Hi, I've bought a Vango Airbeam tent. Is the pressure gauge on the pump supposed to work like a tyre pump? The gauge registers movement when I operate the hand pump, but returns to zero between strokes (which to my mind renders it pointless). Is that right or am I (or the pump) doing something wrong?
HI NECTOR..WEVE A VANGO AIRBEAM 800 BUT NOW I DONT BOTHER WITH THE PRESSURE GUAGE..BOUT 5 PUMPS IN EACH TUBE..AS EACH CHAMBER OR SECTION GOES UP GIVE EACH TUBE A SQUEEZE IF IT FEELS RIGID THEN IT SHOUL BE OK...STEWEY
Our does that as well I thought I had broke it, we do the same about five pumps and check the pressure .
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I contacted Vango about this and they seemed to think there was a problem with the gauge and very kindly sent me a replacement.
Unfortunately it seems to be exactly the same which leads me to believe I'm doing something wrong.
It seems to me that since there is a valve in the air inlet on the tent to prevent air escaping, the gauge cannot possible work since there is no back-pressure. (If I blow down the tube to simulate back pressure, the gauge works).
There are four nozzles provided with the pump - which one should I be using - does one of them have something to open the valve? (In fact I can only make one of them fit into the inlet so this may be a daft question)
when I was talking to a salesman I was led to believe that the gauge was fitted in order to enable you to inflate to no more than I ThiNK 5psi as over pressure was one of the reasons people were having problems with the earlier models
So on that basis the gauge should register pressure with each stroke
your theory re the valve is questionable.car tyres also have a valve but a tyre pump Gauge still shows the tyre pressure
Thanks for that. That's one of my worries - they've since changed their recommendations to 3psi with an absolute maximum of 4psi. This means about as much to me as telling me to fill it to four Martian Oogles which is why I need the gauge to work for me.
The gauge does register with each stroke, but it varies depending on how fast the stroke is. It may be a case of pumping fast enough to open the valve without affecting the pressure.
Somehow I think I may be making a big job out of nothing. I'll practice a bit.
Hi, I don't have one of these tents, but originally they came with a large bore yellow pump. If yours is one of these, then it is just bought in by Vango to do the job, and these pumps come with various ends to fit what ever they are being used for. I have an inflatable dinghy that uses the same pump, and the pressure gauge does show the pressure all the time not just when I pump, can't remember how this actually works though. With regard to pressure, and I do also have an inflatable tent, but this does not have a pressure gauge, I pump till the tubes are just hard enough to stay in shape. I have never had any problem with them getting soggy at night, but if they did, I would just add an extra pump or two. I would guestimate from the effort required, when inflating the dinghy, that the tent tubes are no more than three pounds. I always thought that the stated pressure on early Vango tubes, was way over what was required, which was confirmed by all the problems they had. Hope this helps.
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Gary at Cross Camping has a great knowledge of inflatable tents. He may respond to this thread. If not give him a call as I'm sure he would be more than willing to give advice.
Hi
The valve only registers the pressure as you pump up as the none return valve on the tent is in the open mode as the air goes into the tent, if you stop pumping the valve on the tent shuts so the gauge will not show the pressure. The advise re the pressure you pump the tent to has changed over the first two years Vango supplied these tents, to add to this it also depends on which Airbeam you have. The tents that have angles in the tubes like the Eternity have a higher psi. Contact your retailer who you purchased the tent from and see if they know. If not contact Vango or drop me an email with which model you have and I will give you the low down next week when Im back at work (half term).
Gary Cross
thanks for that - it's what I suspected. I know that the new advice is not to go above 4pdi maximum. They recommend going up to 3psi then adding a bit.
I was expecting the gauge to register the pressure in the same way as a car tyre pump - I am obviously mistaken.
It seems then, that I need to watch the gauge whilst actually pumping and using it for an approximation?
I'm very grateful for the help given here - I've never had an inflatable tent before and it may well be that I am worrying unnecessarily.
I've had the similar problem with my Airbeam Eternity 800 - we used it for the first time the end of last year and just sorted of guessed the pressure from what it showed whilst pumping.
With my tent Vango then said it should be pumped up to 7psi and you have to remove the pressure valve to achieve this.
There wasn't high winds or anything when we tested it out last September so only took it up to about 5psi.
We are going camping again at the end of May at Sandy Balls for longer (5 nights) so will be interesting to see what happens.
Hi when i bought my 2014 vango evoke 600 (black pump) the falling pressure dial needle was pain. So i pumped it so i could see the needle hit 7psi then i stopped.
But to be honest is a failt inaccurate way to have to inflate these expensive tents.
I think the reason you only get a reading while pumping is because of the one way valve. The pressure can only register while the valve is opened (i.e. when air is going in)
With regards to recommended pressure, this is taken from the user guide...
"You should inflate the AirBeam to 7psi. If you have a 2011 model then inflate the AirBeam to 3psi. A free upgrade to a 3rd generation AirBeam is now available to all customers with a 2011 model."
Ours does the same. So what Gary is saying makes sense to me. I just pumped until it showed 7psi which our retailer recommended. But it is a bit confusing.
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Topic: Vango pump pressure gauge
