Recommendation for a 12v tire inflator
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Originally Posted by Leo99
The local gas station by me (Wawa) has free air. I'm constantly amazed by the lines of vehicles waiting to air up. I have some cheap air pumper thing from Amazon. Think it cost like $20.
There's still a couple of gas stations around me that offer free air, but the lines can be long sometimes so that's why if you value your time, you mind as well just spend the roughly $20 and don't waste your time waiting for free air.
The local gas station by me (Wawa) has free air. I'm constantly amazed by the lines of vehicles waiting to air up. I have some cheap air pumper thing from Amazon. Think it cost like $20.
There's still a couple of gas stations around me that offer free air, but the lines can be long sometimes so that's why if you value your time, you mind as well just spend the roughly $20 and don't waste your time waiting for free air.
My viair 87p (battery clamps) is about 1cfm, and I've used it on everything from big tractor tires, suv tires, to little mower deck tires..
In fact last Christmas I inflated 9 tires on relatives cars that were all low, hooked it upto my jnc318 jump pack for power.
Its been pretty durable. I would buy again.
That being said if I'm at home I have a 50ft retractrable flexzilla air hose reel and an astro 3018 inflator that is really nice.
https://www.amazon.com/Astro-Digital-Pressure-Inflator-Stainless/dp/B002PUTC0M
In fact last Christmas I inflated 9 tires on relatives cars that were all low, hooked it upto my jnc318 jump pack for power.
Its been pretty durable. I would buy again.
That being said if I'm at home I have a 50ft retractrable flexzilla air hose reel and an astro 3018 inflator that is really nice.
https://www.amazon.com/Astro-Digital-Pressure-Inflator-Stainless/dp/B002PUTC0M
Motomaster pump I bought over 10 years ago while on sale for about cad$30, analogue gauge, good to (supposedly) 100psi and woks from aux 12v, no issues in all those years, just used it last afternoon last time. Checking pressure (to adjust) with digital gauge.
I bought the Q industries MV-50 in '07.
The QC is far from impressive, but a little spit and polish goes a long way.
First, the little air filter, most of the inlet holes were obscured with flashing left over from the mold. Highly restrictive. As such i did not employ the air filter at first, and it wound up sucking in a bunch of dust sand and debris, which compromised the piston skirt's efficacy and the reed valves inside.
I found the cylinder head bolts finger tight at best, and the cylinder would only touch the finned heatsink in 4 small areas around the perimeter, if it were machined perfectly. But the cylinder outer diameter is loose within the heatsink's inner diameter and as such only one of the 4 mating surfaces can actually be in contact with the finned heat sink, and there would be very little actual contact between cylinder and heatsink for direct thermal transfer.
I also despised the thread on hose it came with and the metric fittings did not allow for simple standard 1/4 npt air hoses to be used.
There was NO strain relief where the 14awg wires entered the tail cap and attached to the standard 30 amp bosch style cheapo chinese relay. The connections within were crimp nuts, the spade connectors onto the relay were extremely poorly crimped. The inline fuse holder would get ridiculously hot after a minute or 2
I used a razor to remove all the flashing to remove restriction on the air filter housing.
I retapped the head for 1/4 NPT threads used a better more flexible longer coiled hose and a locking tire chuck that I made passive so it could npt allow pressure to build in the hose when not connected to a schrader valve.
I cleaned the reed valve and flexible piston skirt and lubed it with syl-glyde.
I filled the gap between cylinder head and heatsink with high temp grease to better conduct heat from cylinder. and retorqued the head bolts evenly.
I redid all the wiring to switch and relay and added an 80mm computer fan to blow over the heatsink.
Needless to say, it works much better than it did out of the box.
Is all this effort worth it over buying a higher quality more expensive Viair to begin with?
Perhaps, perhaps not.
It draws 16 to 18 amps depending on the voltage it is being fed and the pressure of the tire/airbag.
It is by far the best 12v inflator I have personally used. All previous ones with a ciggy plug were very short lived, and became noisy tire deflating noise makers instead.
While i have a pancake style AC compressor, If i am only doing small PSI changes the MV-50 is faster to use compared to setting up the pancake compresor filling its tank, transporting it to the tires.......
The QC is far from impressive, but a little spit and polish goes a long way.
First, the little air filter, most of the inlet holes were obscured with flashing left over from the mold. Highly restrictive. As such i did not employ the air filter at first, and it wound up sucking in a bunch of dust sand and debris, which compromised the piston skirt's efficacy and the reed valves inside.
