I have a bit of a technical question that someone may know how to answer!!
We often go on CC rallies in fields with no hook up - not a problem as we have a small solar panel to drip charge the battery and also have a honda generator for emergencies.
Sadly we have been told that my daughter needs to have a permanent oxygen supply from now on - we can supply this with a small portable oxygen concentrator but I need to know if our leisure battery will be up to the job of running the concentrator for 10 hours?
The details are
AC Power - 100V-240V, 50Hz-60Hz
DC Power - 12V-17V
Power Consumption - <= 32W
Im not very technical when it comes to electrics!! but if I run it of the DC power constantly for 10 hours do you think the battery will hold up - there shouldn't be anything else running as we will be asleep!! The concentrator does have its own rechargeable battery but only runs for 80 minutes on it!
In theory this is easy to work out watts = volts x amps, what you need to calculate is amps, so its amps = watts divided by volts, in your example amps drawn is therefore 32/12 = 2.66 amps, for 10 hrs therefore it is 26.6 amp hrs which would use roughly a quarter of a 110AHr battery... Thats the theory..
In practice, due to the nature of the equipment you intend to use I would suggest you fully charge your leisure battery, then use your equipment at home and see if it does indeed last as the theory only works given a fully charged perfect battery and warm ambient conditions, voltage loss in the caravan wiring etc etc
To echo the previous comments - A leisure battery should be able to run the concentrator for 10 hours, the question is can the solar panel recharge the battery sufficiently before the next night?
Thank you all for your replies - we normally only go away for a few nights at a time with no hook up but do plan a week at whitsun - we will give it a trial run at Easter and then make a decision. We just didnt want to be lugging heavy oxygen cylinders around with us.
I'd also suggest a trial run at home if you can to see how long it lasts, it's difficult to know how well a battery is performing. The tekkies will be able to advise but I imagine that in colder conditions the leisure battery might work less well so worth bearing in mind.
Good on you for continuing to camp though and letting your DD have the freedom of camping
At worst you can use your genny to recharge - I would pop to the near neighbours and explain the situation re medical kit and I can't imagine that anyone would have an issue if you ran the genny at a reasonable time and without smoking someone out.
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Topic: Technical? Battery Usage + Oxygen use!!
