Disability Travel - CPAP repair on the road?

Hello everyone. I have a pretty old Fisher & Paykel CPAP machine that has bitten the dust. I believe the problem is the power cord, as it's become a bit frayed and dislodged where it meets the CPAP unit. Unfortunately, it's a hard-wired power cord, so I can't just swap the cord myself.

Has anyone had to get CPAP repair done on the road? Any advice for getting something like this done? I called a couple of local DME vendors, and they said they didn't do repairs, and that they could only rent me a new unit (with prescription, of course).

I'd think any electrician could take care of something like this, but not sure if I should try to get one of them to come to my hotel, or try to find a shop that might be able to take care of something like this. I'm staying on the Vegas strip this week, so if I need to go somewhere, it will likely be by cab.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
LBBZman

Hello everyone. I have a pretty old Fisher & Paykel CPAP machine that has bitten the dust. I believe the problem is the power cord, as it's become a bit frayed and dislodged where it meets the CPAP unit. Unfortunately, it's a hard-wired power cord, so I can't just swap the cord myself.

Has anyone had to get CPAP repair done on the road? Any advice for getting something like this done? I called a couple of local DME vendors, and they said they didn't do repairs, and that they could only rent me a new unit (with prescription, of course).

I'd think any electrician could take care of something like this, but not sure if I should try to get one of them to come to my hotel, or try to find a shop that might be able to take care of something like this. I'm staying on the Vegas strip this week, so if I need to go somewhere, it will likely be by cab.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
LBBZman

Yaatri, does just quoting a message with nothing said help anyone?

I've had nicks in my Cpap cord, luckily my cord is the exact type used for most computers, and removable. I've even forgot it a few times.

I'd certainly take it to an appliance store. Should just be a cord.

I had luck with a plain computer power cord for my F/P unit. There are three hole in the cord which matched the two pins in the sockets without grounding. If the outlet you are plugged into is wired properly you should be fine.

Yaatri, does just quoting a message with nothing said help anyone?

I've had nicks in my Cpap cord, luckily my cord is the exact type used for most computers, and removable. I've even forgot it a few times.

I'd certainly take it to an appliance store. Should just be a cord.

oops. I have no idea what happened. I must have ben doing some cut and paste.

Hello everyone. I have a pretty old Fisher & Paykel CPAP machine that has bitten the dust. I believe the problem is the power cord, as it's become a bit frayed and dislodged where it meets the CPAP unit. Unfortunately, it's a hard-wired power cord, so I can't just swap the cord myself.

Has anyone had to get CPAP repair done on the road? Any advice for getting something like this done? I called a couple of local DME vendors, and they said they didn't do repairs, and that they could only rent me a new unit (with prescription, of course).

I'd think any electrician could take care of something like this, but not sure if I should try to get one of them to come to my hotel, or try to find a shop that might be able to take care of something like this. I'm staying on the Vegas strip this week, so if I need to go somewhere, it will likely be by cab.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
LBBZman

If the problem is at the end that goes into the wall, it's an easy fix. A wire cutter/stripper and a plug is all that's needed. It's a DIY repair.
If the problem is at the end that goes into your unit, or power brick, or has a specialised connector, it might be a bit more complicated. If you can manage to get to where the cable goes in, you can replace the entire cable. That's may or may not be DIY for you.
If the problem is somewhere in between, it's also DIY. Cut the cable off ad splice a new cable. It might be unsightly but quite safe, if done properly.

I was just going through some of my old posts, and I realized I never followed up on this one. I found one place in Florida that was willing to take a look at my machine (I sent the CPAP via post), and they ended up replacing the power cord. I have no electrical chops and was not willing to try the repair myself, especially since the cord was hard-wired to the unit and the fraying was where the cord met the machine.

If someone is looking for CPAP repair but is getting the "we can't assume the liability" runaround, please PM me. I'd be happy to refer you to the place I found. They did the work quickly and charged a reasonable price. (I didn't want to risk violating FT rules (http://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules.php#q71) by making a commercial post.)

Cheers,
LBBZman

Thanks for the follow up - glad to see you found a solution.