12v pump for inflatable- any good?

I've got a 4 metre inflatable that would take me forever to inflate/deflate without electric aid. We carry it about in the car or caravan (sorry folks but we do also have a cruiser) when we go touring or days out and need to pump up efficiently and quickly. I've got a Ho Lee super electric pump, it is a 240v AC version but we carry a small 700w suitcase generator anyway. The only problem with the Ho Lee is watching you don't over-inflate it is that fast and powerful, the pump is wild, hose flails about on its own if not plugged well into the valve. Deflation is also terrific, either way you can just watch the massive tubes either grow or shrink before your eyes. Thoroughly reccomended. Ho Lee also do low voltage and battery pumps, and they are as cheap as chips including postage, see here: http://search.pricewatch.com/sports_outdoors/brand/Ho_Lee_Company/0.htm
 
I've got an electric pump very similar, cost £6.99. It does most of the hard work when blowing up my quicksilver 2.7. You'll need to use a proper pump for the last bit to make the dinghy hard but the electric pump makes it quicker and less effort.
 
I bought a boat 10 years ago with a Redstart and a good electric pump which inflates and deflates in a couple of minutes. The boat and the Redstart were sold but the pump remains and blows my new 2.6 hard enough not to need manual pumping afterwards. The pump uses about 12 amps and therefore tests the quality of so called cigar lighter sockets which get very hot. I use banana plugs which dont!
 
sorry, should have been response to Rob_W!!


Well I bought a cheep electric pump from Tesco, & they still do sell them, I think they are £6.99, or were last year when I bought. My parents have an expensive £80 proper plastimo electric pump, which is hellishly noisy, but does a good job but you still need to finish off with the foot pump. My cheap pump does a very credible job, it does save time and effort and is not so noisy as the more powerful pump and yes you do still have to finish off with a foot pump but not that much. It also does the reverse & suck out all the air which in may ways is even more beneficial. But the fact you can leave SWMBO holding the electric pump while you go and dig out the oars and seat etc does save time.... well that's how it works with us. I say BUY BUY BUY!

I will also just add the other reason I bought an electric pump, we vacuum pack all our bedding to dramatically reduce the room it takes up and also keeps it nice and dry... you can't do that without an electric air pump...
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I got a dingy pump made by Rule. it will inflate my Lodestar 2.6m including airdeck and keel in an effortless 2 mins. Great bit of kit. Cost £80, but takes all the hassle of inflating the dingy on deck. I inflate the dingy a little bit first in the cockpit and then chuck it in the water. I then lean over with the inflator and do the rest in the water. Really quick and no effort involved. I have my inflator "plumbed" in permenantly which makes it even easier.
 
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I've just sold my Redstart and it used to take me no more than 2 minutes to pump up using an excellent Bravo foot inflator. The Bravo series can be used to suck all the air out of a rubber dinghy, which is very useful, too.

Really cheap elec pumps are not beefy enough to deliver the right p.s.i., so you end up having to foot pump them any way .That pump looks a bit too cheap for full pressure.

The LVM is probly the best 12v one around but a bit pricy unless you can find one on fleebay.
http://www.lvm-ltd.com/products/pumps/hi_speed_inflator_12v_lvm110/iid_548/index.htm

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The LVM is a great pump. You can almost dispense with a manual pump.

The give away on the cheaper pumps is the cigaret lighter on the end. The LVM takes 25amps which cannot be delivered with a cig lighter plug. Also, it is worth having beafy 6mm sq cable if you are going to extend it to a decent length to reach the dinghy comfortably.
 
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I will also just add the other reason I bought an electric pump, we vacuum pack all our bedding to dramatically reduce the room it takes up and also keeps it nice and dry... you can't do that without an electric air pump...

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mmmmmm sorry but you can do it with manual hand / foot pumps - I can do it with my Avon original, my double action standup pump etc. - as all you do is reverse the hose connections as you do with your electric one ..
 
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