matthewheld
New Member
After taking an unprepared trip through Death Valley, I decided I definitely needed a portable 12 volt air compressor. After doing a little research, I've found that if you want to fill your tires quickly with a 12 volt air compressor; many of the expensive models have a long motor built like a starter or winch motor directly coupled with a piston-type air compressor.
So when I was at Harbor Freight yesterday buying a set of jack stands and hydraulic jack so I could change my fluids, I seen the air compressor listed below.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93186
I ended up buying it for $50.00. It comes with 10' of battery cord. You're not going to plug this into a 12v outlet - it draws too much. It has two decent battery clamps and about 4-5 feet of coiled hose. I know it says 33' of coiled hose, and I don't doubt that; but it will only stretch to about 5'.
The ends of the air hose has an automotive-style air coupler on one end, and a 100 psi gauge and screw-on valve connector on the other.
As soon as I got home, I deflated my spare to 0 psi and re-inflated and timed how long to reach 33 psi. I have 4 BFG ATR 245/75R16's mounted, but my spare is still the Goodyear Wrangler 225/70R16 that originally came with my Libby. The tire shop only had 4 in stock, and the other will be mounted as a spare this week.
Anyways, it took only 4 minutes,10 seconds to fully inflate. I think that's pretty good compared to my old 12v compressor that literally took like 15-20 minutes to inflate an average car tire.
What I don't like about the compressor is that the plastic transport case supplied is HUGE. Way bigger than I want to carry around on trips. You really only have the compressor, hose, and cables. They just went overboard on the case. Also, the compressor was quite hot after the inflation test. The motor was cool to the touch, but the compressor could melt plastic if put away too soon.
Other than that, it's not too noisy, and it looks kind of cool. If you wanted to extend the cables more than 10 feet, the connections are easily accessed. Also, I entertained the idea of hunting for an air tank for air tool operation. That compressor should handle that.
So when I was at Harbor Freight yesterday buying a set of jack stands and hydraulic jack so I could change my fluids, I seen the air compressor listed below.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93186
I ended up buying it for $50.00. It comes with 10' of battery cord. You're not going to plug this into a 12v outlet - it draws too much. It has two decent battery clamps and about 4-5 feet of coiled hose. I know it says 33' of coiled hose, and I don't doubt that; but it will only stretch to about 5'.
The ends of the air hose has an automotive-style air coupler on one end, and a 100 psi gauge and screw-on valve connector on the other.
As soon as I got home, I deflated my spare to 0 psi and re-inflated and timed how long to reach 33 psi. I have 4 BFG ATR 245/75R16's mounted, but my spare is still the Goodyear Wrangler 225/70R16 that originally came with my Libby. The tire shop only had 4 in stock, and the other will be mounted as a spare this week.
Anyways, it took only 4 minutes,10 seconds to fully inflate. I think that's pretty good compared to my old 12v compressor that literally took like 15-20 minutes to inflate an average car tire.
What I don't like about the compressor is that the plastic transport case supplied is HUGE. Way bigger than I want to carry around on trips. You really only have the compressor, hose, and cables. They just went overboard on the case. Also, the compressor was quite hot after the inflation test. The motor was cool to the touch, but the compressor could melt plastic if put away too soon.
Other than that, it's not too noisy, and it looks kind of cool. If you wanted to extend the cables more than 10 feet, the connections are easily accessed. Also, I entertained the idea of hunting for an air tank for air tool operation. That compressor should handle that.
