Testing Air Flow of Electric Pump

[DerbyDad03]

I've got 2 electric pumps for filling air mattresses. I'm looking for a way to determine which one will fill an air mattress quicker - other than actually filling the same air mattress with each pump. That's boring!

This is more of a fun project than anything else. What do we all have lying around the house or shop that we could use to rig up a air flow meter or other means of testing the pumps to see which one puts out the most air using the same sized nozzle.

One pump has a larger output port than the other, so the first thing I assume I should do is use the same nozzle that would be used for a given air mattress since back pressure could alter the performance.

After that, I'm looking for suggestions. Things like...

Push a column of water up a tube.

Use a water pressure meter at the end of a garden hose filled with water and sealed so the pump would put pressure on it.

Blow a pile of wood chips out of a tube and measure the distance thrown.

What else?

[Tony]

Blow up some balloons.

[Bob F]

Buy an air mattress. Fill it with each pump, and measure the time.

Or, for accurate measurement, immerse a bucket in a tub of water till it is full turn it so the open end is down. Run a hose from the pump down into the water and back up to the high point of the bucket. Turn it on, and time how long it takes to remove the water from the bucket. You can let the bucket rise as it fill with air to avoid increasing pressure.