Inflating a Chimney Balloon
Q: Jason, I am about to purchase one of your Chimney Balloon fireplace dampers, but have one question. Since this fills with air, Can I use my air compressor, or do I have to purchase your pump? – PS
A: Dear PS, The easiest and the handiest thing you can use to inflate your Chimney Balloon fireplace damper is good old-fashioned lung power. If you would prefer not to inflate it by mouth, you can use an airbed inflation pump or a low power shop-vac to inflate the Chimney Balloon.
I do not recommend using an air compressor to inflate the Chimney Balloon because air compressors will inflate the Chimney Balloon so quickly you might damage the balloon by accidentally over inflating it. The Chimney Balloon is only designed to take about 15 to 20 PSI and an air compressor can get to that PSI level so quick…it is just not worth the risk.
In the picture above is a battery powered air bed pump. In our test lab in the UK we use a rechargeable airbed inflation pump for testing. The nice thing about air bed pumps is they do not have enough power to overinflate the Chimney Balloon. – Jason