I bought a large inflatable water slide for use by the pool:
But I was not prepared for the setup and, especially, the take-down time. It took me well over half an hour to inflate the slide using a small portable compressor.
I am now trying to deflate it and not having a lot of success. If anyone has a better way, I'd love to hear about it.
The large chambers (there are 4) have what the manufacturer calls a Boston Valve.
With an air mattress, I would just roll it up from one end and force the air out. This thing is too complicated and too heavy for that.
The small chambers (also 4) have the standard plug valve with a flap to keep most of the air from escaping. This is fine for inflating, but difficult for deflating. I have to stick something into the valve to hold the flap open.
I tried using the vacuum cleaner. It works reasonably well on the large chambers with the Boston valves, but not so well with the smaller valves. I don't have anything that I can use to prop the valve flap open that won't either block the opening or get sucked up by the vacuum cleaner.
I see that Amazon has a bunch of "inflator/deflator" gizmos. Most of them have no reviews. Doesd anyone know if any of these are any good? That is, better than the vacuum cleaner?
Here are a few:
Rave Sports Hi-Speed Inflator. Reviewers say it is fast and powerful, but runs hot and may not be able to inflate more than one large item.
Sevylor 110 Volt Mini Inflator/Deflator. $18. I can't tell if it comes with a hose.
Metro Vacuum 110-IDAR 110-Volt Magc Air Inflator/Deflator. $50. This looks like the right tool if it works.
Marine inflater/deflator. $73. This is 12V only, so not convenient for backyard use.
Black & Decker makes an inflater, which I thought about buying, but I don't think it can deflate.