HAB Balloon Inflation

After some initial rookie mistakes I now may have a working balloon inflator. I mistakenly purchased online a filler kit of which the regulator was not the required Type 10 for Australian gas cylinders, so of course when my gas cylinder arrived this morning the regulator wouldn't fit. With little time remaining I hit the web and found several places that I wish I had found earlier.

Conwin’s Inflator

Several party balloon places provide filling implements for balloons they call cloud busters. A company in Sydney Qualtex distributes an inflator but only sells through its distributors. If you have the time you may be able to ask your local part shop if they can order one for you.

I didn't want to wait for an order to be placed so I decided to make my own inflator, with the nozzle I already had. I just needed to find a new regulator.

I was stuck trying to decide on which regulator would be the easiest to modify for my purpose.

I could have opted for the standard balloon inflator pictured on the right, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to find a brass fitting with a hose nipple in time, But I'm sure this would have worked Also I'm uncertain as to what the flow rate would be.

I finally decided on a regulator that had a variable flow rate and dials, I was able to connect a hose to the provided nozzle and onto my inflator nozzle.

My setup

Filler nozzle fits the balloon

The setup looks good, but honestly I'm not confident as its a little off what I was after.  The nozzle on the regulator was for only a 5mm hose, so I don't know if this will give a great flow rate. I also hope that the hose will be durable enough not to burst. I'm sure I will find out soon.

I also pulled my balloon out of its bag to ensure that the filler nozzle actually was the right size for my balloon.  Thankfully it fitted perfectly.