12V Inflatable Pump ?

[NakedCity]

Does anyone know of a 12 volt air pump capable of inflating my 11ft Caribe RIB to its proper pressure. My leg gets awfully tired with the foot pump.

[jamhass]

West sells a very nice one, rebranded Italian dual mode pump. We have the one with the dial gauge (not the digital) and auto shutoff. Works great and so far very reliable.

[belizesailor]

12V pumps are sold in the automotive/RV/offroad markets too. Probably at substantially lower prices than the yachtie market.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by jamhass

West sells a very nice one, rebranded Italian dual mode pump. We have the one with the dial gauge (not the digital) and auto shutoff. Works great and so far very reliable.

That's the one I use. The original failed after just a couple uses but WM replaced it without issue even when I was away from home with no receipt.

[masonc]

Amazon
$15 - can't beat that.

[hugosalt]

I use a inexpensive no name throw a way inflator (that has lasted for years so far)
to get me most of the way inflated and then use foot pump with 3-4 pumps to each
section to bring my 10' zodiac air floor to proper pressure.
However, happy to see this thread as would be nice to retire both with
a decent pump.

[Scaramanga F25]

How long have you had your air floor dinghy and did the skins separate?

[lordgeoff]

Originally Posted by NakedCity

Does anyone know of a 12 volt air pump capable of inflating my 11ft Caribe RIB to its proper pressure. My leg gets awfully tired with the foot pump.

http://www.boatstogo.com/m/inflatable-accessories.asp

[LooseGoose]

A useful alternative is to use a 12 volt shop vac in 'blow' mode to get bulk fill and then final adjustment with foot pump. That way you have a useful device for cleaning the boat too. I have also seen a very powerful DeWalt cordless shop vac wihich would work great too, and using Interchangeable battery packs with other Dewalt cordless tools.

Good luck

[Brewgyver]

Originally Posted by masonc

Amazon
$15 - can't beat that.

Those are made for camping-type air mattresses. They won't come near inflating a dinghy. Neither will a shop vac. Ryobi has a low and high pressure inflator in thei 18 volt cordless line, and I used to use it for my dink, but it wouldn't get the tubes to 2psi. I bought the WM unit others have mentioned, it's fantastic.

[Chuck Hawley]

Originally Posted by masonc

Amazon
$15 - can't beat that.

These are extremely generic, low-end pumps that both fail to create suitable pressure, and fail to achieve reasonable volume. They are OK for air mattresses and other low pressure items.

Inflatable boats run around 3psi, which is surprisingly hard for a small motor to generate with any volume. The LVM pump from England was the exception, with a large motor and high speed rotor using inverse gearing. Always expensive, but by far the best of the small inflators (About $120).

I think you're best off finding a high capacity pump that won't quite get to full pressure, then topping off the boat with a foot pump. The Scroprega dual function pump is an exception, and it can achieve enough pressure to pump up an inflatable floor (11psi), but it trades off a lot of complexity.

Chuck

[CarinaPDX]

Another vote for the LVM - expensive and damn well worth it. It will take the tubes to the right pressure. It is very compact yet very quick. I bought mine 20 years ago and it still works great. Cheap ones may be easy to replace in the States but you are going to be SOL when it dies out cruising...

Greg

[StuM]

I just use one of these, much better than a footpump.

AIR HAMMER INFLATABLE BLOW UP INFLATION HAND PUMP BLOW UP AIRBED POOL DINGHY | eBay

[Garethk]

I have had a few of the expensive ones, over in Australia they are named Bravo and are made in Italy. Unfortunately they don't seem to last to long when you start to inflate the high pressure floor, Mine developed a few small leaks and had to be re inflated after a couple of days.

Beats using the foot pump but if you get one don't throw your foot pump away as you will probably need it.

Just do a google search 12 volt inflatable boat pump and see how much you want to spend.

[brianlara 3]

Paid top dollar for a RULE. Within two uses the (toy) switch failed and I had fit an in-line switch. Within about 4 more uses the Rule failed completely.
Bought an LVM four years ago, never looked back (on hook 24 x7 for 7 years). Best pump in Oz and tiny, unlike Bravo and others. A Bravo pump would not fit inside my boat!