tube flat

[chriswjallen]

Hi Jeff, David, Terry,

I am interested in the buying a battery on eBay idea, but just had a look and got confused with different voltages (12 or 24 etc) and unclear what type of charger I would need to keep topped up

David - as you say it must be liberating to not have to charge from car, so keen to investigate this further

Could you expand on the battery/charger details and or give a link to something on eBay please?

Many thanks in advance
Chris

[Elcaro]

Hi jeff, thanks. What concerns me is that after much pumping up the tubes seem pretty hard but the gauge is still under 0.1, so it's not like accuracy, but whether the blinking thing works at all! I'll try another gauge I think, looks like they're only a few quid, so if the screw fitting is standard it's worth a try.


Chris sorry I don't know but will also be interested in the answers.


- Terry.

[willk]

Originally Posted by Elcaro

What concerns me is that after much pumping up the tubes seem pretty hard but the gauge is still under 0.1, so it's not like accuracy, but whether the blinking thing works at all
.

Is that bar? 0.1 bar is almost 1.5psi - well on the way to hard. Most newbie SIB owners underinflate their tubes.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by chriswjallen

I am interested in the buying a battery on eBay idea, but just had a look and got confused with different voltages (12 or 24 etc) and unclear what type of charger I would need to keep topped up

David - as you say it must be liberating to not have to charge from car, so keen to investigate this further

Could you expand on the battery/charger details and or give a link to something on eBay please?

Even more liberating not to have inflatable tubes () ;-)

A 12V battery is what you want. Those jump start packs you get for your car would do the job, come in a convenient shape, have other uses and usually come with a mains charger and some very basic charging circuit or voltage meter. Ignore the compressor if it has one - Ok for car tyres but will never get your boat inflated.

[willk]

Originally Posted by chriswjallen

I am interested in the buying a battery on eBay idea, but just had a look and got confused with different voltages (12 or 24 etc) and unclear what type of charger I would need to keep topped up

If designed for car use, you pump will be 12 volt. Means you need a 12V battery with a large enough capacity to fill your SIB once. It can be ANY kind of battery, but I would recommend a sealed battery as acid and boat kit don't mix well.

AT the VERY low end of the scale, a sealed lead acid battery designed for a burglar alarm or similar will manage - 12v, 7Ah (Amp Hour). This will be heavily drained each use and this tends to massively reduce the life span of the battery. I would not advise one of these (alone)

Next up is a higher capacity battery of the same type - typically around the 20Amp Hour size. I regard this as a decent option - you'll probably get 2-3 fills. They can be pricey

Higher again, a lawnmower sized traditional battery - these cost around £50 and can inflate a sib several times.

In any case, aim to never deplete the battery - far better to use 20-40% of the charge and then recharge. Any small car battery charger will do the job. Chargers are a whole subject buy themselves.....

All of the above considered, you can also cheat and cobble a few batteries together. I had a free supply of the scorned 7Ah batteries and linked a few together as per the pic below. Seems to do the job and saved me €40.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by Elcaro

Hi jeff, thanks. What concerns me is that after much pumping up the tubes seem pretty hard but the gauge is still under 0.1, so it's not like accuracy, but whether the blinking thing works at all! I'll try another gauge I think, looks like they're only a few quid, so if the screw fitting is standard it's worth a try.


Chris sorry I don't know but will also be interested in the answers.


- Terry.

fair one terry try it and see its not crucial to get it bang on pressure, air floors are a bit different you need them to be rigid.
as said above with the battery i use a 20 amh but i dont inflate fully every day if you are i would get a small car battery [sealed] and charge with like me an halfords old faithful charger then it would last a week if blowing up every day.
if your engine charges i would just get a 20 amh and keep it in a splash proof box whilst at sea.

[chriswjallen]

Thanks for all the feedback. Very useful

[Elcaro]

Thanks all.
Regards from Terry.