I found the cylinder head bolts finger tight at best, and the cylinder would only touch the finned heatsink in 4 small areas around the perimeter, if it were machined perfectly. But the cylinder outer diameter is loose within the heatsink's inner diameter and as such only one of the 4 mating surfaces can actually be in contact with the finned heat sink, and there would be very little actual contact between cylinder and heatsink for direct thermal transfer.
I also despised the thread on hose it came with and the metric fittings did not allow for simple standard 1/4 npt air hoses to be used.
There was NO strain relief where the 14awg wires entered the tail cap and attached to the standard 30 amp bosch style cheapo chinese relay. The connections within were crimp nuts, the spade connectors onto the relay were extremely poorly crimped. The inline fuse holder would get ridiculously hot after a minute or 2
I used a razor to remove all the flashing to remove restriction on the air filter housing.
I retapped the head for 1/4 NPT threads used a better more flexible longer coiled hose and a locking tire chuck that I made passive so it could npt allow pressure to build in the hose when not connected to a schrader valve.
I cleaned the reed valve and flexible piston skirt and lubed it with syl-glyde.
I filled the gap between cylinder head and heatsink with high temp grease to better conduct heat from cylinder. and retorqued the head bolts evenly.
I redid all the wiring to switch and relay and added an 80mm computer fan to blow over the heatsink.
Needless to say, it works much better than it did out of the box.
Is all this effort worth it over buying a higher quality more expensive Viair to begin with?
Perhaps, perhaps not.
It draws 16 to 18 amps depending on the voltage it is being fed and the pressure of the tire/airbag.
It is by far the best 12v inflator I have personally used. All previous ones with a ciggy plug were very short lived, and became noisy tire deflating noise makers instead.
While i have a pancake style AC compressor, If i am only doing small PSI changes the MV-50 is faster to use compared to setting up the pancake compresor filling its tank, transporting it to the tires.......
My Sears 12V unit worked for years, but it finally died. I looked at Harbor Freight, almost bought one, then went to Home Depot and found something better for about the same price. I don't have a home or garage, so a compressor unit is out of the question; and besides I only air up once every month or so, maybe a bit more often in the "winter." The real test, I guess, will come when I air up the temporary spare in the Buick: It's supposed to be at 60 psi.
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by Leo99
The local gas station by me (Wawa) has free air. I'm constantly amazed by the lines of vehicles waiting to air up. I have some cheap air pumper thing from Amazon. Think it cost like $20.
There's still a couple of gas stations around me that offer free air, but the lines can be long sometimes so that's why if you value your time, you mind as well just spend the roughly $20 and don't waste your time waiting for free air.
Free air is only available near me for your lungs. And believe me, the city is trying to figure out a way to make you pay for that.
Originally Posted by Leo99
The local gas station by me (Wawa) has free air. I'm constantly amazed by the lines of vehicles waiting to air up. I have some cheap air pumper thing from Amazon. Think it cost like $20.
There's still a couple of gas stations around me that offer free air, but the lines can be long sometimes so that's why if you value your time, you mind as well just spend the roughly $20 and don't waste your time waiting for free air.
Free air is only available near me for your lungs. And believe me, the city is trying to figure out a way to make you pay for that.
I've had a Campbell Hausfield for over 10 years. It just refuses to die and it's pretty quick albeit loud.
State law in CT is service stations must offer free air.
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by Leo99
The local gas station by me (Wawa) has free air. I'm constantly amazed by the lines of vehicles waiting to air up. I have some cheap air pumper thing from Amazon. Think it cost like $20.
There's still a couple of gas stations around me that offer free air, but the lines can be long sometimes so that's why if you value your time, you mind as well just spend the roughly $20 and don't waste your time waiting for free air.
Free air is only available near me for your lungs. And believe me, the city is trying to figure out a way to make you pay for that.
State law in CT is service stations must offer free air.
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by Leo99
The local gas station by me (Wawa) has free air. I'm constantly amazed by the lines of vehicles waiting to air up. I have some cheap air pumper thing from Amazon. Think it cost like $20.
There's still a couple of gas stations around me that offer free air, but the lines can be long sometimes so that's why if you value your time, you mind as well just spend the roughly $20 and don't waste your time waiting for free air.
Free air is only available near me for your lungs. And believe me, the city is trying to figure out a way to make you pay for that.
State law in CT is service stations must offer free air.
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