Bravo BTP12 Review

Fenlander · 05 August 2011, 23:05

I've headed this up as new thread so it's easy to find for someone thinking about buying one of these.

As posted in previous thread been thinking of a Bravo pump since I went over to an air floor Zodiac. I was drawn to this one as it has a pressure gauge rather than the BST type where you dial in a pressure and trust that's what it stops at.

Bought the BTP12 for a few pence over £102 from the Rib Shop Ltd, helpful advice and despite the delivery being free it arrived next day.

The pump feels weighty and good quality, the carry bag is well organised into pump/hose/power lead compartments.

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The 12v power lead is only 3m long which is only enough if your car is parked very close to where you set up the boat. I've already made up a heavy duty 5m extension cable (pump is a max 20a draw, I used 25a cable).

Pressure selection on the digital gauge is accurate and clear. I noted the Bravo unit gave exactly the same pressure reading as the dial gauge that came with my Zodiac.... so I'll assume they're both accurate. You see both the set pressure and the actual pressure as it rises.

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From the packed away vacuumed out state it took 12-15 mins for the Bravo to inflate my Zodiac 360 Fastroller fully (three tube sections plus floor). That includes me going round the three tube valves in turn and inflating in gradual steps to protect the baffles.

The efficient way the pump starts with a turbine and then auto-switches to the piston for final pressure is impressive. Most of all it's effortless and gives an air of calm to the setup/launch procedure.

For me a very worthwhile buy.

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jyasaki · 06 August 2011, 03:29

I have the old style, but pump each section to the point where the piston cycle starts, and move to the the next section. Once all are up to that point, I fill to operating pressure a section at a time.

jky

Fenlander · 06 August 2011, 08:27

Yes it's always been my habit to stage the inflation as Zodiac advise. I do a first fill in the tubes so they take shape without pressure. Then my air floor needs to go straight to max. Then I do the tubes to half pressure and finally full pressure. Perhaps a bit over the top.

This is quite a good video of a Bravo 2-stage pump in operation. Happens to be a BST model but the operation is the same. Only takes 7 mins to do the whole boat... mainly because he wrongly does each tube straight to full pressure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YQZLEHc3-E

Dino89 · 06 August 2011, 12:39

i was told by marine shop quickest way with bombards is to blow floor to full pressure stright off, then you can go straight to 2psi in side tubes and use the front one then to balance by pumping striaght 3.4 and it puts the baffles in the right position and wont damage anything
but i like the cautious approach of the gardual pump up even all round approach

Fenlander · 06 August 2011, 18:06

Just a small update. I said in the first post..... **I've already made up a heavy duty 5m extension cable (pump is a max 20a draw, I used 25a cable)**

Well I had made it up but not tried it. Turns out the guys who sold me the cable thought they were doing me a favour supplying 8m of cable. This was just too long re voltage drop despite being 25a cable. It was dropping under 9v at the pump making it stutter on the final bit of the air floor.

Cut the extension lead in half to still give a useful extra 4m and it now stays above 11v, and the pump runs far better.

Fenlander · 30 August 2011, 09:44

Second update after a week of daily inflating the boat on holiday... the Bravo has made a massive difference to using an inflatable from packed in the car each time. If you're thinking about getting one don't delay... one of the best boating £100 outlays I've made.

lightning · 06 January 2012, 18:31

I want to buy one of these but the best price I can find is £150

C2 RIBS · 06 January 2012, 19:03

what about this one?
BRAVO Inflatable Boat Rib 12v HP Air Pump Inflator BP12 | eBay

or
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRAVO-Infl...item27ba97ea13

Ribshop · 06 January 2012, 19:55

We do them for £112.96 with free standard delivery.
http://www.rib-shop.com/prodtype.asp...ageHistory=cat

lightning · 06 January 2012, 21:32

That's great, I've ordered one from you online.

Thanks.

sinner · 07 January 2012, 19:42

Great review! I keep my bombard C3 inflated on a trailer, but have considered one of these for the rare occurances when I do deflate. Also, I appreciate the accurate gauge, and may consider getting one just to do my final inflations and not have to keep testing with my gauge.

lightning · 16 January 2012, 16:57

I received my Bravo BTP 12 pump today and generally it seems to be a very good unit.

It's easy to set and works well.

The only complaint I have is that the inflation hose is a bit rubbish, it's quite stiff so when you store it in the bag it gets flattened in a few places and does not straighten out very well, restricting the airflow.
So you have to spend a few minutes squeezing the flattened bits until it's OK to use.
Also the screw connector is fixed to the end so to attach it on the pump you have to rotate the whole hose (or the pump) a few times which is a bit fiddly.
So a great unit, just needs a better air hose.

lightning · 19 January 2012, 18:13

I was just thinking

As my Zodiac 285s has no airdeck and only needs inflating to 3.4psi would I not be better off with the Bravo Superturbo?

Or are they pretty much the same in operation.

lightning · 01 February 2012, 07:27

I guess this one will be fine then.

It certainly inflates my SIB quickly enough, and the digital gauge/auto cutoff is great.

PeteH · 03 July 2012, 22:16

Thanks for the review on this pump it's helped me decide what pump to go for.
The rule pump I have is not much Kop and struggled to get anywhere near the pressure I need for the honwaves
Air deck.
And life is too short to use the foot pump

Thanks again...

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Fenlander · 04 July 2012, 07:34

>>> inflation hose is a bit rubbish

I needed to buy a Honwave valve adaptor for my Bravo and found it was almost as cheap to buy a Honwave (gen part from dealer) hose with valve fitting as just the fitting. I then joined this to the slightly short Bravo hose which doubles the length and makes it far easier to reach all the valves. I don't attempt to get this hose back in the Bravo bag and just store it in a coil so no kinks.

Winding round the whole hose to screw into the pump is a bit more of a faff with the longer hose but still done in 20sec.

>>>And life is too short to use the foot pump

Very much agree. It looks so much more organised to set the pump and leave it running while you do other bits of the assembly process.