Oxygen Concentrator

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Mjwatlanta
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Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Post by Mjwatlanta »

That was indeed an educational video. Everyone talks about how expensive the Inogen system is. In fact, as I pointed out in a couple of posts, an Inogen can be purchased used on craigslist for a pretty low amount in comparison to a new one. I paid about a third of the price of a new one and it works perfectly. I do understand the concerns about having new versus used, but we regularly buy used airplanes, and fly them. So, my point is, don’t be afraid of buying a used one. Just make sure it works. You’re going to do that with a new one too. That is why the use of pulse oximetry is so important. If it doesn’t work, get it repaired and fly lower. The concentrator will encourage the use of oxygen more regularly. That’s a good thing because well a oxygenated pilot is a safer pilot and a safer pilot is better for everyone.
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Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Post by Paul »

I purchased an Inogen 5 from Main Supply. It comes with a cigarette lighter cord. Will that work in a 2011 DA40? I flew with it last week (works great, highly recommend) and I couldn't tell whether it wasn't charging or wasn't charging fast enough to keep up with the battery. I believe my alternator was in the process of failing on this flight so that may explain it as well.
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dmloftus
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Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Post by dmloftus »

Paul wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 12:59 am I purchased an Inogen 5 from Main Supply. It comes with a cigarette lighter cord. Will that work in a 2011 DA40?
Please read earlier in this thread. You should first measure the voltage on the lighter plug socket. The Inogen lighter plug adapter does not work at the higher voltage of an aircraft electrical system. 28V will damage your Inogen (rated I believe for a maximum of 16V). Some Diamonds have a 12V regulator inline, but your Inogen also pulls far more current than the standard lighter plug is wired for as it could pull up to 10 Amps at 12V. As I mentioned in my earlier entry, I had the lighter plug and wiring upgraded, and a new breaker installed off the avionics bus. I use the Inogen Aviator power supply to convert 28V at my lighter plug to 12V to match the Inogen. I agree the Inogen is a wonderful device but you need to be careful if you power it from ship's power.
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Paul
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Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Post by Paul »

Thanks David. I did read the entire thread but I was a little confused because there was a comment about the “newer DA40s” having a 12v plug. That’s why asked about a 2011 DA40. What I’m gathering from your response is that either way, not enough amps in the socket without modifications and the “brick” that Inogen sells that can convert up to 32V won’t cut it either. Is that basically correct?
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Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Post by dmloftus »

Paul wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 2:10 am ... What I’m gathering from your response is that either way, not enough amps in the socket without modifications and the “brick” that Inogen sells that can convert up to 32V won’t cut it either. Is that basically correct?
Almost. Correct about the default plug not having sufficient power to run the Inogen. I'm not aware, though, of Inogen selling a DC/DC brick, just their AC brick and a 12V lighter plug cable which you already have. Inogen Aviator is a separate company, a former Inogen distributor, that sells their own 28V to 12V DC/DC converter for $285. The owner claims to have done significant testing with the Inogen concentrator, and I have not had any issue with mine.

https://www.inogenaviator.com/products

It wasn't expensive for my shop Southtec to rewire my lighter plug. Around $100 for a higher current plug

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/ ... kkey=10445

plus a 7.5A breaker. Then about an hour of labor to install and upgrade the wiring. So around $600 for unlimited power for your oxygen concentrator. I use mine constantly on any trip over 10K MSL.

BTW, rereading your first post, it sounds like you might have already tried to plug the Inogen cigarette lighter adapter into your plane's accessory lighter socket. If so, you could have blown the inline fuse, which I understand is up under the glare shield. That's probably why the Inogen would appear not to charge. Hopefully it did not damage the Inogen unit if your plug was at 28V, powered directly off the hot bus.

Don't feel badly if you did that accidentally. As an electrical engineer that used to design military avionics, I was as surprised as anyone that Diamond would wire 28V to an accessory plug that 99.9% of the public would believe to be a 12V outlet. And I still haven't figured out how to read the multitude of iterations in the AMM to definitively establish how a particular DA40 model is wired. The best approach is to measure it yourself, and have your shop confirm the actual wiring to make the necessary modifications.
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Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Post by foehammer »

I'm new to aviation and have a DA62 on order for 2024. Oxygen concentrators are super interesting to me because I'm older and the idea of having unlimited "low barrier to entry" oxygen is very appealing from a safety standpoint. I’d much rather have an "over use it" mindset than a “nurse it” mindset.

For the DA62, the optimal solution in my mind would be to have a built-in oxygen concentrator. Imagine replacing the built-in oxygen tank system with an oxygen concentrator that supplied unlimited oxygen to all abord through the built in oxygen plumbing. No need to mess with refilling bottles or filling the cockpit with portable concentrator units. But does such a thing exist? Apparently, they do, or at least did about 10 years ago. I found 2 On Board Oxygen Generating Systems (OBOGS) for GA.

