Life Jacket Test Inflation

[mobeydick]

Has anybody worked out a way to inflate a LJ to check for leaks? I would rather not inflate by mouth (I imagine damp breath may cause future problems) and obviously I do not want to trigger the CO2 cylinder. I would like to use a pump, but need some sort of adaptor to the inflation tube, I guess.

 

[LittleSister]

I did mine recently with the pump from my Plastimo inflatable, which comes supplied with a few different adaptors. If you have a pump like this, or a bicycle or car tyre foot or hand pump, even without adaptors it should be fairly easy to improvise a connection, as you do not need great pressure to fill and check the jacket.

 

[cpedw]

I managed to bodge a bicycle pump to the mouth piece with a bit of rubber tube between. It isn't a high pressure and leaks during inflation are not important.

Derek

 

[irishskipper]

I've used a bicycle pump with bluetack to create an airtight fit. If you hold the bluetack in and don't overinflate it works fine.

One thing to be very careful of is putting the cap back in to the lifejacket mouthpiece. Most caps have a protusion on one side that is used to easily deflate the jacket, as it holds the valve open when inserted into the mouthpiece.

The problem is that it often fits too snugly into the mouthpiece, leaving the valve permanently open. If its fitted the wrong way, and you ever have to use the jacket in anger, the Co2 will leave the jacket as fast as the canister can fill it.

This is worth checking in every lifejacket, as you never know who may have opened the mouthpiece cap and put it back in the wrong way.