Inflatable for shore dives(budget dive boat)

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Thanks for the tips everyone.

I've taken the boat out 7x's now and half those times have been out of my Bronco II after being folded up. It is redundant rolling it up and packing it, then unrolling it and rinsing everything down when I get back to the house. The motor doesn't bother me to move and flush at the house, I just lean it against the house, hook the hose up and crank it up. In the future, I may get tired of this routine and break down to get the trailer - however, I'm in no large rush to find one at this moment.

The times I've taken it without the Bronco have been in different friend's pickup trucks in which we just inflated the boat at the house and strapped it to the top of the bed It was nice to just be able to rinse it off back at the house.

At the moment I store the boat in the house deflated and rolled. Only once have I left it inflated(and I did drain some air out after reading a few other posts on inflatables - thanks!).

I'm loving the boat, this past weekend I've ventured out 1 mile offshore with it in 2-3' choppy seas. Made for one fun ride!

 

[cool_hardware52]

Glad to hear the new boat is as much fun as it looks like!


One tip I forgot. The output of the "smog pump" on many auto engines (the air injection pump) is compressed, low temperature, low pressure, high volume air......just right for inflation.

I just made up a hose I could swap into place, that was long enough to reach.

Not sure if your vehicle has a smog pump, but if it does and it's reasonably easy to get to without getting burned it's a lot easier that the stomp pump.

This worked so well that I eventually connected a "spare" smog pump to a little AC motor (1/4 hp from an old dishwasher IIRC) for home use.

cheers



ch

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

I have several buddies with inflatables who swear that
the typical bellows foot pump isn't nearly as good as a
double action hand pump, kinda like a fat bicycle pump,
and pumps on both strokes. Having helped inflate a few
times, I'd have to agree.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I think I'm going to rig up one of the spair tanks I have with some kind of yoke to fill this little sucker up

 

[cool_hardware52]

Hey bugman!

Not sure how the fill ports work on your boat. On my avon the fill was just a tapered hole that one could jam the "right" sized vinyl hose into. I've seen some that had a twist lock style, like a bayonet mount on a camera lense.

The avon style is a built in "over pressure" i.e. if you exceed the ~3 psi the hose just blows out.

If you use a scuba reg the cfm may be limited. If you don't have means to limit fill pressure and have a twist lock, or other secured fitting you should consider some type of over pressure relief in fill system.

The beauty of the smog pump approach is other than the one time cost of the hose it's virtually free.


Have fun,



ch

 

[ChrisA]

A vacuum cleaner exaust works well. Just hold the hose
over the open valve. Don't worry, some air will leak but
you can get the boat 95% full and then top if off with the
foot pump. Vacuum also works to empty the boat.
A big shop vac works best but a home type does almost
as well.

Hey bugman!

Not sure how the fill ports work on your boat. On my avon the fill was just a tapered hole that one could jam the "right" sized vinyl hose into. I've seen some that had a twist lock style, like a bayonet mount on a camera lense.

The avon style is a built in "over pressure" i.e. if you exceed the ~3 psi the hose just blows out.

If you use a scuba reg the cfm may be limited. If you don't have means to limit fill pressure and have a twist lock, or other secured fitting you should consider some type of over pressure relief in fill system.

The beauty of the smog pump approach is other than the one time cost of the hose it's virtually free.


Have fun,



ch

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Hey bugman!

Not sure how the fill ports work on your boat. On my avon the fill was just a tapered hole that one could jam the "right" sized vinyl hose into.

The Zodiac's fill holes are similar

 

[cool_hardware52]

The vacuum exhaust sounds like a winner, maybe even a cheap 12 volt cigarette lighter type for those travel fills.

I do kinda like the smog pump approach, but that's just the tinkerer in me




Regards,



ch