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Some time ago I bought this pump. It should be usable for all valves, but I'm not sure how that is supposed to work and it didn't come with a manual.

On one side there's a lever, on the other side (where the air comes out) there are some parts that may have to be assembled in a specific way for different types of valve.

An overview Overview

Lever folded out Lever out

Disassembled Disassembled

Can anyone tell me how this works?

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  • 5
    It needs to be noted that "mini-pumps" work poorly in most circumstances and are only intended for emergency use -- not for day-to-day maintenance.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 11:05
  • Yes, this one is only meant to take with me. At home I have this: hollandbikeshop.com/en-gb/bicycle-pumps/…
    – Berend
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 11:25
  • Given that there are 4 permutations, wouldn't it be quicker just to suck it and see?
    – Strawberry
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 11:30
  • @strawberry No, I already damaged the red pointy thingy a bit by trying. And technically, there are 8 permutations 😉.
    – Berend
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 12:00
  • 1
    Yeah, but it would be immediately obvious that 4 of them were wrong (I've been there)
    – Strawberry
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 12:06

2 Answers 2

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From the disassembled photo, it looks like if you put the parts back together the pump will work for Dunlop valves and Presta/Sclaverand valves (roughly any narrow type valve). You should be able to put the rubber and the red thing the other way around in. Such that the narrow pointy thing of the red part points outwards and the rubber has a wider opening to the outside. That way it should fit car valves.

For the usage, it should work like any other pump with a lever.

  • (for Presta/Sclaverand valves, screw out the round thing on the top of the valve, to unlock the valve)
  • With the lever like in the first picture push the pump on the valve.
  • Then fold out the lever like on the middle picture. This compresses the rubber such that it squeezes around the valve and makes the connection pump-valve air tight. (With Dunlop, this step sometimes failed for me with Dunlop valves as their top part is a bit on the short side, so compressing the rubber pushes the valve out of the pump. If that happens, try again and push pump and valve together when flipping the lever. Once the lever is flipped, the rubber should keep the valve in place)
  • Pump air
  • fold the lever in again
  • pull the pump off the valve
  • (screw in the "lock" of the Presta/Sclaverand valve if applicable)
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  • OK, so for Dunlop and Sclaverand / Presta / French I wouldn't have to change anything, right?
    – Berend
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 9:53
  • Correct, Dunlop and Sclaverand are similar enough in size and are intended to work with the same setup. Though my impression is pulling the lever on Dunlop can be tricky as their top is a bit on the short side and the valve can slip out. So you might need to push pump and valve together when flipping the lever. (editing)
    – pseyfert
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 10:03
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    I think the term "Presta" is used in most of the world (at least the English-speaking world) and should at least be mentioned in your answer. I'd never heard of "Sclaverand" until today.
    – David Richerby
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 10:22
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    Interesting, I use the term Sclaverand because schwalbe has "SV" on the tube packages, which I always took as abbreviation for "sclaverand valve" and had to look up which one Presta is. Will edit.
    – pseyfert
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 11:45
  • Not wrong. Conversely I’ve had to train myself that the SV on Scwalbe packets doesn’t mean what my brain likes to assume it is! (the other type). Maybe I shall start calling it sclaverand too
    – Swifty
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 11:52
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You lift the lever to seal the pump onto the valve. The easy way to remember this is that you naturally store and carry the pump with the lever parallel to the pump body. It would be annoyingly inefficient if the sequence was "lift lever, place pump on valve, lower lever, inflate, lift lever, remove pump, lower lever." The correct sequence is "place pump on valve, lift lever, inflate, lower lever, remove pump."

You may also need to prepare the valve, e.g., by unscrewing a nut on it.

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