Which electric pump to inflate tender/large water toys

I've been considering options in this regard recently and given the relatively high current draw at 12V surely it's worthwhile using a 230V pump (via the inverter) rather than going through the hassle of either wiring a high current socket or having to connect directly to the batteries?

This thread gives some opinions on 12V options from the wind powered mob: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?405661-Best-air-pump
 
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Having had the pumps above which burnt out second time of using I personally would not recommend, we then bought a bravo pump run from a 12v potable battery pack, brilliant, two stage pump for low and high pressure. We have a honwave with inflatable hull and pumps to the recommend pressure.
 
Bravo pump if you need high pressure, lvm/rule if not. The latter to super fast compared to the bravo
 
Bravo pump vs Rule pump. I'm not sure if this is a fair comparison as the 'friend didn't know what he was doing'. With the LVM/Rule you need to be careful to stop pumping when the motor note changes as it uses the flow of air to keep cool.

 
kanajobe48 said:
Having had the pumps above which burnt out second time of using I personally would not recommend, we then bought a bravo pump run from a 12v potable battery pack, brilliant, two stage pump for low and high pressure. We have a honwave with inflatable hull and pumps to the recommend pressure.
Click to expand...

Jez - we have the same setup. It's been brilliant. We simply got a small 12v battery (originally designed for a mobility scooter). This makes the whole setup portable. Use it for the dinghy and to get most of the way inflating a SUP. Great solution.
 
Not massively helpful (yet). But the one we have has a two stage (low/high). Came with battery clips and I took them off to put a 12v cigarette lighter socket on it. Always (still does) works well on an inflatable dinghy. Makes a racket right at the end but tubes are well inflated. For boat-toys, I'm sure it's ideal.

Got it from F4 in Lym. When back on boat will take a pic.

Like I said, not massively useful without a pic but it's really good, esp the high pressure bit at the end. Has adjustable PSI on a dial.

Googling inflatable anything is not for the faint-hearted but I'm trying to find a pic for you.

Cheers, M
 
sarabande said:
My old LVM runs off a 12v cigarette socket but rated at 15A. Connections still get warm though.
Click to expand...

How big's the wire?

I first used mine with croc-clips off the battery as the boat wiring was a bit suspect, but to reach the dinghy on deck I'd attached a few metres of 1.5mm2 cable. It started off fine, but the wire quickly became hot to the touch, and the pump slowed down so as to become useless. Not really surprising given it draws 25 to 30 amps depending on who you ask.

I've since rewired the boat, including a 30-amp socket in the anchor locker supplied by very large cables (10mm2 from memory) to keep the volt-drop down over the long run from the battery. The connection from plug to pump is fairly short, only as long as it needs to be to conveniently reach the dinghy valves on the foredeck. It now works very effectively, blowing up the dinghy much faster than I can with a footpump, and with a lot less effort.

Main downside is the noise, which always feels a bit antisocial in a quiet anchorage. At least it doesn't last long.

It also doesn't quite bring the dinghy up to the pressure I'd like - it's enough to be usable, but I want it firmer than the pump can manage so half a dozen strokes on the footpump are still required. The solution would be one of those two-stage Bravo pumps that do the bulk fill with a turbine and then switch to a reciprocating pump for the last bit, but they're large beasts that I don't really have space for. And in an ideal world I'd have it built in like their "console" pump, but they only offer that in a turbine-only version, not two-stage (and again on the current boat there's nowhere to build it into).

Pete
 
To save all the bother of connecting leads, getting hot, not long enough, tripping hazards etc I use a rechargeable Coleman unit like this
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/coleman-rechargable-quickpump-p322110

Yes it's low cost but it inflates things really quickly (and deflates as well when required)
Low pressure only so requires just a couple of pumps from the foot pump to achieve final pressure.

Really easy and convenient to use, battery life is really good and one charge lasts a couple of years for me, it inflates the dinghy in a couple of minutes. Mine is the older (black) version, more rounded but otherwise identical I think.
 
Trundlebug said:
To save all the bother of connecting leads, getting hot, not long enough, tripping hazards etc I use a rechargeable Coleman unit like this
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/coleman-rechargable-quickpump-p322110

Yes it's low cost but it inflates things really quickly (and deflates as well when required)
Low pressure only so requires just a couple of pumps from the foot pump to achieve final pressure.

Really easy and convenient to use, battery life is really good and one charge lasts a couple of years for me, it inflates the dinghy in a couple of minutes. Mine is the older (black) version, more rounded but otherwise identical I think.
Click to expand...
+1 think mine came from Halfords
 
We have one of the 4 man sofas - believe me you need a good pump for these

IMG_5476_Small_zps951c6f1f.jpg


Anyway, we use one of these pumps to inflate it
http://www.jobesports.com/heavy-duty-pump-410205001/
Even this can overheat after completely inflating the sofa.

This year, I bought a Bravo 220 pump for the RIB (JFM recommendation)
I've tried it a couple of times on the new Novurania and it works well.
I can't remember where I bought it but this is the one on Ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bravo-220...40-volt-MAINS-Air-Pump-Inflator-/171650787488

Note that both these pumps are 220v/240v AC so you will need a generator or shore supply to run them.
IMO, these two pumps have two very different operations.
The Jobe one that I use for the sofa delivers a much larger volume - using a 2 inch hose
Whereas the Bravo 220 can handle the much higher pressures that a RIB requires.
 
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I actually think a good bellows foot pump does a better job and keeps you a bit fit :) I did a test the other day and me and my wife managed to pump up our 2.6 m waveco SIB in 3.5 mins using 2 pumps from fist pump to fully inflated.

Dennis
 
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