Ceiling Balloon - Technical Details

Technical Details

The balloons and associated equipment are usually stored in a cabinet mounted on a wall close to the gas cylinders. The cabinet has three doors one of which opens down and to it the filler stand is attached. At the top of the filler stand is a "L" shaped pipe with two rings, a small one on the bottom and a larger one on the top called the inflation nozzle. The rings stop the tube from dropping through the stand or rising too far when the balloon is inflated. The top ring has several grooves cut into it, to help grip the balloon which is fitted to it.

At the bottom of the pipe is a weight that, when the precise amount of gas has been added, will lift to indicate the balloon is full. A rubber hose is attached to this pipe and passes through the filler stand twice. The first hole is larger than the tube to permit movement, while the second is used to hold the tubing in place.

From there the tube runs to a needle valve that controls the amount of gas flowing to the balloon. A second tube will then run from the valve to a regulator valve that is attached to the gas cylinder. This valve has two pressure gauges attached. One showing the total pressure remaining in the gas cylinder and the second showing the amount of gas flowing through the tubing. Typically the cylinder, which is made of steel and weighs about 140 lb (65 kg). It contains the equivalent of about 200 ft³ (5.7 m³) of gas at standard pressure, stored at a pressure of 2000 psi (14 megapascals) and will inflate approximately 120 balloons (according to a nominal diameter of 45 cm).

On the opposite side of the cabinet is space to store balloons, string and pibal lights. The gas used to fill the balloon is helium or hydrogen. Because of its low cost ceiling balloons are often filled with hydrogen gas, but sometimes helium is used.

The balloon is attached to the inflation nozzle and a piece of string is wound around the neck. After donning safety glasses and hearing protection a check is made to ensure the needle valve is fully closed. The main valve on the cylinder is then opened, followed by the regulator valve. Next, the needle valve is opened and the balloon begins to inflate. As the balloon reaches the correct size the inflation nozzle will begin to lift. At this point the needle valve is closed along with the regulator valve and cylinder vale. The string is then used to tie off the balloon neck to ensure that no gas can escape.

Caution must be used during inflation due to the occasional faulty balloon and its failure. If the person inflating the balloon is not wearing goggles or hearing protectors then eye or ear damage can result.