I would like to ask if anyone else is using an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) with their Baxter Home Choice Pro PD machine. These UPS devices are the same as the ones used with computers to prevent data loss and damage related to power outages. When the power goes out, the UPS keeps the computers going. Will they work with a PD machine? If so, do you have any recommendations on which one and what size is best to use? Thank you in advance.
the computer UPS is desiged to safely allow the computer to shut down, its not designed for hours of run time.
some may last for 10 minutes. a desktop computer takes about 150 watts the batteries are about a 90 watts so you can see it would last about 25 minutes, it signels the comouter thu a USB port to tell the computer to shut down as soon as it can.
what you need is a system that has a deep cycle battery used in the solar industry known as a AGM battery, at 12V 150 AH battery is comon, this equals 1800 watts. then you need a inverter to change the 12 volt DC battery to 120 volts AC to operate your equipment.
you need to look at the label on your equipment to see how much power it takes it will say it takes 120 vac at 2 amps
or whatever, then to convert to watts you mulitply 120 x 2 = 240 watts, this will tell you what inverter to purchase. if it is 240 watts then purchase a 400 watt inverter, cost about $60. Then you need to recharge the battery with a battery charger.
a standard battery charger is only good to charge the battery and not keep the battery charged up during non use.
so you need a special battery minder/charger.
here is a idea of a product that may do the job but you need to know how much power your device takes
this one uses a 12v 60ah battery = 720 watts, but you can only deplete the battery to 60% = 400 watts
so if your at 240 watts you less than 2 hours but 24 watts would be 20 hours if thats your case.
the main problem with this product is the recharge time it says 15 hours - that just nuts
you could get a 40ah battery charger then it would take 2 hours using a power generator
http://www.amazon.com/Xantrex-802-1500-XPower-Portable-Powerpack/dp/B00005RHQQ
Fresenius advertises that the Liberty cyler holds data for 8 hours so a patient can resume treatment later if power fails.
http://fmcna-liberty.com/libertyTour.php
Baxter advertises that its Home Choice cycler has a battery backup to hold data so a patient can resume treatment if power is resumed within 2 hours.
http://apdleader.com/benefits/benefits.htm
I looked up specifications for the Baxter Home Choice and Home Choice Pro and for the Fresenius Liberty cycler. It appears that the power need is 600 watts for the Baxter cycler and 700 watts for the Fresenius Liberty cycler. I’d confirm this with the your home training nurse or the manufacturer. You might want to go to a store that specializes in batteries to find out what you’d need.
Some power outages are brief while others can last for days. One option is to have some CAPD solution on hand that you can switch to temporarily if there is a power failure that doesn’t resume within this time frame.
The Kidney Commuity Emergency Response Coalition has re-posted a Medicare publication on emergencies that includes information for those on dialysis including those who use cyclers.
http://www.kcercoalition.com/pdf/101501.pdf
I read the Medicare publication on emergencies on page 15 it states:
If you use Continuous Cyclic Peritoneal Dialysis
(CCPD):
If you use a cycler, you may want to purchase a gasoline powered
generator that makes 110 volt AC alternating current.
This is correct a power generator comes in a few sizes
a standard size is about 4000 watts and has a 4 gallon gas tank to last about 6-7 hours.
a standard lawn care gas can is 5 gallons, so to operate the generator for 24 hours you would need 15 gallons or 3 - 4 gas cans in storage
it goes on to say:
Or, if you have a car, you can run your cycler off
the cigarette lighter by using a 12 volt DC to a 110 volt
AC inverter (available at electronics stores).
— THIS STATEMENT IS WRONG !!! -----
A cycler takes 600 - 700 watts of power
this requires 12 volts at 65 amps of power required for the inverter
to give the 120vAC @ 700 watts
the cigarette lighter has a 15 - 20 amp fuse and the safe maximun is 10
amps.
hooking up a inverter to the cigarette lighter can give you only 100 watts
In order to use you car to run the high power you need to connect the inverter directly to the battery using 4 gauge inverter cables.
depending on your car you will need to know how much power the alternator can supply. FOR EXAMPLE: A 2008 Ford Escape has a 150 amp alternator. but a 2005 ford escape has a 130 amp alternator. a Toyota Camry Alternator has only 70 amps, this is not enough to run your unit.
With everything turned off in the car, heater, A/C, headlights, the minimum
amount is the 100 amp alternator.
it goes on to say:
If the car is in a garage, make sure there is plenty of fresh air and
good ventilation.
— THIS STATEMENT IS WRONG !!! -----
The car must be running to use the inverter and never, have a running car in the garage. You would need to have a special muffler exhaust fume hose system installed, as one used in a auto repair shop. Running the car only with the garage door open is not enough to keep the carbon monoxide (CO) fumes from staying in the garage and seeping into the house, if it’s a attached garage.
A UPS for a PC computer won’t hack it. They do make large (read expensive) UPSs that might. Another choice is a 12V inverter such as the one here:
http://www.theinverterstore.com/the-inverter-store-product.php?model=pwric1500w-top-rgb
Note you also need a battery bank (deep cycle, not car batteries) to go with it. Shown here:
http://www.theinverterstore.com/the-inverter-store-category.php?cat=BAT
You can stack multiple batteries together.
I am a NxStage training partner. We’ve been doing home hemo for 3 years. I run the NxStage home hemo machine on an uniteruptible power supply chosen and sized to run the cycler and warmer for a full treatment if necessary. I keep the UPS plugged into the wall and the machine plugged into the UPS. Cycler, supplies, UPS, saline, etc., are all in a nice stainless “procedure” type cart from Sam’s Club, that rolls into a closet when not in use. I also use a simple power-failure light in the room. If power fails during treatment, the machine would not stop, and I would have time to go out and start my generator. While we have not yet had a power failure during treatment, the system has been tested (during priming, not treatment!) manually, and we have done entire treatments start to finish on generator power during extended power failure.
We’ve also motored across country four times, and done numerous treatments in hotel rooms.
So, yes, UPS is possible, and generator power is possible. Regards.
Thank you for providing this detail, Guest! I’m sure this will be helpful for a number of folks. We also have some info on this topic in one of our Life@Home articles on disaster planning: http://homedialysis.org/article/life_at_home/disaster_planning_for_pd_and_home_hd.
Do you have the model number of the UPS, the generator and any associated equipment required to go this route
Thanks
Here’s an emergency preparation booklet by NxStage. On page 17 it has information about generators and the standards that a power sources should meet.
Thanks Beth
Regards
Nitu
Well I’m making this post September 2022 … This is for anyone who tripped across this post or thread via Google search on power back up for dialysis machine … I’m currently using a blueetti eb70 to operate my dialysis machine when there is no power … I managed to complete my 8 to 10 hours of treatment on this power station back up … It uses solar panel and wall adapter to charge I’m using a Baxter home choice cycler pro with with the SD card … Warning if you ask a question I might not see it so apologies now…
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You said that you used it to complete your PD treatment. Have you ever had to run it for your whole treatment instead of doing manual exchanges? If not, what is the longest you’ve had to use it to complete a treatment?