Bravo OV10 Electric 120 Volt Raft Pump

Bravo OV10 is a higher pressure 120 volt electric raft inflator from the same folks who make our smaller OV4 pump. This is a new one for us, and it has enough pressure to fully inflate most boats, other than some of the high pressure drop-stitch floors and SUP's. It puts out almost 60 cubic feet per minute, which is about 3/4 the air volume of our much larger, more pricey Mastercraft Big Red. However, the Big Red does not have the pressure of the OV-10, so they are not exact equivalents.

Since NRS discontinued their Gusto inflator a couple years back, the only two 110 volt pumps we have had were the Big Red and this one's little cousin, the OV-4. The OV-4 is very nice and has proven to be very reliable, but it does not put out enough air for anything bigger than a 10' raft, or maybe an 11' marine transom inflatable. And the Big Red is quite expensive now. So we have had nothing in between those two since the old Gusto was dropped by NRS. This one fills the gap, both in price and in it's volume output, though it has the highest pressure of any electric (12 volt or 110 volt) that we stock.

Being new, we have only used the OV10 a few times here, but the inevitable question we will get asked is whether you can run this through a 12 to 110 volt converter. In most cases, the answer is no. The wattage requirement of the OV10 is too high, so you would need a full-on generator.

Bravo OV10 Electric 120 Volt Raft Pump TIPS

There is a selection of tips with this pump, but these do not include twist-in adaptors for Halkey-Roberts, Summit, or other similar valves, only round cones. The tapered tips will overheat any electric pump quickly so use those with caution and pay attention to the temperature of the air coming out the hose. And the hose, by the way, is short here. Keep in mind too, that the 3.5 p.s.i. output pressure (which actually seems closer to 3.0 in our gauge tests) is high enough to damage some of the mass market inflatables, so be sure your boat can handle it. Don't try to fully inflate one compartment of a multi-chamber river raft if there is no air in the other chambers. You risk blowing a baffle (the dividing wall internal bulkheads) if you do this.

We test all of these before shipping. Suggested run time is 10 to 12 minutes, which can blow up two mid size rafts. Although Bravo gives a warranty with these, that warranty involves shipping this back to Italy, which is hardly worth it. Other than the American made Big Red Mastercraft, most electric pump warranties are pretty useless. So buyer beware.