As a general guiding principle suggests that an inflatable tube attains fullness when achieving remarkable firmness. Towable tubes covered with nylon covers must display unwrinkled perfection. When an adult stands or reclines on the tube, merely a slight centimeter-level descent should occur. To achieve this inflation equilibrium, the PVC bladder’s elasticity plays a pivotal role, underscoring the criticality of meticulous inflator selection. Your pump’s dual role involves delivering a substantial air volume while generating sufficient pressure to elongate the PVC tube. Optimal inflation of towable tubes, coupled with diligent maintenance, guarantees protracted product longevity and exceptional performance.
The picture above shows an under inflated tube. As you can see the adult sinks into the tube when standing on it. Under inflated tubes sit lower in the water, which creates additional stress to the boat, the tube, tube cover and the rope as it is being dragged through the water instead of pulled across the water surface. An under inflated tube will cause your boat to use more fuel. The displaced air will cause extra stress on the tube itself and may cause it to rupture. Additionally, it will cause the nylon cover over the tube to and the tow rope to stretch.
The picture above shows a properly inflated tube. You can see how the cover of the tube is taut , and how the adult barely sinks in when standing on it. A correctly inflated tube will ride high on the water, giving you with an exciting ride. Properly inflated tubes also reduce your boats fuel consumption and helps with insuring a longer lifespan.
Finally, it’s not enough to simply pump up your towable tube and go. It’s important to keep an eye on the amount of air in the tube as the heat from the sun will cause the bladder to expand, which can possibly cause damage to the seams or internal compartments of the tube. If you leave a fully inflated tube sitting around in the sun for any length of time, it’s going to expand so it’s best to either store it in the shade or let some of the air out. Try not to leave it siting on the beach, dock, or boat full of air! At the same time. each time before use, check and adjust inflation levels. This way you’ll have more fun, and your towable tube will last longer.
PUMP Guide
It’s important to know that tubes don’t require high pressure, they are in fact low pressure/high volume products. Most towable tubes can be inflated using a good electric pump or a hand pump. Some of the newer 12-volt inflators have been designed specifically to inflate beds or tubes but will still not fully inflate some of the bigger tubes now on the market. If you are filling up all your inflatable toys at the lake, some of the bigger tubes on the market require a hand pump in addition to the 12-volt inflator. The electric inflator will do most of the hard work, and the hand pump will need to be used to top off the tube to get the right pressure.
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