Powering an oxygen generator

[Anonymous user]

I just purchased a BR1500 Back-UPS 1500VA with a BR24BP battery pack to use with a 400 watt oxygen generator for my mother in law. She lives alone and almost died when the power went out and she had difficulty remembering how to switch to her tank in the short time she can function without oxygen. Fortunately a neighbor came over and helped her. I have not received the new back up equipment yet and after looking at some of the threads on this forum am wondering if this is going to work. I did call APC before ordering and this system was suggested to me. The only question asked was the wattage. I was told that with the battery pack this system should last 45-55 minutes, which would give my mother in law time to switch or call us for help. What do you think?

[BillP]

Please also note APC's life support policy:

As a general policy, American Power Conversion (APC) does not recommend the use of any of its products in life support applications where failure or malfunction of the APC product can be reasonably expected to cause failure of the life support device or to significantly affect its safety or effectiveness. APC does not recommend the use of any of its products in direct patient care. APC will not knowingly sell its products for use in such applications unless it receives in writing assurances satisfactory to APC that (a) the risks of injury or damage have been minimized, (b) the customer assumes all such risks, and (c) the liability of American Power Conversion is adequately protected under the circumstances.

Examples of devices considered to be life support devices are neonatal oxygen analyzers, nerve stimulators (whether used for anesthesia, pain relief, or other purposes), autotransfusion devices, blood pumps, defibrillators, arrhythmia detectors and alarms, pacemakers, hemodialysis systems, peritoneal dialysis systems, neonatal ventilator incubators, ventilators for both adults and infants, anesthesia ventilators, infusion pumps, and any other device designated as “critical” by the U.S.F.D.A.

Hospital grade wiring devices and reduced leakage currents that meet medical safety standards may be ordered as options on many APC UPS systems. APC does not claim that units with these modifications are certified or listed as such by APC or any other organization, therefore these units do not meet the requirements for use in direct patient care.

After reading and understanding that, if you still would like to use this..

[Here is the runtime chart|http://www.apc.com/resource/include/ups_runtime_chart.cfm?base_sku=BR1500&family_id=23]

at ~400 watts: BR1500 + (1)BR24BP *51 mins*

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for the info. The gentleman on the phone informed me in a general way of the same info. However, the current backup for this device is a manual transfer of a hose from the oxygen generator to a tank while operating without oxygen in a highly stressful situation. All the UPS does is buy some time to get the transfer done in a more leisurely and less stressful environment. I just wanted to know if there were any TECHNICAL issues with running the generator off the UPS.

[BillP]

you want to make sure that you alot for enough wattage for the peak power draw of the generator. so i mean if it constantly pulls like 400 watts but peaks at 800 watts you need to make sure you cover for that peak draw. so if this peaks at 400, and constantly draws say 200, then we are fine. the only other thing we'd want to make sure is that the generator can handle the 2-6ms transfer time from online to battery..that isnt something we can answer though.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

The setup works perfectly although I haven't tested to see how long it will actually power the generator. I didn't see the need and thought the test could diminish the life of the battery. It switches over immediately and has given my mother in law, and us, a great deal more peace of mind. Now we just need to find an alarm loud enough to wake her up when the power goes out. I would think that some kind of battery backup would be standard for a home oxygen generator. Thanks for the input and advice.