Air compressor recommendations?

[Byron Kinnaman]

AAA and my phone work well for me.

I've packed around with me, about 40 years, a small 12volt air compressors and never used them.

[Captleemo]

Have you considered one of those battery boosters? Most of the good ones come with air compressors and also have 12 volt cigarette lighter style sockets and an inverter for the 120 volt AC outlets. I came out from work one day and my boss had one he was using to pump up a flat tire. It got it aired up with battery power to spare and I was impressed enough to go out and buy one myself.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Captleemo

Have you considered one of those battery boosters? Most of the good ones come with air compressors and also have 12 volt cigarette lighter style sockets and an inverter for the 120 volt AC outlets. I came out from work one day and my boss had one he was using to pump up a flat tire. It got it aired up with battery power to spare and I was impressed enough to go out and buy one myself.

I had one of those units. I don't remember the brand name, I tried to use the air compressor once it went up in smoke.

[Steve Carlson]

Originally Posted by Bruce H

Master Flow MF-1050. 12 volt. I really like mine. Easy to search and shop on the internet.

^^ this, or it's identical twin the Superflow MV-50. I have used an MV-50 to air up tires on my 35" off-road truck for years, doing camper tires should be a snap. Not sure how good it would be at blowing out lines, but it definitely puts out a lot more volume than those cheap "120 psi" units that have a compressor piston the size of a thimble.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Wayne Collins

No, I would not use the spare as an air tank. They tend to lose air over time anyway, so need to pump it up before a trip. I had a small, 1.5 gal tank compressor, but it is too small. Bought a 5 gal DeWalt, pancake type.

The little 12 v compressors are slow. But not bad for carrying in the TV.

Remember when Volkswagen used the spare as an air tank to push washer fluid? Also a irbrushers often use spare tires for painting.

You could then bring it back up with a small 12V compressor.
I have plenty of compressors both large and small but I am not willing to carry a compressor with a tank on a trip just to blow out water lines anyway.

[wilyoung]

Originally Posted by John Linck

Thanks for the tip on Vlair compressors. They look like nice units. I checked out this one

Plenty of pressure though it draws 19 amps at 50psi and 1 cfm. Be careful where you plug it in.

How much volume is necessary to blow out water lines? I have never tried it. Always went the antifreeze route.

john

You got the right question. It's the volume, not the pressure that's needed to blow out the water lines. The smaller 12v pumps have very small cylinders and probably wouldn't do it. But I wouldn't know for sure. I use the pink stuff when I do winterize. Here in the GPNW I usually just leave all the floor level cupboard doors open and use a cube heater at night if it's going to get cold enough to freeze. Makes the trailer easily available all winter.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

AAA and my phone work well for me.

I've packed around with me, about 40 years, a small 12volt air compressors and never used them.

LOL your curmudgeonlyness has reached new heights! So you mean to tell me that your tires never lose pressure, and never change pressure with the temperature (a basic law of physics by the way)? Or do you not check the pressure at all? Maybe you make a special trip to a service station before you go on a trip to get the tires to the proper pressure (assuming you can still find a service station with a tire infiltrator for public use)? And as far as AAA goes, YMMV but my experience has been that even in an urban area, you will wait at least 90 minutes for AAA. Lastly, you must have some phone if it ALWAYS has service.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by gordon2

LOL your curmudgeonlyness has reached new heights! So you mean to tell me that your tires never lose pressure, and never change pressure with the temperature (a basic law of physics by the way)? Or do you not check the pressure at all? Maybe you make a special trip to a service station before you go on a trip to get the tires to the proper pressure (assuming you can still find a service station with a tire infiltrator for public use)? And as far as AAA goes, YMMV but my experience has been that even in an urban area, you will wait at least 90 minutes for AAA. Lastly, you must have some phone if it ALWAYS has service.

Gordon I don't know what your problem is. If read my post I said I carried around a small air compressor and never used it. The side wall pressure on the tires is the cold pressure. Check once in the morning on the day you're going to be moving. If they are low (unlikely) they probably high enough to get to a place that has air. It's not difficult. Any automotive shop or tire shop will have air and inflate to your specifications.
Only one time in over 10,000 miles did I have low tire pressure, and it was just low enough that after about 200 miles the sidewalls were a little warm. I pulled into an auto repair shop and asked about air. They took care of it. Since the tire was warm I asked them to inflate to a little below side wall pressure.
As far as AAA is concerned I called them several times without the trailer and it only took about 20 minutes or less for them to arrive and I was kept informed as to when to expect them.
How often do you check your daily drive's tires, every day, once a week, never.

[swenny]

I use my large air compressor at 40psi to blow out water lines. Keeps sustained pressure for ever while I open each supply valve in the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, toilet one at a time until not a drop of water is seen. Don't forget to remove shower hose and head from the faucet. I store mine in a warm place. Lift up the shower valve at faucet to be sure of water removal. I've had to replace mine before because of this. Drain fresh water tank and run fresh water pump to clear any remaining water. Drain the hot water tank and let air pressure do it's job with the drain plug off.

Now, pour the pink stuff into all drains at sink, toilet and shower drain. Make sure to run the drain pump just long enough to ensure antifreeze is in there.

Should be good for -20 below. No need to flush pink stuff from the system in the spring (this always took lots of water).

[John Linck]

I mention the words air and compressor (if not together) in this post, so its completely on topic. Right?

