LORDNELSON
Well-Known Member
Sorry to ask this question which I know has been asked in the past but what 12 volt inflator for an inflator is considered best?
Electric inflator for inflatable
- Thread starter LORDNELSON
- Start date
sailorman
Well-Known Member
ghostlymoron
Well-Known Member
I got one last week from Lidl £4.99.
Chris_Robb
Well-Known Member
I would second that. Note that the secret is in the words "Power, 25 amps". It is fast and inflates without the need of a footpump (perhaps not for an inflated floor.)
Note that you will not be able to run it off a cigar lighter (6 amps) but will need either croc clips off the battery or a substantial plug. If you are extending the cable, which you will need to do, use 6 mm sq dual core cable.
JonJon
Well-Known Member
I have tried to avoid buying one of these LVM things because they are pricey. The result is I have about 4 useless air pumps which blow the dinghy up half way and I have to finish off with the foot pump. I might have to bite the bullet and buy one and dump the trash I have bought so far.
Boz
Well-Known Member
70 Quid Blimey ..... go to a caravan shop and don't pay more than £20.
You might have to finish it off with a hand pump but what the heck ...
Regards
Boz
Chris_Robb
Well-Known Member
70 Quid Blimey ..... go to a caravan shop and don't pay more than £20.
You might have to finish it off with a hand pump but what the heck ...
Regards
Boz
Yeah well, I tried a cheap one, and it was a waste of space - now in some landfill site.... if you have not used one of these, you won't know how good they are.
sailorman
Well-Known Member
ours is 20+ yrs old still going strong
Refueler
Well-Known Member
70 Quid Blimey ..... go to a caravan shop and don't pay more than £20.
You might have to finish it off with a hand pump but what the heck ...
Regards
Boz
£20 ?? Many supermarkets and even street markets ... incl. Lidls, Aldi etc. do air-pumps for about £5 ....
I have a couple and I'm quite happy enough to save ~ £65 to spend on something else. Yes I have to give a bit of a manual pump to finish off ... but I have used the inflatable without this last bit and was found enough to be sufficient to carry us and row dinghy. Engine needed that last bit though to stiffen up the dinghy.
Some will say that LVM will deflate dinghy as well ........ well surprise surprise ... my cheapo £5 jobs do that as well ...
LORDNELSON
Well-Known Member
Air pumps
Thanks very much. LVM is the one I was thinking about but £70 does make one cough a bit!
Thanks very much. LVM is the one I was thinking about but £70 does make one cough a bit!
vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
You won't regret it (apart from the cost!) I have two other cheaper pumps, they are remarkably slow and fail to get the dinghy beyond about half inflated. The LVM takes not much more than 5 minutes to almost fully inflate a 2.7 metre dinghy with Airdeck. A few strokes with a manual pump are needed to get tubes up to the correct pressure but this is a very small amount of effort compared with a manual pump all the way.
Spyro
Well-Known Member
Second the Lidl one, bought one about 3 years ago and when I saw them on offer last year bought another as a spare but I've never had to use it as the first is still going strong. As others say you need to finish off with a foot pump as it's only high volume output not high pressure.
I wouldn't consider spending £70 on a pump.
jusw
Well-Known Member
I'm another guy who invested £70+ in an inflator - I baulked slightly at the cost, but as I have angina and pumping up the dinghy with a footpump or by hand leaves me feeling rather rough - I think its money well spent -
Two points though - They do use an enormous current and if your car battery is on the way out, they will flatten it - happened to me and the car was stuck on the slipway in the dark with the tide returning - Hmm - not good!
Now I always inflate with the engine running, you're not supposed to as you get 14+volts but it does have two benefits -
1 It prevents me being stuck on the slipway
2 It produces higher pressure and blows the dinghy up really well!
I also made an extension lead to allow me to connect direct to the battery on the boat, so I can inflate the dinghy on deck.
There isn't enough room on a 27 footer to store inflated.
All in all, I'm happy I paid the money - it makes getting ready for sailing so much more easy.
JuSw
Two points though - They do use an enormous current and if your car battery is on the way out, they will flatten it - happened to me and the car was stuck on the slipway in the dark with the tide returning - Hmm - not good!
Now I always inflate with the engine running, you're not supposed to as you get 14+volts but it does have two benefits -
1 It prevents me being stuck on the slipway
2 It produces higher pressure and blows the dinghy up really well!
I also made an extension lead to allow me to connect direct to the battery on the boat, so I can inflate the dinghy on deck.
There isn't enough room on a 27 footer to store inflated.
