Puff needed!

[Keith Hart]

Hello folks

Whilst up in Scotland last week, my electric pump for the SIB gave up the ghost. Having been forced to inflate it with the hand pump a few times I decided that the pump needs replacing PDQ (I'm still knackered!).

The pump cost me about £60.00. Today I just purchased an electrical pump for my car and motorcycle tyres, you know the type, plugs into the cig lighter on the car. This cost me £12.00! Why such a huge price difference!

Right, the boat pump is basically a small 12v motor with an impeller blade at the front in a small plastic housing. Printed on the front of this plastic housing it says 'Made in England'. I took the housing off to see if the pump could be repaired. The device was VERY simple. Apart from the plastic housing all that was there was a switch and a 12v electric motor (the main component). On the electric motor was a sticker ‘Made in China’!

Now I know that these motors are VERY cheap. For example you can buy a rechargeable electric drill for £9.99 – these are ‘Made in China’. I know that the shops buy these for about £5.00. The importer gets them for about £3.00, and they are shipped all the way from China! I wouldn’t mind betting that they use the same motors as the boat pump. So the motors must cost about 50p each. Add on a bit of injection-moulded plastic, assembly costs, distribution costs, and what do you have. A HUGE profit.

What can I do about this?

Well, I’m not sure but….

Can I buy a car pump and adapt it for the boat? Cut off the valve adapter. Attach hose and boat valve adapter. Then pump away. Stop when tube is almost ‘hard’ then finish of with a few strokes of the hand pump (as I did with the boat pump).

Hmmmmmmmmm.

Boat – high volume, low pressure
Car tyre – low volume, High pressure

Will this cause a problem? Can anyone help? Does anyone else care? Who will be the next Education Secretary? Will Charles and Flanker ever see eye to eye?

Keith (always a friendly face) Hart

[Julian]

Hi Keith

I've seen a few people pump up the tubes with a car pump. It will be fine. Just stop before the tube gets very hard.

Julian

[Andy.R]

Hi Keith,
How about an air-bed pump. Agian this is designed for high volume / low pressure air. I have just bought one of these (12v Portable Airbed Inflator) and it inflates a double airbed in about 5 minutes.
Cheers,
Andy.
z

[Julian]

Keith

This is all you need. Check out the price.


Bellows Pump

Bellows foot-action pump (Give you legs like Jimmy Floyd Hasslebank).

Muscular Madness
Megastore Price: £4.99 (€7,90)

[batfalcon]

You can do the job with a hand pump, or a foot pump, or even with that 12V air inflator.
No need to say that the hand and foot powered devices will make sweat. The 12V will inflate the boat BUT not as stiff as it must be. There are devices specially made for the job, with pressure regulated cut off systems. Thety are made in Italy, or at least Italy is the last stop before the get on the shelves.
I have one of those and it does inflates my rib, (from completly diflated), within 6 to 8 minutes.
Unfortunatelly I haven't got a scanner installed to send a photo.
I bought that pump 4 years ago and it costed about 75 euros.
It's expensive I know, but it does the job, AND there are spare parts available too.

[Keith Hart]

Doh! Doh! And double Doh!

What a fool I am. I forgot all about the SUCK. You see the pump blows the boat UP, but it also SUCKS the remaining air out so it can be packed. On a boat pump you just take off the hose and attach it to the suck end and then deflate the boat.

You can't do that with the other pumps.

I'll have to think about wether it is worth the extra £40.00 or so to get that last bit of air out.

Keith (my brain hurts, well it would if I had one) Hart

[Alex Brown]

What about buying a separate 12v car vacuum cleaner as well for £15.... even with the car blower it'd still be cheaper.

Get the right attachment on the end and you're away - can use it for cleaning the car then too

-Alex

[toby.budd]

Keith,

You can, and i am sure there are reasons not to, buy a dive cylinder and reg second hand or use your own dive kit and adapt one of the pipes to fit your tubes. (gaffer tape and hose often work sufficently)

It works, doesnt need power and the smaller cylinders can be carried aboard for inflation and emergancies on the water.

Not sure this is the best soloution for you but it is an option.

Toby

[DM]

Novel idea from Toby Budd.

Keith, if you're interested, I could supply you with a cylinder of nitrous oxide to inflate Quicksilver.

You could then laugh all the way to the orkneys but don't light your pipe on the way..

Alternatively, you could buy, from Hollywood Marine, a massive foot pump which has a blow and suck option for 27quids.

David.

[Brian]

Keith
I came across this hi press/low thingy thing when buying something for my tender.
On the big boat I have got an electric jobbie but this requires an electric point that has a proper electrical circuit to handle it (ie not a cigarrette lighter point.
For the tender I have got (and this may be your answer) is to use a (in my case, Zodiac) foot pump that has a variable adjuster on it. You start by pumping large volume, low pressure, then when it gets full-ish, you change to one of the next two settings which delivers higher pressure but lower volume till the boat is full.

Hence minimal effort for maximum result (should be Brian's motto).

Another advantage of using this type of foot pump is of course that it has a deflate capability as well.
By the way, much impressed that Quicksilver has a cigarrette lighter, or have I misread that bit?