Portable Air Compressors

B) Here's my tire pressure' solution... ever since my original 2004 Prius:

High-quality analog tire gauge bought online from Racer Parts Wholesale PLUS a 12-volt portable mini-compressor bought from WallMart. I keep both in the driver's side storage pocket as in the photos. WallMart also had a 'chargeable' compressor/jump starting unit.

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I just bought a dedicated air inflator from Costco. Its actually a compressed air kind, 5 gallons, and works better than one that just inflates via a pump. I keep it in my garage and use it for all my cars. Very fast filling up, its almost like having a gas station one. I also us a digital tire gauge because it self calibrates everytime it turns on for both temp and elevation. At least ones made by Accugage.

 

I got my Vector (brand name) at Pep Boys. Several models to choose from. I'm sure every auto and department store carries one sort or another.

 

You'll probably get similar performance out of most "like" units.

For the all-in-one variety, I have a Colemate Powermate portable jump start unit (discontinued long ago). It does the trick, though any significant filling can take a while -- anywhere from 15 seconds to 1 minute per PSI would be my guess, depending on tire size. The built-in digital tire gauge is usually at least a few PSI off the mark, so I use a standard gauge for measurements.

I also have a portable 12V pump that plugs into the 12V outlet. I know I bought it at Wal-Mart years ago; don't recall the brand right now, though. It pumps a little faster than the Colemate. I rarely use it because of the hassle of dealing with a power cord. Again, the built-in gauge (analog) is anything but accurate, so I only use it for a rough estimate of when to shut 'er down and test with the real gauge.

I will say this: Either one of those units is much, much, much more convenient than trying to locate a station with an air hose...not to mention paying for the air. (For the nostalgic, I suggest depositing the quarters in your piggy bank/coin jar/etc. each time you use your pump.)

Personal preference: I like the all-in-one setup. My one recommendation there is to buy the highest wattage you can. Since they're all 12V, that means the highest amperage battery you can find. Anything under 7A (84W) won't be able to handle the load for long, and will live a short life while trying. (Mine has an 18A SLA gel cell, and that does the trick quite nicely. In fact, I may have just about killed the internal pump the last time I used it because I ran it too long [van tires]; the aging battery never skipped a beat.) A good all-in-one should sell for $60-$125, depending on the built-in features.

- Justifyd

 

I've never liked these portable inflators for just the reasons you cite: too slow, long term reliability is poor (the pistons are tiny, so they have to run like a bat out of hell to produce pressure, and they are *NOT* lubricated at all, so very high speed with no lubrication means that the rings wear out very quickly if you use these compressors a lot)..

Additionally, the short, high compression strokes heats up the air incredibly (don't touch the compressor fins after it's been on for a bit- they are *HOT*), and pumping hot air into your tire results in an inaccurate pressure reading (remember how they always recommend that tire pressures be checked *COLD*, and yet you're pumping hot air into the tire)..

I have a manual air pump in the trunk for emergencies- although it takes some physical effort, it actually only takes about 3 minutes to pump up a completely flat tire, which is faster than many of the portable compressors. When I'm at home though, I've got a full sized compressor with a tank, filter and air drier- this pumps up a tire in just a few seconds with clean, bone dry air that is as good as dry nitrogen fill.

If I had to carry an electric compressor in my car, I'd probably take that little 110V Campbell-Hausfeld tankless compressor and the big 1200W inverter to run it.. It has a much bigger compressor head and can fill a tire almost as quickly as from a tank..

 

Howdy Justifyd

You mentioned service station "AIR." It was dragging that retractable hose out, stepping on the air hose with one foot to keep it from retracting, airing 4 tires on my knees on the {gravelly, sometimes wet} pavement, having to pay at least twice to air all 4 tires {not including the spare}... this convinced me to buy my own setup. Not only all that, but having to make a short trip to the station to be sure my tires weren't too hot to get accurate tire pressures cold.

Although I don't think I've saved any money, my setup has sufficed for about 2½ years for 2 Prius as well as keeping out Camry tires in shape. The mini-12v-compressor is not "Industrial Strength," but it wasn't expensive and when if wears out, I'll just buy another. I did buy an "Industrial Strength" analog tire gauge with a ~3" dial easy to read and with a bleed valve to adjust pressures accurately... just don't believe the "pencil" gauges and some of the digital gauges are all that accurate. See my photos above.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Highly ImPriused @ Mar 27 2007, 01:05 PM) [snapback]413095[/snapback]</div>

I just bought a rechargeable tire pump from Schucks a week or two ago. They only had one model, and it was just below $30. The advantage for me is that I don't have to worry about an electric pump drawing too much power from the 12V outlet in the car. Also, there's no power cord to negotiate around. It provides enough to pump up one fairly low (< 20 psi) tire, or to top off all 4 tires if they're close to specs. It recharges off the 110 VAC in the house, or presumably (I haven't tried it yet), off an inverter attached to the 12V outlet in the car.

Dave M.

 

This one looks good

Campbell Hausfeld 120 Volt Home Inflation System


Campbell Hausfeld 120 Volt Home Inflation System - Amazon.com

 

I bought a Viair 88P which clips onto the 12V battery terminals since I've had compressors that plug into the cigarette lighter blow out the fuse. It works very well at home and I can take it for trips too.

Viair 00088 88P Portable Air Compressor : Amazon.com : Automotive