Portable tire inflator?

Definitely harder to pump up a car tire. While you don't have to pump as hard (car tires are much lower pressure than a road bike tire), you have to pump for longer since the volume of a car tire is much bigger.

I'd guess that 1-2 psi in a car tire would be like completely filling up a road bike tire from past experience.

A pump with a fat barrel (more air per stroke) than the typical bike pump which works well for a road bike and has a narrow barrel which works well for getting up to high pressures.

 

Just to update this thread, I saw this pump at Sam's Club over the weekend, $31US:

Bon-Aire Industries - Products

They make a big deal about it being "direct drive" --as opposed to what? --
and its quietness.

Can't vouch for it, but it might be worth a look/try if you're in the market for a
pump.

 

I just bought the Bon-aire pump from Sam's. Works quickly and efficiently. I can pump up my tires by 3 psi in less than 30 seconds. The valve screws on and has an inline gauge that is fairly accurate but slightly hard to see. Much superior and quieter than the older plugin small compressors I have had before.

 

Hey, I bought a portable tire inflator back when I had my truck because I had to go from 50 on the street to 10-20psi for sand then back up.

The one I have connects to the positive and negative battery terminals. Would I be inflicting any harm on the Prius by using it?

 

I just bought the Slime Digital 12V Tire Inflator that plugs into the cigarette lighter, with auto shutoff. Haven't tried it yet but seems easy and convenient. Although the instructions say to turn the engine Off, with the Prius, some mode has to be on. I read one post where the owner Powers on the Prius to use his tire inflator as opposed to ACC mode. Do most Power on the Prius depressing the brake to use these Cig Lighter Portable tire inflators?

 

I would not use any electrical accessories unless the car is in the Ready mode. I use my portable pump this way.

 

I do not use any 12v pump on my pip's precious 12V battery. I got this one. Very fast, sturdy! You may not use it on the road.

Campbell Hausfeld 120 Volt Home Inflation System - Amazon.com

 

all,

Just saw this thread & even though it's a little late in the game, I still feel I should contribute my opinion. I've bought 2 of the $20-$25 price range portable compressor pumps that plug into the cigarette lighter/power ports over the last 10 years (don't remember the brands). I would have to recommend buying something more significant & unfortunately more expensive too.

They were different brands if I remember correctly & both were bought for emergency tire inflation only. Each one didn't survive even ONE tire inflation before seizing up & becoming inoperable (& neither one got the tire pressure up to 32 lbs--- they were rated for much higher than that---before seizing), as well as blowing the cig lighter/power port fuses.

The 1st one was rated for around 100 lbs (I think). When it seized up I had only enough air in the tire to make it to a service station with an air hose, then I threw it out & bought another one rated at 150 lbs. When I finally had to use it, it seized up too & blew a fuse. It blew more than one fuse, since I let it cool down (too hot to touch & it never reached the 40 lbs I was trying to put in the Prius tire) before trying again to see if it had freed itself up (wondering if I had thrown the 1st one out too prematurely).

It blew a second fuse, so that compressor went bye, bye too (but not before calling the manufacturer---they basically said tough luck, they never had any reports of any failing before, & it wasn't designed to inflate a tire to 40 lbs---then why the hell was it rated on the box for 150 lbs?). They didn't suggest putting only 10 lbs in at a time, waiting for the unit to cool down for 10 or 15 minutes, then attempting the next 10 lbs and repeating, until all 40 lbs were in. That process might have worked (although taking an hour to an hour and a half), but who knows.

Edit : With both units (unit #1 on other car & unit #2 on the Prius), both cars were running (Prius in "Ready"), so no heavy load on either car's 12V car battery.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

I think I would feel better about Powering on the Prius vs the Ready mode. I am really hoping this Slime Digital Cig lighter Tire Inflator will work without blowing the fuse since it would be small and convenient to take for road travel just in case, assuming we did not have to use the Spare, just to be able to make it to a station or repair shop without calling a service. It is made to work with 15A fuses. I am also looking into the cordless Energizer All in One which has a Tire Inflator, Jump Starter and Inverter/DC outlets which has good reviews and is easy to use, however, it is a lot larger and heavier to keep in the car. Planning to test out the Slime today, and will post the result.

 

I got a Slime inflator around Christmas time; $15 with a $15 rebate

It works fine for me, though slower than pumping with a bicycle pump.

 

Good to know the Slime worked without problem. Did you Power on the Prius, or ACC or Ready mode?

