Portable O2 machine

David123

I am on O2 24 hours a day. The problem is in the car. I use an cord that came with the machine. It will plug into the old type cigarette lighter. Both end of the cord get hot. I don’t recall this problem on my old car. Buick Encore to Buick Envision.

real_aurgathor

By design, cigarette lighters can get fairly hot and still be functional.

The contacts in the cigarette lighter are much less than ideal, and because of the contact resistance, there’s quite a bit of I² R loss that manifests itself as heat.

You could:

just ignore it unless it starts to effect functionality
replace plug and/or socket and try to find a combination that doesn’t get as hot
replace both with some other connector better suited to carry high current
install another plug and socket, and use them in parallel, so they’ll run cooler
Find an O2 machine that draws less current
Install an inverter so you can use a portable O2 machine that runs on 120 VAC.

David123

real_aurgathor

It is the cord that was supplied with the machine. It was working fine till a few days ago. I have a new cord coming. Will see what that does.

real_aurgathor

The actual conductor in the cord should not degrade – what can degrade is the connection between the connector and the conductor (unless they are soldered), Alternatively, the motor and mechanism on your portable O2 machine could be wearing out or running low on lubricants, hereby requiring more power [more Amps] to operate, which heats up the cord more.

David123

Works fine inside with 110 adapters. Bought a second one for the living room so I would not have to unplug the other supply from the wall. Now did try a diff. plug in the car. Was inside the storage case in the arm rest. One end was cool (machine end) other was very warm but not hot.

real_aurgathor

David123 One end was cool (machine end) other was very warm but not hot.

This clearly indicates the weakest link is the cigarette lighter connection (which I implied), and the manufacturer cannot do much about that. I wish you best with your current hardware; however, there is non-zero possibility that the cigarette lighter connection will degrade over time.

David123

The thing is both ends were getting hot. Barrel end(for the machine) and cigarette end for the power.

real_aurgathor

That simply means that both ends had relatively high contact resistance and/or too little contact area for the amount of current. That is not at all surprising for the cigarette lighter, but they do have full control over the other end.

grand_total

David123 If the machine end is getting hot now and it wasn’t before that indicates to me that something about the machine has changed and you may need to get that investigated.

Another possiblity is that because of the change in car you have also “noticed” this change when in fact nothing material has happened. I’m not suggesting there is anything wrong with you, I know that I can be more alert to things changing under circumstances such as this, when in fact nothing much has changed.

Sparkchaser

David123 The thing is both ends were getting hot. Barrel end(for the machine)

You have a picture of what that end looks like? Picture of the machine?

egeezer

What 120V and 12V power draw specs does the machine have? There should be a label on the device that provides this information. 12V ports in vehicles are fused, so if the current draw were too excessive the vehicle’s fuse would open and stop current flow to the port.

Also, you might contact the provider or manufacturer with your concern. It may be failing, and you certainly don’t want to have it fail completely and leave you without O2 - or catch fire in your vehicle while traveling.

real_aurgathor

egeezer

As per my experience, mostly with 12V tire inflator pumps, power connectors and cords can get warm/hot well before the fuse would blow, and so this can be a normal behavior at the cigarette lighter connector.

David123

The machine (O2) runs fine with two different wall adapters. So it is not the machine itself. I still think it is something with the 12v adapter. I just order a different adapter. Last one I ordered had to small of a barrel connecter. Even the listing had it was for my machine. (Freestyle Comfort Model # AS200-1)

real_aurgathor

What is the nominal output voltage of the wall adapter?

David123 Last one I ordered had too small of a barrel connector.

Diameter, or length?

David123

AC/DC adapter is Input of 100-240V 4.2A Output 15V 8A

Barrel connector how do you measure it?

real_aurgathor

AC/DC adapter is Input of 100-240V 4.2A Output 15V 8A

A steady 15VDC supply means about 10 - 25% less heat through an identical connection compared to what you can get through the cigarette lighter. (normally in the vicinity of 13 - 14 V with a running engine)

Barrel connector how do you measure it?

Caliper would be the best, but you may not have one. You could just post a good picture with both.

David123

Had a set of Calipers and do to down sizing can’t find them. I did buy this item.

HKY Car DC Power Cord Compatible with Caire Freestyle Comfort Portable Oxygen Concentrator O2 AS200-1 AS200-101 AS200-201 REFAS200 CD041-1 12V-24V Car Charging Cable DC Power Supply Battery Charger. Tried it for 5 minutes was cool to the touch. Today will find out when I am out for a bit.

David123

I figure it was the adapter to the cigarette lighter. It was not fitting tight. The new one is working better.