The torture pump works again!

[Jackster]

Those dad-blamed double action air pump! About 12 years ago I messed up my back using one of them and then again this weekend I tempted fate by using it again to pump up my 'toon and lost!
To be blunt, what a pitiful design! Most of us have learned that when lifting keep your back straight and lift with the knees. Well, that short beast won't allow that action if you're over 3' tall so be forewarned, those pumps can bite!
Just another PSA!

[MoscaPescador]

Buy yourself an electric LVM pump and top off with a double action pump or better yet, a K-Pump. By using the LVM pump, you will get the volume filled. By topping it off with a manual pump, you will get the pressure. It only takes very few pumps to top off a float tube or a pontoon boat bladder.

MP

[Jackster]

Originally Posted by MoscaPescador

Buy yourself an electric LVM pump and top off with a double action pump or better yet, a K-Pump. By using the LVM pump, you will get the volume filled. By topping it off with a manual pump, you will get the pressure. It only takes very few pumps to top off a float tube or a pontoon boat bladder.

MP

That is exactly what I plan to do. I usually use a foot pump for volume and it tops it off nicely. The K-Pump has become my favorite all-rounder since getting it a couple years ago but after going to the doctor and getting hopped up on Prednisone and some sort of pretty good pain killers I figure the electric pump is a cheap investment and the best way to go.

[Fly2Fish]

Originally Posted by MoscaPescador

Buy yourself an electric LVM pump and top off with a double action pump or better yet, a K-Pump. By using the LVM pump, you will get the volume filled. By topping it off with a manual pump, you will get the pressure. It only takes very few pumps to top off a float tube or a pontoon boat bladder.MP

MP,

How much better is the LVM pump than an off-the-shelf DC-powered air pump you can get at Harbor Freight or Walmart for a tenth of the price of an LVM?

[MoscaPescador]

Originally Posted by Fly2Fish

MP,

How much better is the LVM pump than an off-the-shelf DC-powered air pump you can get at Harbor Freight or Walmart for a tenth of the price of an LVM?

An LVM pump can fill a 10 foot pontoon in 45 seconds. Off the shelf pumps are not as fast. It puts more pressure in the bladders, too.

LVM pumps last longer. The motors in the off the shelf models don't last quite as long. I have one that is going on 5 years now. I use it on both my pontoon and float tube. Between those watercraft, that is roughly 30 days of use each year.

MP

[Frank Whiton]

Hi Fly2Fish,

If you are asking about the pumps that Harbor Freight sells for blowing up vehicle tires then they won't work. You need a high volume pump to work with the Halkey-Roberts type valves used on inflatable boats/pontoons. If HF is selling a high volume pump for blowing up certain types of air mattress then they may work for a while. I would be concerned about the HF pump longevity. The pumps made to inflate inflatable boats will tell you when you have enough air pressure. I have been using a LVM pump for eighteen years with no problem.

In Alaska I used a foot pump for blowing up a twelve foot Zodiac. The foot pump took way longer and two people to pump up the Z. When you fly to a remote location the foot pump was the best available at that time.

Frank

[Fly2Fish]

Frank & MP,

Thanks for this good advice. This is very helpful to me in figuring out what pump to buy.

Neil