 

Ready mode, (i.e. powered on).

 

The Ready mode IS powered on. The engine cycles on as needed to keep the batteries charged.

 

Yes, you are right about the term Ready. Thanks for your input. Just tested my new Slime Digital Tire Inflator on 2 flat Dolly tires from the Prius. Powered on the Prius, Slime worked very well. Of course, these were just 2 dead, smaller Dolly tires used at the office at pressure 30 so they filled up fast, and Slime auto shut off as it should at 30. Since there is no outlet outside on this building, using the 12V tire inflator on the Prius came in handy. Will bring it along on upcoming road trip.

 

Well 2+ years on a Harbor Freight and no problems. Not terribly fast but a lot cheaper and more reliable than those gas station, quarter machines.

Bob Wilson

 

My last two tire pumps have blown the 15amp fuse on my 12 volt power adapter

Kmart Craftsman 12v .40scfm@30 psi Inflator (Model 75122)
Harbor Freight Central Pneumatic 12v Air compressor (item 96068)

From what I understand both Hyundai Sonatas and Nissan Leafs have a similar 120w/10 amp restriction on on their 12 v power ports ( as the Prius does). Both above models are suppose to have a max 15 amp draw. Because I over inflate my tires - I believe I am probably drawing closer to the air compressor's maximum power rating - which is why I probably blew the 12v power port's 15amp fuse.. .

My initial manual air pump solutions failed too.

The hose from my Harbor Freight foot pump sprung a leak so I trashed it.

The rubber tubing on my Harbor Freight bike pump snapped into two when I tried to use it after leaving the pump inside the car overnight when the outside temperature dropped below 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

I could not find a 12v tire inflator with a 10 amp fuse locally (every 12vdc tire inflator I saw for sale was fused at 15 amps and had a peak power requirement of 180watts) so tonight I bought a Victor Hand pump (item 60008-8) from Advanced AutoParts... this time I'm keeping the hand pump inside the house where it is nice and warm

I did find a 12v 10 amp fused tire pump for sale on the internet - a Japanese domestic manufacturer import called *Carboy*

 

The off road forums like Viair inflators. These guys are always adjusting tire pressure. I have and can reccomend model 73. Its rated 14 amps which is the most you would want to draw off the accessory outlet. The cord is just long enough to reach all four wheels from the driver's side door. The pressure gauge reads accurate when you switch off. I use mine indoors powered off a dumb battery charger to inflat exercise balls, but have never inflated a duck.
Amazon.com: Viair 00073 70P Heavy Duty Portable Compressor: Automotive

 

Carboy, hmm, that's what my grandfather used to make his beer....

I have one I bought some eight years ago from TrueValue, which at the time, I thought was overpriced at $39. Now it is even more expensive...$73. But, use it many times each year, and while it sounds like cats being strangled, it does the job, and the gauge is even accurate.

However, when it dies, I will NOT be replacing it with the same brand.
120-Volt AC Powered Air Compressor: Model# W2020 : True Value Hardware Stores

I also have the SLIME model mentioned in this thread. Never used it, picked it up only because TrueValue had it offered for FREE, after manuf. rebate.

 

I use an air compressor that plugs into house AC power instead of one that plugs into a car's 12V socket. That works very well for auto tire inflation purposes.
Campbell Hausfeld FP2028 1 Gallon Pancake Air Compressor - Walmart.com

I had previously owned an air compressor which plugs into a 12V power socket and IMO that was just a toy, not suitable for serious usage.

In the past I had noticed that Costco (for example) sold an air compressor that has cables with clamps that would attach directly to a 12V battery. For those who need a 12V-based solution, I think a unit with that design would be much better than a unit that plugs into an aux power socket and will blow the associated fuse. Of course, this requires you to be able to find the 12V battery or the dedicated jumpstart terminal in the main relay/fuse box.

Actually, it would be good for all Prius owners to be able to find both the 12V battery and the jumpstart terminal so when the 12V battery fails, there is some chance you can do something useful about that issue.

 

May I revive this old thread?

Looking for 12V (cigarette lighter) tire infiltrator - need something small, light, as less noisy as possible, can push in addition to my Prius my road bike (120PSI) and preferable digital with pressure preset... Hope it isn't too much of requirements?

Does anybody find something - lets say "universal"?

P.S. I do always have an a bike floor pump in the trunk and already had to pump Prius tires with it - works, but prefer something automative