Silly question, Sillier solution !

A few discussions down you'll see my ' sucessful maiden voyage' thread that discussed a situtation where i lost air in my bladders when the temperature and air pressured dropped. Last night the same thing happened only it was a beautiful night out and i wasn't able to find a place to land to blow them back up. After doing a 'human pretzel' move, i was actually able to blow up the bladders on my ODC420 and keep going. My question is, could the water temperature be causing me to lose pressure ?? the pond is still cold, and i pumped that tube up hard as rock before i went in. The silly solution i came up with is, i cut a foot long piece of small garden hose that i shaved some of the rubber down on the end so it fits into the valve. Now i can just take that out of one of the storage compartments, blow it back up, and move along. Silly, but it works !

Good idea but i think carrying a small pump will be much better

Yeah cold water makes you lose air in your tube. You should inflate it at home and check for leaks also I carry a small pump on my tube just incase I need it or somebody else needs it

ChompOnThis wrote:Yeah cold water makes you lose air in your tube. You should inflate it at home and check for leaks also I carry a small pump on my tube just incase I need it or somebody else needs it

x2

Ney what ever floats your boat sorry that just seamed right. A small pump or a small section of tube if it wofks it work. Yes cold water will do that but i agree maybe you should look for leaks before you head back out.

Thanks for your replies !!! Much better this morning ..... Filled it up while it was still dark and kind of chilly............ went out, lost a tiny bit, used my 'state of the art' garden hose to add a little, then when the sun started heating things up, they turned hard as a rock !! I was actually worried one might explode on me mid-pond !

Man this tubing thing is fun !!

Instead of a makeshift garden hose you can buy 3/4" OD plastic tubing. I carry 3 feet of it at all times.

BTW, you are not losing air but rather the volume is changing with the pressure. Altitude will affect it as well.

I also carry a bobby pin to let out air as needed. (used inside the valve, of course.)

That is one reason I love the cumberland float tube. The boston valves that it comes with are pressure releife valves, just push on them slightly to one side and they will release the extra air. done!

Oh yeah, always carry a small hand pump. Check out walmart or Big5, they sell them for like $5-$7 and they fit perfectly into the boston valves.

Your tube shouldn't be pumped to rock hard solid. Just up to 90% is more than sufficient. If 90% of the air could not support your total weight and gears, you might want to go a bit higher. 10% under inflate is the best solution to allow expanding gas during warm days, although, you still need to monitor the bladders. Safest is 15% under inflate. As the day warms up and cool down, you know you'll be safe since the air inside the bladder will return back to the 85% - 90% of the pre-filled volume, unless you have a leak, or released some air during the day. As everyone suggested, always carry a small pump with you, unless you have titan's lungs to blow your bladders back up while on the water.

in the mornings i blow my tube up all the way to make up for the lose when i get into the water and as it heats up i start letting air out as the tube gets harder. yes dont use a house go to home depot and get the small clear tubing and that will fit in the valve fine but a pump would be a better think to have

Does anyone your a pressur gage to check there tube, seams like it could be a good tool to use.

jeffcpr wrote:Does anyone your a pressur gage to check there tube, seams like it could be a good tool to use.

Yes..and no. Yes, if I pump it at home to see if there's air leakage, once I max out the bladder. No, it's useless to have it used on the water, or permanently mount it onto the valve. Why? Your ability to sense if you're deflating is a lot more effective than the gauge. When your body pressurized the bladders downwards, the pressure comes back high against the valve, presenting you false air volume reading. You may have a full 5psi in your bladder, but you're practically sitting half way in the water, when you supposedly be at the top of the water.

That is great info bro I did not think of it that way. I still do the east test pump and squeeze, pump and squeeze that feels right.

By the way, I'm using 5psi, which is the specs for the Fish Cat 4 LCS bladders. Don't use the same pressure for the Cumberland or other float tubes. Most are in the 3psi. Anything greater than 3psi at max pressure will end up in a *BOOM* or *HISS* As you say it Jeff, pump and squeeze (no dirty thoughts intended), and it should have enough play to pinch a bit.

Wow, what a great discussion, i just learned tons !! Never thought about something to let the air OUT on those hotter days that are coming. I'll be prepared now. Can one of these bladders actually burst ? Asianguy, i don't actually max them out when i first hit the water, but they are still very firm. I'm always afraid of over-inflating and going BOOM !.. Hey, i'm a newbie to this !! Best part of this tubing thing is, i haven't been skunked yet this year. It's still early, and as a shore guy, it was hit or miss this time of year. Being so mobile i cover entire ponds in no time and have had great sucess so far !! Thanks a bunch guys !!

Under intense pressure, which results from over inflation, then exposing to hot sun light, as you pressurize the bladders with your gears and body weight, the bladders tends to break at the seams first, letting out the loud HISSSSS sound. However, older bladder with worned spots will indeed blow. I had mind blown out a while back, while I was on the water with my first tube, over the water that's 30 feet. I did not have much clue to how to use the tube properly since it was a used tube. There was no forum like this to inform me how to use the tube properly in different conditions. Well, let say, I learned it fast.

Very firm is not a good way to go when you first hit the water in the morning. Firm, yes..not very firm. There should be some room to press your fingers in, and still get about a good 1/4" worth of depression into the bladder. That's firm. If you're married, in a good relationship with a wonderful girl, and she allows you to squeeze her breasts, before she smack your head off. That will give you the proper method on how firm the bladders should be Sorry..I just have to use visual aids for the ones in relationships.

wiseguy wrote:That is one reason I love the cumberland float tube. The boston valves that it comes with are pressure releife valves, just push on them slightly to one side and they will release the extra air. done!

I just checked mine and they do not do this. How old is your Cumberland? Mine is just a couple years old.

fisheromen wrote:

wiseguy wrote:That is one reason I love the cumberland float tube. The boston valves that it comes with are pressure releife valves, just push on them slightly to one side and they will release the extra air. done!

I just checked mine and they do not do this. How old is your Cumberland? Mine is just a couple years old.

Mine is about a year old and it does do it. I was with WiseGuy when we found out about this. We tried it on about 5 or 6 Cumberlands that were bought in different time frames and they all did it.

The way we would do it is inflate your tube and sit in it like you normally would. While sitting in the tube turn your body to locate the valve. Push outward on the valve on the side that is closest to you with the palm of your hand. You don't have to push too hard and you should hear a hissing sound.

Getarz wrote:Wow, what a great discussion, i just learned tons !! Never thought about something to let the air OUT on those hotter days that are coming. I'll be prepared now. Can one of these bladders actually burst ? Asianguy, i don't actually max them out when i first hit the water, but they are still very firm. I'm always afraid of over-inflating and going BOOM !.. Hey, i'm a newbie to this !! Best part of this tubing thing is, i haven't been skunked yet this year. It's still early, and as a shore guy, it was hit or miss this time of year. Being so mobile i cover entire ponds in no time and have had great sucess so far !! Thanks a bunch guys !!

I have not heard of a bladder actually going boom. Although, I do know of a guy that left too much air in the bladders when he put his tube away. When he came back the bladders were not popped but the skin/cloth that holds the entire tube together was ripped up since the bladder expanded too much for the cloth to handle.