Repost from Adventure Gear Insider

The worst part of owning an inflatable stand up paddleboard is pumping it up by hand. It takes so much energy and effort that you are exhausted before you even start paddling. Electric pumps are the answer to making inflatable SUPs much more enjoyable to use.

The Outdoor Master Whale Pump is one of the best electric SUP pumps out there. It has a rechargeable battery so you can use it away from your car. Keep reading to learn more about the Outdoor Master Whale Rechargeable Electric Paddleboard Pump.

Features of the Outdoor Master Whale Rechargeable Electric Pump

I have been using an OutdoorMaster Shark II Pump all last year and found it to be an excellent product. It can charge several boards in a row without overheating and pump up to 20psi. I have barely used a hand pump since getting it. I got the chance this year to try out the Outdoor Master Whale Pump which is essentially a Shark 2 with battery power. It can also pump several boards in a row off battery or 12 volt power. The only thing it can’t do which the Shark 2 can is pump up to 20psi. The Whale can inflate up to a 16 psi maximum pressure.

After having the Whale for a few months, I can say that it is my most used pump. The freedom to inflate and deflate paddleboards away from your car is a game changer for convenience with electric pumps.

Price

The OutdoorMaster Whale is one of the more expensive electric paddleboard pumps out there. It retails for $199.99 on the Outdoor Master website. With our discount code OMBLOG20 you can get it for 10% off. It is also available from Amazon. 

Battery Power

The Whale electric air pump has a built in 12 Volt 6000mah rechargeable battery. This gives it the ability to pump up at least 2 boards to 16psi per charge.

Why is battery power an advantage? It lets you pump up your board anywhere whether you can park there or not. Sometimes the parking lot at the lake is really busy and I can’t find a spot that backs up to a nice grassy area. If you are somewhere with limited parking or parallel parking this can also be a problem. You can take your board away from your car to a nice grassy or sandy spot and pump it.

When I go paddling with my wife I have to inflate 2 boards. If we bring a friend along who is borrowing a board sometimes we might need 3 or 4 boards. The Shark can inflate several boards in a row. It still takes 10 minutes per board to do. So 2 boards is 20 minutes, 3 boards is 30 minutes, 4 boards is 40 minutes, and so on. If you have a battery pump and regular pump you can pump 2 boards at once which can save a lot of time.

The battery can also be used to power other USB devices. It has 2 USB slots so you can use it to charge your phone or power a speaker or anything else that can run off a USB socket.

12 volt power

The pump can also operate off of 12 volt power. It has the same cigarette lighter plug as most other 12 volt accessories with a 10 foot cord. A set of alligator clips might be nice but not necessary. You aren’t limited by the location of the 12 volt outlet for inflating and deflating the board.

Size and weight

The Whale measures 14.5 X 8.75 X 6.75 Inches. This makes it a little bigger than the Shark 2 pump. It’s not a lot bigger. It weighs 6.25 lbs making it a bit heavier than the Shark 2.

Paddle board compatibility

The Whale will work with almost any paddleboard or other inflatable out there. It has the following valve adapters. H3/HR, C7, Boston, Pinch and 805. This will cover almost every inflatable paddleboard and kayak out there.

Max pressure

Like the Shark, the Whale is a powerful dual stage pump that offers easy inflation. It has a high volume 1st stage and at approximately 1 psi it automatically switches to the high pressure 2nd stage for fast high pressure inflation. The Whale can pump up to a maximum of 16 psi. It can inflate to any desired pressure in 0.5 psi increments. It can inflate on battery power or running off of 12 volt power. It can’t pump as high as the Shark 2 which can pump up to 20 psi. 16 psi covers the majority of inflatable SUPs out there which top out at 12.5-15psi.

Inflate and deflate

This pump can inflate and deflate paddleboards. It has 2 ports on the front. One is for inflating and one is for deflating. Unscrew the air hose and move it to the other port.

