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I'm going to be doing some camping out of my Kia, and want to make sure I will not run the battery down if I power various gadgets over night via the power adapter ports.

Specifically, I need to run a CPAP machine for sleep apnea, and I have the DC converter for the device. It draws 6 A @ 12 VDC, or 72 Watts.

Just need to know the Amp-hour rating for the base Soul, and/or any warnings against running such a device off the car. Thanks!

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    I don't have time at the present moment to write you a coherent answer, but this site may provide you with some answers. 6A is a pretty good discharge. Depending on your battery's size will tell you if it can handle it. Using it this way on a continual basis is going to cause your battery life to go way down. There may be a better way to accomplish what you need, such as a very small generator which can be run outside of your vehicle. Just a thought. If I have time when I get home from work, I'll give you a specific answer to your question. Commented Sep 23, 2014 at 18:54

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One way round your problem would be too have a second battery, together with diode pack and wiring to charge it independantly. If your intention is too camp out in remote areas, you really dont want to saddle the vehicles system with any loads. Alternatively a generator for your machine. A continuous 6amp load overnight is quite a high demand on a regular battery.

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  • I like the generator idea. I have also found some "portable power packs" that are for emergency jump starting, but offer AC ports, etc. Thanks for the suggestion. Commented Sep 24, 2014 at 1:00
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It really depends on the battery, not the car. The car will have a very small drain for the radio presets and fob receiver, but not much. A typical Lead-Acid battery has around a 100 minute reserve capacity. Reserve capacity being how long it takes a 25 amp discharge to lower the voltage to unusable levels. That's roughly 41 Ah.

Your 6A will lower it too much after one night. 6 Amps * 8 Hours = 48 Ah.

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