I have purchased a Bradcot Aspire 390 air awning and have the electric inflation pump which Bradcott supply.
It is not easy to connect this to my car battery as it is housed under battery cover so was going to take a seperate battery with me to inflate and deflate the awning.
However I am not keen on carrying round a battery in the car boot unless really necessary.
As a thought I was in Halfords the other day and noticed they sell a self contained power pack for starting a car etc. , which are charged from the mains.
I always book electric hook up pitches and was wondering if I could use one of these self contained power packs to connect the awning inflation pump too. I could recharge it if necessary from the caravan whilst on site if required. does anyone know if this would work?
Thanks
Hi Checklley 1973 and AL53HX , I had thought of that for a possibility, but not ideal as firstly the battery compartment is on the opposite side of the caravan and I have a 110 ah battery in the battery compartment
(For the movers) which is a tight fit , so don't really have enough room to get the pumps crocodile clips securely on the terminals.
I woukd be happy to buy a self contained power pack as would make things easy , but not sure if it would work the pump?
how many amps is the bradcott pump?
how many amp/hour (Ah) is the battery pack?
if the awning will take 15 min to inflate and the battery pack is 35Ah and the pump is 8h or less it will work.
i dont know any of the actual figures but 'you can do the maths' 35Ah means it can supply 35A for 1h.
there are also 240v electric pumps for inflating air beds etc. you could buy one of these from Argos, it may be cheaper and lighter than the battery pack?
------------- First van bailey ranger 550/6
Now the proud owner of a coachman amara
Hi Baileyjake
I will try and find out how many amps the pump is this evening. I had thought about using the power pack to inflate the awning directly as there is a digital gauge to set at pressure presumably to inflate tyres etc.
Wasn't too sure about using the power pack direct onto the awning and changing the connector valve , however as I understand it the Bradcot pump inflates quicker initially , then slows back as awning reaches near full inflation , without over inflating it, so would prefer to run the Bradcot pump off the power pack?
The problem is the amps the pump draws . It's a two stage pump and it draws up to twenty amps so if you use a cigar type socket make sure the wiring is up to the job certainly no socket in the car. That's why I use the leisure battery or pop the bonnet on the car and connect to the battery.
Hi Clbewi
That's what I thought , do you think it would work though with the pump connected directly to one of the Power Packs similar to that Halfords sell?
Advantage if does , is that I can recharge the power pack on site if required, and not have to carry a wet acid battery in the boot?
The problem of using the car or caravan battery I mentioned in earlier post?
Thanks
Quote: Originally posted by Dave11 on 09/3/2016
I have purchased a Bradcot Aspire 390 air awning and have the electric inflation pump which Bradcott supply.
It is not easy to connect this to my car battery as it is housed under battery cover so was going to take a seperate battery with me to inflate and deflate the awning.
However I am not keen on carrying round a battery in the car boot unless really necessary.
As a thought I was in Halfords the other day and noticed they sell a self contained power pack for starting a car etc. , which are charged from the mains.
I always book electric hook up pitches and was wondering if I could use one of these self contained power packs to connect the awning inflation pump too. I could recharge it if necessary from the caravan whilst on site if required. does anyone know if this would work?
Thanks
Why don't you buy a 7ah 12v battery which is small and will do the same job? Something like this woudl be okay and will do about 4 - 5 erections
We bought one of those power packs from Argos last year as a back up for if ever our caravan power failed, as l have to keep diabetic injections cool in the fridge. TBH, it was a waste of money, and was not powerful enough or have enough capacity to even pump up my daughters airbeds before it died and needed a recharge from the mains.
After contacting the manufacturer, we returned it to Argos and got a full refund as 'Not fit for Purpose'.
Julia
------------- Just love to be out amoungst Nature and Wildlife
Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
Quote: Originally posted by Dave11 on 10/3/2016
Hi Clbewi
That's what I thought , do you think it would work though with the pump connected directly to one of the Power Packs similar to that Halfords sell?
Advantage if does , is that I can recharge the power pack on site if required, and not have to carry a wet acid battery in the boot?
The problem of using the car or caravan battery I mentioned in earlier post?
Thanks
Hi Dave 11
I see you have an X5 these have jump starting points under the bonnet to make it easier if you have a dead battery, you can connect the pump to these. If you google jump starting an x5 there's plenty of info out there. Hope this helps.
I know the OP is way past the point of no return but it seems the plot has been lost somewhere along the line. Where, having an air-awning to dehassle picking up a few poles is being replaced by carrying an electric pump and manhandling a spare car battery around the pitch.
I expect that is progress, but its advantage is lost on me.
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Topic: Awning Inflation - Will it Wirk?