I "check" my tire inflation on a somewhat regular basis. First, at the beginning of a trip I use a digital tire gauge and make sure the pressure is 40 psi - per the tire manufacture's recommendation based on truck scale determined load. Then at gas stops I do a visual inspection asking myself, "Do they look low?". If the weather is hot I sometime put a hand on each tire to judge is they are too hot. Not sure what too hot is here but they always seem OK. Sometimes I even point my digital IR thermometer at the tires and hubs looking for overheating. Even on hot days I seldom find temps above 120 which seems OK to me. On the next trip I repeat the process. I don't remember ever having to add air while on a trip, some of which have been 8 weeks in length. I do carry a cheapo 12 volt compressor should the need arise. I suppose I should take it out of the box and see if it even works.

I did have one blow out about 15 years ago. There were a couple dozen seconds of cheek-clenching excitement, but we pulled over safely and no damage was done though the tire was in shreds. It was a tire the came with my pre-owned Scamp and was probably 10 years old. The tire had great tread, but was rotten. Lesson learned, I get new tires every 5 years now.

Please don't follow my advice on tire inflation. This is a subject that stimulates spirited and sometimes rabid discussion akin to politics or religion. Most any pressure between 30 and 60 seems to work as discussed on this site in the past. There are long threads you can find if interested. I trust the manufacturer since I know nothing about tire tech, though I generally prefer the ones black in color. YMMV.

Happy Trails, john

Pic of a fellow I met at Grand Canyon's South Rim.

[Terry M]

Viair 400P - Replaced the alligator clips with a 7-way trailer connector. When plugged into the TV's 7-way connector, I can reach all 4 of my Jeep tires and both of the Scamp trailer tires. Hooking the alligator clips to the Jeep's battery, I couldn't reach the trailer tires unless I hooked up to the Scamp battery. Inflation is much faster when hooked up the TV with the engine running.

[Terry M]

Pics of compressor

[stevebaz]

I use a Superflow MV 50 12 volt compressor as my portable compressor. It works fairly well. It draws some juice so you have to keep the car running while you use it.

When I air down my offroad tires it doesn't take forever and a day to fill them back up.

https://www.amazon.com/Industries-MV...70_&dpSrc=srch

[John Linck]

Its better to use short cables and long hoses on compressors like this. With high amperage and low voltage current drops fast with distance, especially on thin wires. Compressed air can travel further with little effect. If the distance is 30 feet or so just use a larger diameter hose.

john

Pic at campground in Zion National Park

[Terry M]

I started airing up the tires on my Jeep from the TV trailer connector, instead of attaching the alligator clips to the battery, after a gust of wind lifted my hood off of the hood support rod, and slammed it against the windshield frame. After shelling out $1050 for a new hood I started using the 7- way trailer connection. Works great and I can air up my Jeep tires from 18 psi to 34 psi in about 12/14 minutes. Attaching the compressor to the 7-way connector also allows me to reach the trailer tires, which I couldn't do when attached to the Jeep's battery. All of the wiring is 10 gauge, good for 55 amps. The circuit is protected with 40 amp fuses at the battery and at the compressor. I use the compressor to air up when 4-wheeling but being able to also air up the Scamp's tires is a bonus.

[Johnny M]

I got a cheap harbor freight 12v compressor that I keep in my tow for emergencies along with a can of fix a flat, tire plugs and related tools. At home I have a 10 gallon Cambell Hausfield compressor, I think its a 1 or 2 hp, serves me well including for spraying my Boler with a can type paint gun.

[Al and Cindy K]

Google 'on board air' and you'll likely find much more info on this topic than you ever wanted to know. As mentioned by several in this thread, Viair is a well respected brand with a wide range of products to fit most budgets. Q industries Super Flow series is another good option (I carry their MV90 in my Tacoma).

In choosing a compressor, look for three specs - Pressure, Flow (Cubic feet per minute or CFM) and Duty Cycle. Of these, the Pressure is the least important but most heavily hyped. What do any of us have that needs to be inflated to 250 psi? Bike tires at around 65-70 psi are probably the highest pressure items most of us have.

CFM and Duty Cycle are often difficult to find but more critical to the inflation process. The Flow spec can also be rigged - 2.0 CFM at 50 psi is much better than 6.0 CFM at 10 psi. For blowing out your water lines, a high volume of air is best and most of the 12V compressors are weak in this area. Get a 5 gallon portable air tank ($30 @ Home Depot), fill it to 40-50 lbs psi with your compressor and use it for clearing your water lines.

If you'll be filling large tires or more than one tire, the duty cycle (time pumping vs time resting) must be watched carefully. Most 12V pumps with a cigarette style plug fail because their duty cycle was exceeded. Look for something than can run for at least four minutes continuously (My MV90 has a 40 minute on 40 minute off rating, the MV50 has 4 minutes on then 2 off for comparison). As a general rule, the compressors that attach to your battery with alligator clips will have a much higher duty cycle than those with a lighter plug.

A fourth consideration is amperage draw but that's usually not a factor for occasional use, especially if you leave the motor running when re-inflating.

For a decent system that can be used around the house and with your vehicles, plan to spend $100 +/- Viair 00088 88P or Masterflow MF-1050 @ $50, 5 gal tank $30, air gauge $10, and accessories (blow gun, chuck, etc.) $10.

If you go this far, pick up a tire patch kit for another $25 and learn to use it.

[David B.]

Thank you Al.....well said.
Dave & Paula

[Terry M]

Excellent breakdown Al, the 400 P is about $200, and has an on-off duty cycle of 20/40 minutes, 40 minutes continuous run at 30 psi, which most of you FGRV'ers will never need. But, do spend a little more to get a unit that attaches to the battery. The only problem I have with the Viair is that it upsets our dog Sandi, my wife has to take her for a walk while I am airing up.

[FishingBob]

Thanks for all the discussion. It seems like Viair 88P might be a good choice, and the 400P might be a little more than anticipated need. (Tires on the 4Runner are 20", 14" on the trailer.)