All in all, I'm happy I paid the money - it makes getting ready for sailing so much more easy.
JuSw
sailorman
Well-Known Member
I'm another guy who invested £70+ in an inflator - I baulked slightly at the cost, but as I have angina and pumping up the dinghy with a footpump or by hand leaves me feeling rather rough - I think its money well spent -
Two points though - They do use an enormous current and if your car battery is on the way out, they will flatten it - happened to me and the car was stuck on the slipway in the dark with the tide returning - Hmm - not good!
Now I always inflate with the engine running, you're not supposed to as you get 14+volts but it does have two benefits -
1 It prevents me being stuck on the slipway
2 It produces higher pressure and blows the dinghy up really well!
I also made an extension lead to allow me to connect direct to the battery on the boat, so I can inflate the dinghy on deck.
There isn't enough room on a 27 footer to store inflated.
All in all, I'm happy I paid the money - it makes getting ready for sailing so much more easy.
JuSw
A Plus point is that they will have a re-sale value
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
My 22 year-old
LVM, that my daughter bought me, is still going strong and is an invaluable piece of kit, having outlasted 4 rubber ducks (including an Avon Redstart).
It pulls a lot of amps, and the lead is perhaps on the short side.
It won't inflate the inflatable floor sufficiently, and I always finish off with a few strokes of the foot pump.
When I had a really small boat its greatest advantage was that it really deflated the dinghy so I could stuff it into the smallest possible space - now the dinghy is usually upturned on the foredeck.
When she got it for me it was, I think, about £18.
LVM, that my daughter bought me, is still going strong and is an invaluable piece of kit, having outlasted 4 rubber ducks (including an Avon Redstart).
It pulls a lot of amps, and the lead is perhaps on the short side.
It won't inflate the inflatable floor sufficiently, and I always finish off with a few strokes of the foot pump.
When I had a really small boat its greatest advantage was that it really deflated the dinghy so I could stuff it into the smallest possible space - now the dinghy is usually upturned on the foredeck.
When she got it for me it was, I think, about £18.
tudorsailor
Well-Known Member
Spend the money to get a decent pump. I inflate a 2.8m Avon very quickly with no need for a foot pump. Also make sure you can connect to speed up deflation.I'm another guy who invested £70+ in an inflator - I baulked slightly at the cost, but as I have angina and pumping up the dinghy with a footpump or by hand leaves me feeling rather rough - I think its money well spent -
Two points though - They do use an enormous current and if your car battery is on the way out, they will flatten it - happened to me and the car was stuck on the slipway in the dark with the tide returning - Hmm - not good!
Now I always inflate with the engine running, you're not supposed to as you get 14+volts but it does have two benefits -
1 It prevents me being stuck on the slipway
2 It produces higher pressure and blows the dinghy up really well!
I also made an extension lead to allow me to connect direct to the battery on the boat, so I can inflate the dinghy on deck.
There isn't enough room on a 27 footer to store inflated.
All in all, I'm happy I paid the money - it makes getting ready for sailing so much more easy.
JuSw
Tudorsailor
Iain C
Well-Known Member
Tesco do a decent one for about £7. It comes with both a 12v and 240v plug.
RestlessL
Well-Known Member
Another vote for the LVM. When this has been discussed before the question of electrical connectors has been raised. I now have a Bulgin Buccaneer 900 plug rated at 32A
http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/br...pliedparametrics=true&locale=en_UK&catalogId=
Kelpie
Well-Known Member
I got a £12 Coleman pump and it's great. Routine is: set up pump, try to get into my oilies/boots before it finished. It always wins. I use the hand pump to do about ten strokes to firm up the tubes but have used the dinghy without this when I forgot the hand pump- in fact once we had to carry three people in our redcrest like this.
You have to have a hand or foot pump anyway. Don't want to discover a leaky boat has deflated on its mooring. I never like to go in a rubber dinghy without one and doing ten strokes with it is hardly a hardship, especially compared to having to carry the dinghy, row out to the boat, etc etc.
If anybody feels the need to spend £60 to save ten strokes of a pump, then, uuuh... that's your call I guess.
You have to have a hand or foot pump anyway. Don't want to discover a leaky boat has deflated on its mooring. I never like to go in a rubber dinghy without one and doing ten strokes with it is hardly a hardship, especially compared to having to carry the dinghy, row out to the boat, etc etc.
If anybody feels the need to spend £60 to save ten strokes of a pump, then, uuuh... that's your call I guess.
reginaldon
Well-Known Member
Use a 240v Aldi special at home and have 12v ones in the car & on the boat for good measure and they are all I need