Thread: Invertor Generator

Has anyone here had any experience at using an inverter generator, one of those small compact models around 800 - 1000 watt mark, to run a CPAP machine?
I ma thinking of getting one to take on a trip to Stewart Island to either run the machine at night while I am sleeping or charge the battery for it daily. As extra batteries are ridiculous prices.

4 stroke for sure

The Honda or Yamaha will be the quietest and the most frugal with fuel

I have used all sorts on hunting trips over the years and those are the two I would trust

I dread to think of the fuel costs on Stewart Is and transporting a quantity of it and what does one do if it breaks down?

@DavidGunn just gone to $3.04 / l for 91..... I think the ferry can only take 60l total on the deck due to h&s with passengers.

Originally Posted by Mauser308

^This. Check ya rated wattage and the 'inrush' or startup current and make sure both are within rating for your CPAP unit. No point getting you to suck eggs on it, you'll know what you need to run the CPAP side of it but take a quick check on how long you need to run the genny to complete a full charge on the battery. Then work out what you need in terms of fuel burn for that run time, times number of days times 1.25 for reserve in case you tip the container or the like...

Then consider if you can do the same thing another way!

Yep, I can borrow a yamaha one to try. Plant to run it for a few nights to see if it will drive the machine and then try to drive machine and charge battery . As I get 1.25 nights off the battery that may mean only running every 2nd night. The CPAP machine I use can run off 230V as well as having an adaptor to run off 12V so am guessing , rather hoping, if I run it off 12V it may not draw as much power. .Currently if I stay away off the grid I recharge the battery off a vehicle or bike daily but have been limited to only camping where I can get a vehicle to. So if worse comes to worse will just recharge the battery daily which should draw minimal power.
Had 2 batteries which was good for 2.5 - 3 nights sleep but one of the batteries burnt the mother board out, and at $595 for another the generator may be a better long term option. Just putting it out there to see if anyone else has had similar problems.

The good thing is you will be able to take a leckie blanket to tuck into your sleeping bag and a TV....no point wasting that power.

Only problem with them is the fuel cell usaly only holds enough for about a 4 hour run time. The older type aren't recommended for running electronics

Originally Posted by Barrel

Has anyone here had any experience at using an inverter generator, one of those small compact models around 800 - 1000 watt mark, to run a CPAP machine?
I ma thinking of getting one to take on a trip to Stewart Island to either run the machine at night while I am sleeping or charge the battery for it daily. As extra batteries are ridiculous prices.

I know a guy with a CPAP machine and he just runs it off a 12v battery while staying away in his camper. Has a solar panel he puts out during the day to charge the battery. Would be a better way of doing it than a generator.

As NZ32 says: somewhere on the CPAP will be the wattage draw (Google says between 30 and 60 watts). Thats a silly small draw on any generator. You may be better off with a decent deep cycle battery (or lithium, as it will last you forever, and can power a multitude bits of kit around base camp) and a solar panel (decent size)

Buy a Tesla and run it off the cigar lighter, go Honda, but there are a few good, cheaper ones around, Trade Tested isn’t one.

Originally Posted by mimms2

I got stung by a savebarn 5kva? diesel. Told them it was shit, they went and tested it and sent back a scope reading showing 400+ volt spikes saying it was "within spec"!!!

AVR (and the rest of the electrics) has since gone so had to dial in the voltage using mechanical governor on the motor.

Gets what ya pays for but certainly wouldn't hook any sensitive elextronics to it!

I bought a Launtop one, it was 3 phase but they said I could run the house and charge the battery using the single phase outlet, soon stuffed that up so they swapped for a single phase, the regulator broke off it's plastic mountings on that one and I had it explained to me that 'continuous' does not mean continuous and that if you want your generator to last a long time don't use it.

Originally Posted by NZ32

I know a guy with a CPAP machine and he just runs it off a 12v battery while staying away in his camper. Has a solar panel he puts out during the day to charge the battery. Would be a better way of doing it than a generator.

This. A lot of electronics will run on 12 volt, have a look at the CPAP's manual. Hope you work something out.

Originally Posted by berg243

the hyundai genie i had was great but it was 6500w version so too big to lug around. could you not just get a gell cell battery to hook up as a secondary so you could take a small solar panel to charge each battery over a couple days?

Hyundai brought in by Tooline in ChCh, I think

Have a look at one of these, basically a battery with a built in inverter. They have an even bigger one as well. They can be recharged off mains or with a solar panel as well. I use one for charging drone batteries on the go and it works really well. The only noise is the cooling fan comes on intermittently when you're drawing over 200w

https://www.tradetested.co.nz/p/tool...-station-555wh

Originally Posted by Brakelie

Have a look at one of these, basically a battery with a built in inverter. They have an even bigger one as well. They can be recharged off mains or with a solar panel as well. I use one for charging drone batteries on the go and it works really well. The only noise is the cooling fan comes on intermittently when you're drawing over 200w

https://www.tradetested.co.nz/p/tool...-station-555wh

One of the reviews for this unit says that they used it for CPAP machine. Used a 1/3 of the charge for one night. You’d only get three nights out of it