16hr day of charging just didn't cut it, I was forced to connect it to my truck for awhile.


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

I never use the heated humidifier. They are nice in the winter but I bought my last one without that option.


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## tinkerhell (Oct 8, 2014)

Jmo, if you want an awesome full comfort setup, the 1000W honda generator will be a great idea. We camped in -15 weather in a tent trailer without my wife leaving me. It was the generator that kept her happy, it is quiet, runs a long time on a cup of gas. As long as it was running, the camper's electrical system stayed strong. The propane furnace works better when the fan is going, and the wife and son were happier with full electronics.


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