The OxyFly.
a. Was featured in an article that Paul posted a link to earlier in this thread. The article mentioned a lot of issues with the unit. However the author published a follow-up article where Dürr Technik addressed the shortcomings and it sounded like they were on a good track to making it robust. Looked hopeful.
b. Runs on 28v, perfect!
c. Dürr Technik was sold to company in Tunisia, Avionav in 2018. They still list the product but I haven’t gotten a response from them when I inquired about it.

The InFiniox.
a. I found this by doing a bunch of google searching.
b. Made by Zodiac Aerospace-Avox Systems, but i think they've been absorbed by Safran.

Although these seem like dream solutions to me, there must be something I’m missing that ultimately killed these products? I imagine that weight and cost are the issues, but from what I can tell the weight would be slightly more than the optional built-in oxygen system, and it’s hard to imagine a OBOGS system toping the $30k cost of built-in oxygen. From my perspective, the convenience and accessibility would be worth the cost and weight.

I was hoping someone here might have knowledge on if any of these systems are an option or not for GA. Any ideas?

I actually did find one other OBOGS, but it looks to be for military aircraft... Eaton.
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Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Post by mhoran »

I went ahead and purchased an oxygen concentrator for my upcoming trip. I was thinking of getting the Mountain High O2D2, but many of you convinced me otherwise based on the difficulty of refilling bottles while away from home.

I had a 28V cigarette plug installed (the same as above) and a 7.5 amp fuse. 2.5 hours of labor at my local shop and I now have unlimited oxygen. My old cigarette plug didn't work anyway, as the built in DC-DC converter was broken. Swapping for a 28V adapter was less than fixing that ($600 for the converter alone!) and is safe to use in flight.

I got the Inogen G5 from Main Clinic Supply for $2190 with a big battery. The kit came with an AC-DC adapter, 12v cigarette plug and a bag, plus some cannulas. Note: the cannulas that come with the G5 are longer than the ones that come with the Inogen Aviator. If you are using the dual cannula kit, don't mix the cannula lengths! One person will get more oxygen than the other.

I also got the Inogen Aviator kit, which includes a 28V adapter and a single and dual cannula. This kit works great. I didn't encounter any GPS or radio interference using the 28V adapter in flight. My pulse ox stayed at or above 95 at 9k feet over a two hour flight (once I figured out I was using the wrong length cannula). Tom at Inogen Aviator provided me a bunch of information before I made the purchase and I feel confident using the oxygen concentrator for my upcoming trip.

As always, thanks to the community for the guidance!
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Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Post by Mjwatlanta »

The g5 is great. I only use batteries and that has been fine without any hookup to plane. I do caution everyone that not all cannulas are created equal. There are material differences in the inside diameter. Get the larger diameter. And just as with different lengths, different diameters will starve one user. The O2 will simply follow the path of least resistance.
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Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Post by dmloftus »

I've had my first issue with my G5. Flying from Las Vegas to Cincinnati a few weeks ago, I got an O2 error, then later a change oxygen column notification. Once at my destination, I rechecked the unit and it gave the same error message. Neither error should be a valid issue as I have less than 100 hours on the machine. Since my unit has a 3-year warranty directly from Inogen, I called their customer support line to discuss. They were very nice and offered to send me a rebuilt unit, but I was not happy to accept a unit with who knows how many hours in trade for my barely used unit. Delving deeper, they explained that sometimes the oxygen columns age out with time, even if they are not receiving much use. So they shipped me a new set of columns to swap in my unit. A few weeks later I decided to run the unit on its highest setting on the ground for several hours to reverify the error again before I swapped columns. But no error message came up. So I'm holding off on column replacement to see if the errors reappear. Last weekend I had a 3-hour flight Atlanta to Cincinnati at 11,500 and no error messages. Faultless operation and pulse ox constantly 95 or above. So I have an extra set of columns ready if and when the error messages reappear. Has anyone else had an intermittent error like this?
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Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Post by sedatedokc »

I have a 2022 Da42 and my aircraft came with 1x USB-A outlets on each side which is a little disappointing. I also have the Inogen G5 which I am currently powering off a battery.

It would be great to install the cigarette lighter mentioned above to have unlimited Inogen power. I do have the Inogen aviator kit with the 28v converter. Is there anything I need to tell my local shop if I would like them to install this? I see for an example a 7.5 amp breaker mentioned above, is this something the shop will know, or what else do I need to mention to the shop? Wiring?

Additionally, from another thread, upgrading USB ports was mentioned. These are available.

https://www.truebluepowerusa.com/produc ... ging-ports

Both "high power" and "max power" are available.

For example, is having a 28v cigarette lighter powering an Inogen and 2x USB C max power outlets (powering Phone / iPad) both for the pilot and copilot an option? (and remove my current USB-A.). Of course, the last thing I want to do is install something unreliable. Any advice appreciated!
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