Hobie Cat Forums

Hello, I am returning from lake powell, I spent a week there. One of those days a very strong wind storm came, after I saw my kayak flew approximately 90 feets on the air, some of their parts finished covered of sand. Unfortunately my air pump got ruined, its full of sand on the inside. I tought of giving some mantenaince myself but I'm not sure if it's a good idea. Have some of you done it before? Is the grease in the inside a special one?
Thank you very much, I hope you can help me.

Should be pretty simple. The pump is not complicated. Use a silicone grease after cleaning it out.

_________________
Matt Miller
Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Hobie Cat USA

thanks again Matt!!

My pump started putting up some resistance on my last trip, way too much friction and reduced range of motion. I read the forums, bought some silicone grease and took it apart to discover the grease had become gummed up with small plastic particles around the o-ring area. I don't know the cause but my theory is that saltwater trips might have exposed it to sand/salt that caused the friction/abrasion necessary to remove the particles. Nonetheless it was an easy fix. I fashioned a broom handle and rag combo into a cleaning wand then washed and rinsed the tube and plunger with a mild soap, removing all the visible buildup. I followed with a dry white rag cleaning the inside of the tube with a bit of pressure to remove the rest of the residue on the wall. The white rag helped to show when the tube was finally clean. Then I applied some new silicone grease to the o-ring and reassembled the pump. Works like new.

I recently bought a used i12, and didn't like the pump - hard work, a lot of friction. So I've been following the advice in this thread re cleaning it out. (I'm going to have to get my silicone grease online; can't find it locally.) But I'm wondering why the parts catalogue lists 2 different O rings for the inflation pump: large (79052013) and small (79052014). I guess the one in my pump is "large" as it sits very loosely in its slot. Should I have a small one as well, filling the excess space? Or do I just need to pack it with grease?

Thanks,
Mary