CPAP in Europe

[Luvcruise'n]

My wife and I are spending pre cruise time in England and Germany. We know that her cpap machine will convert automatically to 220V from the 110V used at home and on the ship, but what about the extension cord and surge protector (both rated for 110V) will they work? If not any suggestions?

[2forthesea]

I just posted a thread on the Europe board about a foreign voltage adapter we bought today at Home Depot for $8. It has built-in plug adapters for three types of plugs using 220/240 volts.

 

You might want to buy one and plug the surge protector into it, and the adapter into the wall socket.

[Phoenix cruiser]

I agree. We have brought appliances such as hair dryers and curling irons to Europe that supposedly were 110/220 adaptable but burnt out anyway. After that we used voltage coverters/plug adapters and have not had any problems.

[Luvcruise'n]

Thanks for the feedback. I went to Home Depot and bought the RCA foreign voltage adapter. After getting home and reading the instructions it states "not for continious use". Unfortunately that means it wont work for a cpap machine since the cpap machine must run continously all night. It is more for small appliances such as hair dryers, curling irons, shavers, etc. Any other suggestion?

[2forthesea]

I guess you should look for one of the more expensive converters that cost about $25 -$30. You can get them online from Magellan's or any travel accessories site. Look at Target and Walmart, too.

 

I think we'll still take our cheapie, because I can use it for my hair dryer while we're in London.

[gamzap]

My husband bought a cheap converter at Wal-Mart and didn't read the instructions about not using it continuously until we were in France!!!! :cool: Luckily, it worked just fine. 26 days - 8 hours each night with his CPAP. Maybe we were lucky. We used an extension cord - take a longer one than you think you could possibly need - and even plugged in a clock occasionally with the CPAP and had no problems at all.

 

Have a great trip

[Nickwolf]

I would think a CPAP machine has a very small electrical load and would therefore probably not cause too much trouble even if used with a convertor that is not rated for continuous use.

 

A quick note about connecting clocks to the mains power over here: since our power is at 50 Hertz (unlike in the US where it is 60 Hertz) some clocks may not keep accurate time and may in fact run very slow.

 

Nick.

[2forthesea]

GamZap: Thanks for the info! DH will be hapy to hear he can use the converter we got at Home Depot. He always travels with a big exention cord. Never knows where the outlet will be in hotels, and he always needs to use it in the cabin on board ship.

 

You CPAP users may already know this, but our machine fits perfectly (hose, mask and all) in the bottom drawer of the nightstand in the cabin.

[gamzap]

Do you keep it in the drawer - open, of course - while he sleeps? Does that muffle the noise?

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

 

Patricia

[2forthesea]

He puts it on the floor or on the table top at night. It might heat up too much in the drawer at night. He keeps it plugged in to the extension, unplugs it from the wall socket, and just puts the whole thing in the bottom drawer during the day.

[Luvcruise'n]

Nickwolf thank you for your feedback. My wife's cpap does automatically convert to 220V from 110V, but will our extension cord (rated for 110V) work and not burn up if we plug it into the wall using just a plug adapter and not using the convertor? Do we need to buy a different extension cord for Europe?

[Nickwolf]

I (and I am a qualified electrician) would not recommend using a 110v rated cable on a 220v system as the insulation may not be up to the higher voltage.

 

I notice that you mention 220v, in Britain our nominal voltage is in fact 230v but in reality there is almost certainly 240v at the outlet. Since this represents close to a 10% over voltage it may explain why things have been burning out.

I would have a look in the instruction manual and see if it has a stated maximum voltage and assume it may get supplied with 240v 50hertz.

 

Sorry to give you something else to worry about :(

 

Nick.

[Sunny Shores]

I use a Respironics machine which automatiacally converts. I just have a cable (Similar to the type that goes in to the back of a Stereo) with a UK and European plug on the end. This suffices. WARNING CPAP parts such as Masks are 3 times the price of home.

[cruzin'd]

My husband used the Cpap machine last summer throughout Eastern European countries(Hungary,Poland.Czech Republic,Ausria)without any trouble. Used a 110 exrension cord and just bought converter that would fit all the countries we visited.Good Luck on your travels. It's amazing how many people belong to the "Cpap Family"