My first car trip on oxygen therapy

May 10, 2008

Hi list friends,

When I joined this group a couple of months ago, I was

asking about portable o2 concentrators and the logistics of traveling

with oxygen. Thanks for all your responses.

Anyway, I bought a Sequal II-Eclipse portable

concentrator. It puts out 1-6 liters on pulse and up to

3 on continuous. I need 6 on exertion, but do fine riding in a car

with the lower rate. Since most of my travel would be riding

and visiting with very little exertion, I felt this would work for

me. We took 6 E-tanks as back up (for a 10-day trip) and one

big M-tank. The battery lasts about 2 hours, and

recharges itself plugged into the cigarette lighter. My husband did

have to have another cigarette lighter outlet put in the back seat

because of the other stuff plugged in the front (phone ad GPS) The newer

cars can probably handle the voltage (or amps) need to run and recharge

the Eclipse.

My husband wanted to take my big, heavy, home

concentrator, but I nixed that idea. I only ran out of battery

power one time, but had the back up E-tank in the car. The battery

charges pretty quickly if the machine is not turned on, but will

take longer if you are using it and recharging it at the same time.

I should have taken the big concentrator because the longer hose would

have made it easier to get around the motel room ,into the bathroom,

take a shower, and get around friends houses, without having

to drag around the Eclipse. Also, found out you can only use the 7 ft

hose that comes with the Eclipse because it won’t work on a

pulse setting with a longer hose. But, all in all, I

used that Eclipse almost continuously for 10 days, and it

didn’t fail me at all. I really didn’t need the

big M-tank at all.

I just got my issue of the newletter put out by the Pulmonary

Fibrosis org and on the cover was a photo of several 02 travelers. I

noted that all 5 of them had a Sequal Eclipse POC.

Didn’t mean to go on and on – but maybe

this will help someone else as the plan a car trip.

Sue D.

62 yr old, Fibrotic NSIP dx 9/07, VA

Recommended Posts