Portable 12v tire compressor recommendations......

[cpaharley2008]

Been window shopping on CyberMonday deals and these 12v tire compressors caught my eye. Does anyone use or can recommend a specific type to use in emergencies? Thanks in advance for any suggestions......

[John in Santa Cruz]

I've been carrying a Viair 88P behind the driverseat of my pickup for years now. powerful pump with adequate duty cycle to pump up 4 full sized pickup truck tires such as the LT265/75R16 on my F250 from nearly completely flat to 70 PSI operational pressure..

[Tosh]

best choice is one with a reservoir. I got mine from Walmart for about $55

[bborzell]

My power drivers and even 2 chain saws are Milwaukee so I have several M12 and M18 batteries. It was a no brainer to get a 12v Milwaukee tire inflator.

It packs small and works big.

https://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Ele...=A2IA1TCH8NRH0

[Iowa Dave]

I’m running the Milwaukee 12.Volt unit and also use the batteries in my 12 volt caulk gun. I’m all Milwaukee on 18 v too except for my corded tools. Milwaukee has an 18 V compressor now too.
The 88 v air is an excellent unit too.. Lots of the off road guys use them.

EddThe Milwaukee compressor unit, extra battery, charger, my Manometer and a tire repair kit all ride in a Milwaukee tool bag when I’m on the road camping. The compressor will blow up air mattresses and floaty toys and soccer balls for the kids too.

You need a regular air compressor with a rubber tipped air gun to aid in skinning muskrats though. (And a rubber apron).
Iowa Dave

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

...

The 88 v air is an excellent unit too.. Lots of the off road guys use them.
...

My Viair 88 has survived 3 or 4 years of helping campers.

[Bobbie54]

I have a Ryobi since that's what most of my tools are. Just used it to blow the lines out on the trailer.

[Mike G]

Another enthusiastic vote for the ViAir 88P. Very happy with mine.

[BKeeper]

Is there a portable compressor that's good for tires AND winterizing water lines? That is also fairly compact?

[ghosthunter]

I carry one of these on every trip. Charge everything, pumps up tires, jump the truck if needed.

From Costco under $100.00

https://www.costco.com/cat-1200-peak...100799044.html

[RBRV]

if you have any battery operated tool sets, look at that brands version of portable inflator. i have several dewalt 20v rechargeable tools and really like their inflator.

[Perry Butler]

I've been using portable 12v tire inflators since the 80's WITHOUT a pressure tank. I still have one from the early 90's. We would use them to inflate farm wagon tires, that lost pressure in the field, and carry them in our autos. Every spring and fall I have to reinflate the one tire that has zero pressure on our utility trailer that holds our excess items at our seasonal campsite. The trailer moves about .2 mile to and from it's winter storage area.

I've also been using portable tankless tire inflators to winterize our campers. As you empty water out of your lines, your lines become a pressure tank. You also don't need to get every drop of water out of your lines for winterization. That's just simple physics. It takes a filled cavity to freeze and break something.

For the past 6 or so years we've been using a 12/120v Black and Decker tire inflator with a setable pressure shut-off that works great. It's a lot easier if you have an auto pressure shut-off. I first blow the lines clear, then run anti-freeze through the lines and finally blow the anti-freeze out. It takes about a half hour.

While ours is just a 12/120v inflator, today I'd buy one that's 12/120 with a lithium battery.

Food for thought,

Perry

[John in Santa Cruz]

small compressors/inflators can get very hot inside when they operate. the good ones specify a rated duty cycle, like I can run my 88P for 25 or 30 minutes steady before it needs a cooldown. Taking a decent sized tire from low pressure to operating pressure can take a fair bit of time, I think my 88P takes around 5 minutes to put 30 PSI into a 60 PSI full sized truck tire and its a lot faster than most. I've had inexpensive mostly plastic inflators actually melt down when trying to add air to a car tire.

[Iowa Dave]

That’s a good point John. I have a Milwaukee tool box sized vacuum. The 5.0
amp battery fits nicely in the contact part of the box. However, the instructions are specific and advise that when the owner is done using the vacuum, the battery should be removed from the motor contacts and stored loose in that area. The admonition is that if the exterior on/off switch were to be accidentally flipped to the “on” side by shifting cargo or whatever, the unit could overheat and start a fire. I don’t need that so I pull the battery when I’m done using it each time. It’s really not an inconvenience because the top of the box has to be opened to access the stored vacuum hose and crevice tool. Takes only a couple seconds to pull or reinstall the battery.
Iowa Dave

[Tosh]

yes my old cheap plastic unit from 1990 worked just fine (just ignore the reading from the cheap pressure gauge) until I needed to get up to 50PSI on the trailer's tires. So, when the cheap plastic 12V power plug broke, I had to take drastic action...and buy something better (but still cheap).

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

small compressors/inflators can get very hot inside when they operate. the good ones specify a rated duty cycle, like I can run my 88P for 25 or 30 minutes steady before it needs a cooldown. Taking a decent sized tire from low pressure to operating pressure can take a fair bit of time, I think my 88P takes around 5 minutes to put 30 PSI into a 60 PSI full sized truck tire and its a lot faster than most. I've had inexpensive mostly plastic inflators actually melt down when trying to add air to a car tire.

I see the Vair 88P is $89.95 on Amazon. However, alligator clips and no auto-shutoff would be a no-go for me. Do they make a 12v/120/battery operated compressor with auto-shutoff at a resonable price? I spent a few minutes on their unfriendly website and couldn't find one.

Thanks,

Perry

[Tosh]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Z3W3MSV/


can't endorse it; I somewhat suspect it, but it is cheap....

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Perry Butler

I see the Vair 88P is $89.95 on Amazon. However, alligator clips and no auto-shutoff would be a no-go for me. Do they make a 12v/120/battery operated compressor with auto-shutoff at a resonable price? I spent a few minutes on their unfriendly website and couldn't find one.

Thanks,

Perry

My ViaAir draws around 20 amps at max pressures, and it can do this for like 30 minutes straight when inflating full sized pickup truck tires.. 20 amps at 12V is 240 watts, you would need a LARGE battery to do that for any period of time. I can let my compressor cool down for 10 or 15 minutes and run it another 30 minutes.

As I think I mentioned elsewhere, I cut the DC cord to my 88P about a foot short of the battery clips, and installed a PP30 connector. I have a PP45 in the back of my truck on its own dedicated 45A fuse and 8 gauge wire, and I have a 40A DC connector on the curbside of my trailer connected to its batteries on a 40A fuse, with a pigtail to a PP45 connector, so I can run the viair from either of those. They do recommend starting your engine, as it pumps faster at 14V than it does at 12V, but its not absolutely necessary.

no, they don't have automatic shutoff, I stay there and watch it while it inflates.

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by Perry Butler

I see the Vair 88P is $89.95 on Amazon. However, alligator clips and no auto-shutoff would be a no-go for me.
...

The alligator clips are so you can bypass the typical light wire and small fuses of the average cigarette lighter. The ViAir 88P amp draw is double digits if I recall.

[splitting_lanes]

I really like this DeWalt, I had it at MRR and on the cross country trip and used it several times on the same battery/charge. It’s a little more expensive than the Vair, sometimes you can find it on sale.

https://www.dewalt.com/product/dcc02...s-air-inflator