Pumping a la marinera

I’ve been “water pump-curious” for a while, but haven’t pursued it, partly because I’m not sure I can manage the privacy time I would need to be consistent. Anyway, while Home Alone, and bored enough to do some overdue cleanup chores, I ran across an old water deionizer I used to use for make up water for a reef tank. Suddenly, I’m thinking: sturdy 12” cylinder, with 2.5+” internal diameter, already equipped with suction tube. Hmmmm. A few minutes later, after removing the packing and scrubbing out the cylinder, I climb in the hot tub for a test run.

I have to say I could definitely get used to this! Might have to become a part of my early morning 4-5 a.m. routine. I definitely will need to do some more reading, because I’m way too prone to go overboard, and since I have no frame of reference for the feel of low pressure pumping, I could easily make a mistake. Any tips for staying in the safety zone are welcome.

I have little mechanical aptitude, but I suppose I could see if I could attach a Harbor Freight pump/gauge if it looks like I can find time to stick with it.

Anyway, for now I’m just stoked to try something new.

:)

Maybe the cylinder is a bit too big, expecially in girth. This thread could help if you want to get an idea of how much pressure is enough:

Pumping without a gauge

Thanks. That thread is helpful. (Mostly, it persuaded me that as soon as I’m confident that I can make this as a regular part of my routine, I’ll get a Harbor Freight pump/gauge.)

In the mean time, I’ll try to be conservative and be on the lookout for any signs of adverse impact.

You are correct about the cylinder being larger than I need in both dimensions. If I understood the gist of the full package pumping discussion, this does not seem like a fatal problem, particularly if I am interested mainly in girth enhancement. Is that right? (Although I doubt I could use this effectively as an air pump, I did not have any problem establishing and maintaining a seal, and getting some good short term expansion of my unit - more obvious in girth and glans than length.)

I never tried full package pumping, so I’m guessing here : with water, maybe there will not be much of a problem. With air, there could be, because there will be so much air that will be hard to mantain the prefixed pressure for long (that because air is highly compressible, where water is not). Anyway the last word is on the facts : if you say that you can reach a satisfying expansion, than it is working.

Tried air pumping with this monster cylinder this morning. Surprisingly it worked fine. Tonight I’m picking up a Harbor Freight pump/gauge, so I can be more controlled/consistent with pressure - at least with air pumping.

I previously stuffed a sponge into the far end of the cylinder to take up space and reduce the amount of water I need to remove when water pumping, but over the course of a session I still feel like I probably remove more than the 4 fluid ounce Harbor Freight reservoir capacity, so I’m not sure the pump will be practical with water until I get a different cylinder.