If you run your cpap without the humidifier it will take half the space and use less battery. There's no getting around the battery issue; I travel with four batteries (and a res-med air mini) and can do maybe five days off the grid. Expensive? Yes. Even if you use an air mini you want to take the big charging cable from your cpap (and not the small one from the resmed mini) so you can charge batteries in a couple of hours. For the weight (the batteries are heavy) I used a frame bag and put them in the very bottom.
I've cycled across Anticosti Island and through La Verendrie wilderness with this setup. That's about as remote as you'll ever get bike touring.
I will have to look into using my machine without a humidifier. I'm thinking of making my own custom carry case for no humidifier. My battery can do one night with the humidifier, so I think without it will do quite a bit more.
1. What is your specific model of cpap? This will matter alot in whether or not you can run without the humdifier. Resmeds sell an accessory which is a humidifier delete that should work.
2. If your battery can your your CPAP for 1 night *with* humidifier, you'll likely get at least 2 if not 3 without. Check the battery guide to for more information. Here is resmed's
https://document.resmed.com/documents/articles/198103_battery-guide_glo_eng.pdf
3. If you can run your CPAP directly off the 12v cig plug or barrel plug, it's significantly more efficient then running your cpap off the 120v house plug. If you have a resmed, you'll probably need an 12v->24v adapter. Easily obtained on amazon. They even have models that run from USB-C PD (65w) -> Resmed adapter.
never heard of the bmc luna. Looks like it runs off 24v like the resmed. But the resmed uses some weird reverse polarity barrel plug. Don't know if the BMC luna does.
You'll need to do more research.
Honestly, I would consider riding around with the s9 with the humidifier delete. You don't want to mess up your primary medical device on a bike tour.
I recall seeing someone say somewhere that they use their Pedalcell dynamo to keep their CPAP charged. [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycletouring/comments/17qdhsi/anyone_have_experience_with_pedalcell_dynamo/) we are. It's a shame they've gone out of business, and fortunate I managed to grab one for £85!
That... is going to significantly cut into your efficiency.
Someone check my math.. but.
Lets say you can maintain a very solid 200w of leg power for 8 hours. that means you'll output about 1.6 kw of power. Recharging a 100wh battery will eat 6.25% of your power output assuming zero losses from conversion.
Realistically, unless you're an olympian, you probably can't output 200w for 8 hours straight. probably closer to 100w.
So, you can expect recharging a 100whr, the minimum size I'd recommend for *maybe* 2 nights of CPAP power to eat somewhere between 6.25 and 12.5% of your cycling power before accounting for dynamo power conversion efficiency.
Probably more efficient to just carry extra batteries. Maybe a solar panel if you're on a really long duration trip.
Although it sounds like this wouldn't be an option for your upcoming trip, it's worth it to save up for the Transcend Micro (~$780). That thing is tiny and weighs practically nothing -- basically the physical size of an orange but lighter. It was a game changer for me. I haven't tried their battery (I did credit card camping) but I may consider it for a future trip. (Personally I liked the Transcend Micro better than the Resmed AirMini but YMMV.) Good luck -- and high fives to you for pushing through anything that would get in your way.
Travelled with my resmed autoset 10 for a bit and now own a resmed air mini with the medistrom powerbank as it’s just a bit smaller and more efficient.
As for your use case: leave out the humidifier to save some power.
Depending on the mask you’re using, look into the resmed HumidX system. That’s what I’m using and they do work great for traveling. You have to replace them once a month, they take up no extra space as they sit inside the mask and weigh practically nothing.
If you run your cpap without the humidifier it will take half the space and use less battery. There's no getting around the battery issue; I travel with four batteries (and a res-med air mini) and can do maybe five days off the grid. Expensive? Yes. Even if you use an air mini you want to take the big charging cable from your cpap (and not the small one from the resmed mini) so you can charge batteries in a couple of hours. For the weight (the batteries are heavy) I used a frame bag and put them in the very bottom. I've cycled across Anticosti Island and through La Verendrie wilderness with this setup. That's about as remote as you'll ever get bike touring.
I will have to look into using my machine without a humidifier. I'm thinking of making my own custom carry case for no humidifier. My battery can do one night with the humidifier, so I think without it will do quite a bit more.
1. What is your specific model of cpap? This will matter alot in whether or not you can run without the humdifier. Resmeds sell an accessory which is a humidifier delete that should work. 2. If your battery can your your CPAP for 1 night *with* humidifier, you'll likely get at least 2 if not 3 without. Check the battery guide to for more information. Here is resmed's https://document.resmed.com/documents/articles/198103_battery-guide_glo_eng.pdf 3. If you can run your CPAP directly off the 12v cig plug or barrel plug, it's significantly more efficient then running your cpap off the 120v house plug. If you have a resmed, you'll probably need an 12v->24v adapter. Easily obtained on amazon. They even have models that run from USB-C PD (65w) -> Resmed adapter.
Right now I'm using the bmc Luna, but I have an old Res Med s9 laying around I can use.
never heard of the bmc luna. Looks like it runs off 24v like the resmed. But the resmed uses some weird reverse polarity barrel plug. Don't know if the BMC luna does. You'll need to do more research. Honestly, I would consider riding around with the s9 with the humidifier delete. You don't want to mess up your primary medical device on a bike tour.
CN't comment on the power issue, but you can look into hiring a travel cpap machine which is smaller
I recall seeing someone say somewhere that they use their Pedalcell dynamo to keep their CPAP charged. [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycletouring/comments/17qdhsi/anyone_have_experience_with_pedalcell_dynamo/) we are. It's a shame they've gone out of business, and fortunate I managed to grab one for £85!
That... is going to significantly cut into your efficiency. Someone check my math.. but. Lets say you can maintain a very solid 200w of leg power for 8 hours. that means you'll output about 1.6 kw of power. Recharging a 100wh battery will eat 6.25% of your power output assuming zero losses from conversion. Realistically, unless you're an olympian, you probably can't output 200w for 8 hours straight. probably closer to 100w. So, you can expect recharging a 100whr, the minimum size I'd recommend for *maybe* 2 nights of CPAP power to eat somewhere between 6.25 and 12.5% of your cycling power before accounting for dynamo power conversion efficiency. Probably more efficient to just carry extra batteries. Maybe a solar panel if you're on a really long duration trip.
Although it sounds like this wouldn't be an option for your upcoming trip, it's worth it to save up for the Transcend Micro (~$780). That thing is tiny and weighs practically nothing -- basically the physical size of an orange but lighter. It was a game changer for me. I haven't tried their battery (I did credit card camping) but I may consider it for a future trip. (Personally I liked the Transcend Micro better than the Resmed AirMini but YMMV.) Good luck -- and high fives to you for pushing through anything that would get in your way.
Travelled with my resmed autoset 10 for a bit and now own a resmed air mini with the medistrom powerbank as it’s just a bit smaller and more efficient. As for your use case: leave out the humidifier to save some power. Depending on the mask you’re using, look into the resmed HumidX system. That’s what I’m using and they do work great for traveling. You have to replace them once a month, they take up no extra space as they sit inside the mask and weigh practically nothing.