Repairs on our Super Slide
Sometimes inflatables need repairs, these things do happen. Either on an over-night hire a cat or fox might nibble and make a hold in it, over time the seams might not be up-to-scatch or the anchor points loose some structural integrity.
It's not often that this happens and some repairs are worse then others; If there's a small hole and air is escaping then the inflatable may still erect, but just not be as bouncy as it could be. This isn't something we will tolerate, there's a minimum threshold for air-pressure to meet the stanard, this loosely equates to how bouncy an inflatable is (there's many other factors, but it's a rough rule of thumb). We always endure our inflatables exceed this minimum - Otherwise, it's just no fun at all. Many companies will allow this to go and compromise on it, knowing that when the ennual inspection comes up, it will even scrape through or they can have it fixed then. For us, we resolve any issues immediately.
A far more important repair would be something like an anchor point. The anchor points on an inflatable are used to secure the inflatable with stakes. The stake goes through the anchor and is hit into the ground to ensure it can't move. This is where repairs should be a top priority as an anchpor point that is torn off or damaged will not have the same pull strength as a fully functional one in good working order. It doesn't affect the use of the inflatable itself, so for some operators this is an easy issue to put-off, but as a matter of safety we will decomission this inflatable until it can be repaired.
We had this recently with our super slide, it's a fantastic garden inflatable and one of our favourites. It's affordable for a garden party and fits in most spaces, but it's tall and offers a wow factor that can't be over-stated. Sadly, while on over-night hire a fox had fancied one of the anchor points as his dinner; We was grateful to the customer for poitning this out, but we always inspect the inflatables on each hire and it would have come to our attention either way.
Accidents happen and this isn't something that we would try to quibble over with the customer, it's a risk of over-night hires and doesn't happen all that often. The concern for us was it was booked on hire the following weekend. The customer with the booking is a regular and we knew that despite having lots of bouncy castle slides available as an alternative, they wouldn't fit in their garden; It was this one or a rather awkward phone call to try and offer something else.
Fortunately, we have a great working relationship with the repair man. He's the same person that inspects our inflatables annually who we've been using for many years. We're great believers in loyalty and wouldn't go to anyone else, we always use him for our inspections and we always use him for repairs - He's been in the industry for decades and will often pass on information that's relevant. He has a busy schedule, but given our long-term relationship with him he's always been kind enough to make an exception and fit us in at an obscure hour out-side of his noormal business hours to make sure we can continue - It's things like this that money can't buy and is only achieved with years of working together.
We thought it might be interesting for people to know how much we care about regular maintenance and see a bouncy castle repair work-shop. The actual repair only took 30 minutes, but as you can see in the pictures it has to be rolled out on a large bench. Bouncy castles and inflatables are literally sewn together using a sewing machine; These machines ofcourse aren't the same as you would own domestically, but they work on the same basic principal. The big difference here is that normal machinists will sit stationary and pull and work the material around the needle - Anyone who has seen coronation street will know! For inflatables though, you cannot work such a big piece of equipment through the sewing machine (it's far too heavy and the material too tough), instead the machine has to work around the inflatable - This is achieved by the sewing machine being on wheels fixed to a track and running up and down the bench, with the inflatable being repositioned on the bench to make it accessible!
30 minutes later and it's as good as new, no one other than a professional would ever know there was ever an issue! Safe and sound.
<< Return to news