How Bounce Houses Inflate
At Astro Jump of Metro DC we regularly are asked how our bounce houses, inflatable water slides and other inflatable rentals we offer inflate. The easy answer is “air,” but there is more to it than that. No, bounce houses do not inflate like a balloon. We do not pump up the bounce house and tie off the tube so that the air stays. It might be nice if it were actually like that. What actually happens is a blower is attached to one of the tubes sticking out of the side of the bounce house and it continues to blow air inside of it the entire time it is turned on. The moment that air flow stops, the bounce house begins to come down.
All bounce houses and other inflatables need a constant flow of air because of all the seams the manufacturers use to create the pieces. While the moon bounce might be in perfect operating condition, air still manages to leak from the seams on even the newest of bounce houses. When a bounce house, obstacle course or moon bounce combo ages these seams begin to loosen allowing more air to escape. Eventually no matter how strong the blower is the moon bounce will not inflate enough to be used. Time to buy new ones!
There are several sizes of blowers that we use at Astro Jump. The most common of these is the standard 1 horsepower blower. Almost every inflatable when it is new can be fully inflated with a 1 horsepower blower. For larger inflatable rentals or older pieces it might require a 2 horsepower blower to fully inflate the piece. In only a few cases we might sometimes even use two blowers to inflate a large inflatable waterslide or obstacle course. Almost all moon bounces and other inflatables come with at least two tubes for blowers. This is because the piece either requires two blowers at a time or to extend the life of an inflatable once one blower isn’t enough to fully inflate it.
Each blower requires a dedicated 20 amp, 110 volt circuit in order to operate smoothly and at full power. Don’t worry, almost every home in the U.S. has plenty of these circuits available. The key is to make sure they are dedicated to blowing up the moon bounce and not being used to also run something like the dishwasher. We always work to determine a customer’s power situation before the day of the event or birthday party. The last thing anybody wants is for the moon bounce to deflate because of a popped fuse. While this is important with a standard bounce house, it is even more important with some of our larger inflatable rentals like the Cliff Hanger Giant Slide, 27’ Tropical Dual Lane Waterslide, and Turbo Rush Obstacle Course among others. Our advice is to never take the power situation lightly and make sure you are comfortable with your power sources before the day of your event. We are here to help and can do many things to fix any problems before the day or your party.
The next time you want to plan the perfect party, Astro Jump of Metro DC is here to help so call us at 703-339-8000 or send us a rental request and we will call you.