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Wiring an Auxiliary Battery

  • Thread starter Deleted member 4372
  • Start date
D

Deleted member 4372

Greetings
I've recently gained a cPAP machine and am sorting out how to take it with me on the bike on trips. I usually camp and I'm wondering if any of you have done the wiring for an auxiliary battery.
(Surgery is not an option: my apnea is both physiological and neurological. Mouth pieces aren't either. Going without, according to my doctor, is unwise. But I'm also loathe to stop doing trips. Thus the battery...)
If so, some questions:
--where did you put the battery isolator, if you installed one?
--where do you carry the extra battery?
--any tips on wiring and placement or anything else concerning "auxiliary battery" you might offer?

I've gained some good input from ADVrider. I've scoured this site too. I'd rather learn from other's experience and perhaps avoid problems and didn't see what I'm trying to do addressed. If I did miss it in my searching, please point me in the right direction: I would be most grateful.

Many thanks!
Rainier
 
One other question

Oops. I forgot to mention something that might be important.
I ride a 2013 DCT. I know the DCT is finicky about battery power.
Do any of you electrical wizards think charging an auxiliary battery, through a voltage regulated isolator, will be a problem for the DCT?

Again: Many thanks!
Rainier
 
My concern is how big of battery you need to run the machine all night. That could be a lot of energy the bike’s charging system would have to replace. It would probably take hours of riding to charge it.

JT
 
Instead of carrying an extra battery on the bike, why dont you get an auto travel cpap with a built in battery-works for at least 8 hours on battery, then you could plug it into a 12 volt adapter while riding and recharge the cpap battery....
Here is an example with the optional powershell with battery:
Human Design Medical Z1 Auto Travel CPAP Machine
 
I'd probably want to carry it in the frunk. That's one of the better locations for extra weight.
 
It wouldn't be too hard to put a relay between the main battery and aux battery, triggered by the tail light (or something else hot whenever the bike is).
 
Thanks, guys, for the ideas/suggestions/observations/ideas.

I figure a deep charge battery, 18 Ah, should do the trick (basing this on others' experience, mainly from ADVrider). I don't foresee difficulty in wiring the switch/relay/separator gizzie (<-- technical name, there) but I'm uncertain as to best locations for components.

There is space, discussed many times in our forum, in the area under the plastic panels on either side of the triple tree. I'm using that already to store an air pressure gauge, a frequency modulator for the heated grips, and a power distribution box, so that's my first idea for a place for the separator.

Frunk for the extra battery seems quite feasible and a good spot for the weight. My other thought was in one of the Tusk panniers I've got, which would place the weight even lower. I'd have to make sure I balanced the load. An early check on batteries shows weights of 6 to 8 pounds for an AGM battery. Wiring into the pannier isn't a big deal. I do like projects that involve wiring...

I'm afraid getting another cPAP machine isn't in my budget. I've investigated a few designed for travel, including the Z1 mentioned above. Sweet set up to be sure. Can't do it. Wiring in a battery with the appropriate voltage converter for my machine is going to cost close to $160. Another cPAP machine starts around $380. I'm keeping an eye on Craig's list and fleaBay for a bargain. We'll see.

My next trip, ten days in the Canadian Rockies, isn't until June, so I've got time to properly suss this all out.

Any other ideas/suggestions are most welcome! Thanks again for those offered so far.
 
I don't know much about the cpaps but, I was discussing the problems on the road with them with another truck driver that goes over the road with one. And what I learned was that even our two truck batteries will run down over the night. Drivers that have a cpap machine idle their trucks all night to avoid killing them. I would be surprised if a lead acid battery that fits on a bike would run a cpap through the night. I would suggest going to a nice big lithium ion battery but I suspect that would be more than a travel cpap with it own battery.
 
Weight distribution front to rear is important as well. There's a reason performance bikes all put you so far forward. Whether or not it matters for you I don't know.
 
if you take your home unit on the road, will you need an inverter? Does the home unit come with a straight DC connector?
 
GregC--The cPAP manufacturer (ResMed) is quite happy to sell me a 12v to the required 24v convertor for $95.00. $65.00 on Amazon if I were a doctor. (I asked my brother, an MD, if he could order it. His office doesn't have an Amazon account.)
There are guys on ADVrider using a deep-charge battery 16-18 Ah, and finding power to spare in the morning.
I'm still in research mode; lots more questions than answers so far.
Rumor is that the ResMed website has a lot of information on running from batteries. Guess that's my next stop.
Keep the ideas coming, both for my use and perhaps others who use a cPAP machine and have a different approach than mine.
Thanks again, guys.
Rainier
 
Got it done.
Used a $30 Amazon "voltage sensitive relay"--VSR-- installed under the right hand side fake air vent storage space. Thee's an SAE two lead bulkhead plug in the frunk( from the VSR) into which a mating SAE connection from the battery in the frrunk. The VSR sends power to the auxiliary battery when bike voltage is above 12.8 volts. Aux battery takes up a lot of the frunk's space. I have a tank bag if I need it.
I tested the whole system: used the battery with my cpap overnight. Worked well with the cpap manufacturer's 12 to 24v converter. It lost less than half its charge.
Riding around town running errands and it got about half of that back. A longer ride without stopping the day after that and it was showing fully charged. I figure on next month's Canada trip I have over half a charged battery ready after one night's use. Most days I'm riding five hours minimum which would put me at close or at a full charge.
Verdict in so far is it's working. I'll do another test over the next few days.
Thanks for the ideas and questions guys.
 
One other question

Oops. I forgot to mention something that might be important.
I ride a 2013 DCT. I know the DCT is finicky about battery power.
Do any of you electrical wizards think charging an auxiliary battery, through a voltage regulated isolator, will be a problem for the DCT?

Again: Many thanks!
Rainier

Ok, following!
:D
 
Got it done.
Used a $30 Amazon "voltage sensitive relay"--VSR-- installed under the right hand side fake air vent storage space. Thee's an SAE two lead bulkhead plug in the frunk( from the VSR) into which a mating SAE connection from the battery in the frrunk. The VSR sends power to the auxiliary battery when bike voltage is above 12.8 volts. Aux battery takes up a lot of the frunk's space. I have a tank bag if I need it.
I tested the whole system: used the battery with my cpap overnight. Worked well with the cpap manufacturer's 12 to 24v converter. It lost less than half its charge.
Riding around town running errands and it got about half of that back. A longer ride without stopping the day after that and it was showing fully charged. I figure on next month's Canada trip I have over half a charged battery ready after one night's use. Most days I'm riding five hours minimum which would put me at close or at a full charge.
Verdict in so far is it's working. I'll do another test over the next few days.
Thanks for the ideas and questions guys.

Any more tests?
 
It worked without a problem from central washington to Banff and Jasper Alberta, back via Glacier Park etc. 9 days riding. camping all but one night. Everything performed as I hoped.
 
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