230 or 110v OBA compressors

BigSkyBrad

Active member
The 12v OBA compressors that are up to the job are quite expensive. I have sufficient 230v inverter power, and there are plenty of compact compressors that could hide away in one of my lockers.

Has anyone installed such a compressor with success? Anyone thinks it's a dumb idea because...?

An example...
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Herbie

Rendezvous Conspirator
You'll probably want to do an apples to apples comparison.

That Senco you picture has the rough equivalent output as a Viair 90p compressor. (~0.7SCFM @ 90psi) The Senco is ~$230 with the tank, the Viair is <$100 without a tank. Or, for about the same price as the Senco, Viair's "Quarter Duty" OBA kit will flow more air and has double the tank size.

You'll also want to check duty cycle - even the small Viair units are rated to "only" 25% duty cycle, expressed as 10 mins on and 30 mins rest. Unless your tires are huge, 10 mins is usually enough to do all 4. The Senco has this in it's manual: "102 seconds pump up, 27 sec recovery". Whether that's a ballpark, or whether the unit can really only run for 2 minutes before resting for 30 seconds... I'd hate to find out on the trail-side.

The big $$ "overland" compressors are often overkill or offer benefits not everyone needs. (Fill your 35" tires in 2 minutes!!!) I'd figure out what your realistic use case is, and do an honest spec shopping of which compressors will get you there - I think you'll find that there are good-quality DC compressor options that will get the job done without having to go to extraordinary lengths or creating weird dependencies. (e.g. Your AC compressor might do the job while your inverter is working, but imagine being roadside with low tire pressure and finding out your inverter has died - you've introduced a new component that you depend on, beyond the compressor itself.)
 
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