Cooling system and overheat protection

Like the Outdoor Master Shark ii, the Whale is one of the few pumps that claims it can inflate several paddleboards in a row. Most pumps out there now can pump 1 or maybe 2 boards before overheating. The Whale can pump up 3 to 4 boards. It does this by having an active cooling system that keeps the motors cool. The cooling fan continues to run after pumping has stopped to ensure the motors can cool.

The manufacturer does claim that you should let it rest for 10 minutes after 30 minutes of pumping if the temperature is above 90F out.

In the event it does overheat, it has a high temperature cutoff that will shut down the motors until they cool off.

Digital Display and Controls

The Whale has a small LED screen on it that displays everything you need to know. It has real time pressure monitoring down to a .01 PSI. It shows target pressure and current pressure in PSI or bar. It shows battery charge status. It shows whether the cooling fan is running or not.

You control the pump with 5 buttons below the LED display. There are buttons or increasing and decreasing the target pressure, PSI/Bar, power and turning on and off the LED light.

There is an LED light on the back of the pump for lighting things up. It is white during general use and can be turned off. It shows the pump is recharging by turning blue. I tend to turn it off all the time except while charging so I can tell when it’s finished.

The buttons are black with molded features. They aren’t as easy to read as the buttons on the Shark 2 which have white lettering. I’d prefer white lettering here too.

Cord storage

One nice improvement for the Whale over the Shark 2 is that it has a built in compartment for storing the cords. It has a flip open hatch with a small latch on it. The USB ports and charging port are located inside the storage compartment. It is large enough to hold both the 10 foot 12 volt cord and the AC charge adapter.

12 Amp fuse

The pump has a built in 12a fuse for increased safety and so that you don’t damage the pump. It’s located inside the 12 volt plug. Unscrew the little silver plug end. The fuse is underneath that. See the image below.

Using the pump

How well does the Whale work? My quick answer to that is really well. I hate using a manual pump and find an electric pump makes my stand up paddle board experience much more enjoyable.

Fast inflation time

The time it takes to pump up any board is proportional to the board’s size and max pressure you are pumping up to. Larger boards take longer. Higher pressures take longer. The Whale is a little slower than the Shark 2 pump.

Below is a table of the time it takes the pumps we have tested to inflate a 10’6″ all around board and a 12’6″ touring board.

How many boards can it pump in a row?

This is the biggest question everyone will have. How many boards can this pump inflate off of one charge. How many can it do in a row without overheating.

I took a 10’6″ x 32″ x 6″ all around board to test inflate. This is about the most generic paddle board size and shape out there.

I was able to inflate this board 4 times in a row to 14 psi. The 5th time it stopped at 13.56 psi. It almost made it to 5 times. This is well past the 2 boards that Outdoor Master claims it can do.

I pumped the same board up over and over. The only break I gave the pump was 1-2 minutes for me to immediately deflate the board and squeeze and all the air out. Then I hooked it right back up again. It ran for pretty close to 50 minutes in a row with only minimal stops. The consistent cooling system seems to do its job. The air temperature was 68F at the time so well below the 90F where Outdoor Master claims the pump needs a break after 30 minutes.

This pump easily pumps up several boards on a charge and in a row without overheating.

Deflating paddleboards

To deflate you just move the air hose over to the other outlet and turn on the power. It will suck the air out of your board in a couple minutes. You can tell it’s starting to suck a vacumn into the board by the sound of the pump. Hit the power button to stop it and take the hose off.

Noise

This pump is noisy like every other electric paddleboard pump. It has a similar noise level to the Shark 2 pump when it goes into it’s second high pressure stage.

One good thing about battery power is that you can carry the board off to the side somewhere away from people to inflate it.

Charging the battery

The pump includes a small AC adapter for charging the battery. When you plug it in, the LED on the back will turn blue while charging. When full charge is reached it will turn white. It takes around 6 hours to charge it from a completely drained battery. The charge rate slows down when it’s getting close to charged to avoid damaging the battery cells.  The Whale charging with a blue light