Thank you all for responses, my experience with European electrical fittings is carry a lot of different types of converters and be prepared to use "brute force and ignorance" I have spent many hours reading machine docs and think I have it sorted I will E mail all the hotels concerned and ensure they have power points adjacent to the bed. I was in Verona Italy a few days ago and had to use bed the wrong way round to allow hose to reach head and machine (lovely place though and worth any difficulty). The machine adapts to differing currents my next problems are travel insurance for the machine any experience out there? Alsacienne I will try the linguistics TY, hope my useless English pronunciation is not too risible!

After my first couple of trips with CPAP, I started to carry a 4 metre power extension cable with me all the time. So far this has enabled me to reach from a power outlet to the side of the bed where I put my CPAP machine in every hotel or B&B I have stayed at.

The extension cable can be for whatever your normal plug type is (I assume you are using UK type G plug) as it will go into the adapter to the local outlet type at the wall point.

Cheers,

Bill

I always take one with me for the same reasons Bill. I take a 4-gang, so that I can charge up the phone, iPod, SatNav, and only have to rely on one international plug converter.

Life can be difficult if you are a gadget addict!

I too include my extension cable (with 4 input points) as a standard feature in my packing. So far so good .......... and haven't tripped any switches in any of the hotels I've stayed at!

Well I have taken it abroad to America, Gibralter and the Czech Republic since I got my APAP in Jan. 07.

Going out of Britain, nobody has batted an eyelid, twice they did not even check the letter, they just waved it through on the conveyor belt. I just said medical equipment and that was that.

In Gibralter, the nice man from British Airways walked me to security and ensured that the local Spaniards waved it through too (he actually said it was oxygen but I did not see the point in correcting him). The Czechs looked at it, I vaguely gesticulated how it worked and the woman looked so freaked she just franctically told me to go on.

In the States the woman instantly said "is that a CPAP" to which I said yes. Inspite of her knowing what it was, she insisted on getting it all switched on and functioning, to prove it was the CPAP she had already told me she knew it was!

So basically, in the UK they do not know what it is but do not seem to care. But in the States they know but insist on making you prove that it is the device they know for sure it is.

Bizarre!

This is my first post on the forum so please be gentle!

I have just returned from a trip to the US and took both a mains CPAP machine and a new battery powered travel machine for the overnight flight.
It seems that CPAP machines are far more common in the states and in fact the lady in the queue next to mine at security on the flight home had a resmed machine. I have never seen anyone else with one before.
The security guy knew exactly what it was and duly swabbed the machine as well as the usual x-ray.
I have traveled to several European countries and have never had a problem getting the machine on the plane.
The battery unit was great. I explained to the people bedside me what it was before we left so that it did not worry them when it came out of the bag as I would think it could be quite a concern.
It worked well and was a great help.

If you want to know any more about the machine or the supplier PM me.

Just my tuppeneth

ChrisP

I am travelling to the States with BA on Club World. They have em-power supply at the seat which I want to avail of.

I have just been given a new replacement c-pap by my hospital - a ResMed S8 Escape and on reading the manual it says that you can only use the S8 specific DC-12 converter with the machine.

I have bought a second-hand Teleadapt Inseat Power Adapter and need to know whether I need anything else to secure the supply for the use of my machine, or do I just plug the above adapter straight into the DC 'hole' at the back of the c-pap. (the manual warns that the device should not be connected to both AC and DC power sources simultaneously!)

I get so confused regards voltage etc. requirements and am not technologically literate at all. I would be grateful if someone could explain in 'baby-steps' how I cope with the set up on the plane.

Thanks.

The Teledapt produces mains power voltage on its output, so you just plug the mains power cord form your S8 into the Teledapt.

Keep in mind that depending on your "pressure" setting, you may attempt to draw more energy than the Teleadapt can draw down from the EmPower socket (that's a whole other topic in itself). This is particularly so as cabin pressure is equivalent to about 2400m altitude, so the S8 altitude setting must be set to supply the correct flow rate at that altitude (it's a user setting so you can do that yourself), and this can increase the energy required to run it.

What "pressure" do you run your S8 at?

Cheers,

Bill

Do you mean the titration level?

If so, it's set at 7.

OK, you shouldn't have any issues with using a Teleadapt inverter then.

Cheers,

Bill

Thanks a million, Bill.

That is very reassuring to know - and it's great to have a resident 'expert' on the use of c-pap whilst travelling.

I've just received my Teleadapt and can't connect anything up to my S8!

Please help me further.

Ermm, it has just clicked...I bought my Teleadapt off a vendor who originally purchased it on a Delta Airways flight.

The socket on the unit is for a US plug so my c-pap connects with the relevant travel adaptor on my S8's UK plug!

A simple plug adapter would do the job or some shops sell US style power cables that you could use.

Oh a word of warning about the power sockets on flights, they tell you that they are available but that doesn't mean that all of them will work. Like many of the headphone sockets on planes they get broken and are very low on the priority list to get repaired.

Hope it all works for you

Paul

Great Idea - have started doing it myself now