Helium Beachball

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  • Beachballer
    Junior Member
    • Mar 2018
    • 26

    Helium Beachball

    Has anyone ever filled a beachball with helium? Does if float? Or just get lighter. I find people talking about it here or there on the internet but never seen a legitimate video. I would love the blow up all of my beachball and see them floating
  • John225
    Member
    • Jan 2018
    • 80

    #2
    Re: Helium Beachball

    I looked into this myself and wanted to try it but all the research I did said it wouldn't work. To put it in context think about the weight of an unfilled 36" balloon and then think of the weight of an unfilled 36" beach ball. It's so many times heavier. I thought I'd it was maybe a 12 foot beach ball that was super thin it might work but would cost too much to try

    Comment

    • craggy2012
      Senior Member
      • Jan 2012
      • 824

      #3
      Re: Helium Beachball

      Mythbusters inflated a rubber dinghy with helium on their Indiana Jones movie episode where they were trying to prove (or disprove) if you could actually fly a rubber life raft. It weighed lighter than one filled with air but never floated off the ground.

      Comment

      • Beachballer
        Junior Member
        • Mar 2018
        • 26

        #4
        Re: Helium Beachball

        Two things I can do.
        One - weigh a beachball, figure out how much air can fit in. And calculate the lift of helium.

        Two - buy helium and just try it.

        Comment

        • Vicci
          Blown to bits
          • Oct 2009
          • 655

          #5
          Re: Helium Beachball

          I guess it depends on the quality (and therefore weigh to capacity ratio) of the beachball.

          There's a few videos on youtube showing them floating, and there's also other showing them not. Saw a video recently a guy took a 48" to a shop and got them to fill it with helium, it was no-where near floating.
          Vicci x

          Comment

          • wildheart
            Senior Member
            • Apr 2015
            • 859

            #6
            Re: Helium Beachball

            It would likely be too heavy. Unless you could find a really thin inflatable. I don't know what those bubble balloons are like. They're meant to be a cross between inflatables and balloons. Never tried one myself.
            How big will it go? Only one way to find out...
            My website: loonerstories.weebly.com

            Comment

            • craggy2012
              Senior Member
              • Jan 2012
              • 824

              #7
              Re: Helium Beachball

              Depends on the type of vinyl too. Unlike air, Helium slowly diffuses it way out of vinyl (and indeed latex) as they’re both porous to such small molecules. You can get Helium grade vinyl though. It’s very thin, or light gauge but it’s designed to float when inflated with a suitable gas. I’ve a six foot valentines heart display inflatable that’s designed for Helium use.

              Comment

              • Big Balloons!
                Member
                • Jul 2016
                • 81

                #8
                Re: Helium Beachball

                Originally posted by craggy2012
                You can get Helium grade vinyl though. It’s very thin, or light gauge but it’s designed to float when inflated with a suitable gas. I’ve a six foot valentines heart display inflatable that’s designed for Helium use.
                So I guess you could have a floating inflatable if it was big enough and you had enough helium, but it would get expensive quickly and float shorter

                Comment

                • Vicci
                  Blown to bits
                  • Oct 2009
                  • 655

                  #9
                  Re: Helium Beachball

                  Also I guess it depends on if you're filling it with high grade helium or "balloon gas helium".
                  Vicci x

                  Comment

                  • Bubble Boy :-P

                    #10
                    Re: Helium Beachball

                    " Balloon gas helium "???

                    Comment

                    • Beachballer
                      Junior Member
                      • Mar 2018
                      • 26

                      #11
                      Re: Helium Beachball

                      So I did some google math but my 24” intex has a circumference of 52”. That equals to 1.52 cubic feet. Helium has a lift of .069 lbs per square foot. This equals to 1.6 oz of lift in my beachball. I have to weight my ball deflated but I think it will be to heavy.

                      Comment

                      • John225
                        Member
                        • Jan 2018
                        • 80

                        #12
                        Re: Helium Beachball

                        You can get .69 lbs of lift from a 48 inch beach ball. My math used my usual figure of 2/3 the rated size as the diameter, so 32 inches diameter. But if you were to heat stretch it you could get even more gain. Or just fill till its close to popping. The pressure isn't high at all, maybe 2psi really and after you've carried some argon bottles filled with hundreds of psi and can't tell the difference between full and empty I don't think the added pressure will add enough weight to change the measurement in a significant way

                        Comment

                        • John225
                          Member
                          • Jan 2018
                          • 80

                          #13
                          Re: Helium Beachball

                          My guess is the more this test is scaled up the more likely the math will be in your favor. But there is a cost increase with that

                          Comment

                          • Vicci
                            Blown to bits
                            • Oct 2009
                            • 655

                            #14
                            Re: Helium Beachball

                            Originally posted by Bubble Boy :-P
                            " Balloon gas helium "???
                            The stuff you buy in those balloon cylinders isn't pure helium, it's usually a lower grade with something else mixed in, so if you filled a beach ball to capacity it wouldn't actually be filled with 100% helium, so has less lifting power. If you go to a gas supplier and get welding helium for example, it's 100% helium.
                            Vicci x

                            Comment

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