inexpensive 12v tire inflator

[67cj5]

I have a question about newer car "power ports" vs older car cigarette lighters? Can "power ports" handle the draw of a 12V pump/compressor like the older car cigarette lighters?

In a Nut Shell, NO, most cigar lighter sockets are only rated to 10 Amps and some cars/Suv's have double fuses one in the main box and another hidden, I had a Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero and I blew the socket fuse and I replaced it but there must of been another elsewhere because it never worked again, It had 3 sockets and I blew each and every one and that was plugging in my old interdynamics TruckAir 275 So these newer Pumps would kill it in a second,

Hard wiring or Direct hook up to the Battery is the Only way,

Hope that helps.

 

[RoyJ]

Yeah I was checking them out but for some reason they wanted more for one of them than they did for the ARB Portable, Not knowing much about Viair I went with ARB because I have known the brand for over 30 years.

Depends if you can catch ViAirs on sale - I picked up TWO 480C compressors for about $270. You won't find ARB portables for nearly that price. Also picked up a 440P for $200.

I use the 480Cs for my old V10 Ram on 33s. I don't feel good pushing 33% duty cycle compressors to 80 psi (camper on), and the Puma is a bit slow. The 440P works great for my lighter trucks that max out at 35 psi.

 

[steelhd]

I have a question about newer car "power ports" vs older car cigarette lighters? Can "power ports" handle the draw of a 12V pump/compressor like the older car cigarette lighters?

Yea, they can handle very low amp draw compressors that are made for airing up a single tire to get you to the next service station. That's what they are made for and always have been no matter how much older the vehicle is. They are just fine in that application and I put them in every one of my wife's cars. If you want to air your truck tires back up after a day on the trail or a day runnng washboard gravel roads they suck. It will either take a very long time due to the slow speed and low duty cycle or you will burn it up and be screwed. And If you want to air anything up over maybe 50 psi they just can't get there.

 

[Happy Joe]

Yep... nothing much has changed since the last century; if you want a, relatively, low priced, small, emergency, low pressure air compressor the all metal ones work (kind of).. for better performance you will need to gang them in parallel or go with a higher priced unit (or a converted A/C pump; puts all but the engine mounted large truck compressors to shame).

Trying to use cigar lighter plugs to power anything significant is asking for problems, IMO...its simply too easy to add battery clips/wiring to even think about plugging a compressor (or fridge) into OEM wiring.

Personally I just use the shop air at home and reserve the emergency compressors for slow airing up, to 25-30 psi, after the trail.

 

[67cj5]

Depends if you can catch ViAirs on sale - I picked up TWO 480C compressors for about $270. You won't find ARB portables for nearly that price. Also picked up a 440P for $200.

I use the 480Cs for my old V10 Ram on 33s. I don't feel good pushing 33% duty cycle compressors to 80 psi (camper on), and the Puma is a bit slow. The 440P works great for my lighter trucks that max out at 35 psi.

Cool, I should of waited til I got back home to OZ before getting one, I looked at getting one of the Viair models but Over here in the UK I got my ARB CKMP12 @ £200.00 or $278.00c US, and for the Viair 450p they wanted £428.50 which is about $595.61c at todays exchange rate, either way 600 bucks is a lot of dough for a Compressor when you consider the cost of the ARB Twin,

Viair Deal, http://www.mattsavage.com/acatalog/450P-A-Portable-Compressor-Kit-Automatic-45043.html

The ARB CKMP12 has a 50% Duty cycle which is more than enough when you consider that it will Air Up 4x 35's in under 10 minutes and it will Air Up my road Tyres in 1m 03sec's, So it will do all 4 Tyres from 15psi to 32psi in 4m 12 sec's Having a 50% DC is way more than most folks need, I have thought about buying the Twin version but it is more of a matter of "want" than need, I have enough room in the Truck, I will see how this one goes and if I need the bigger one I might look at getting it too, Oh Dear, decisions,,,decisions, It's a Tough Life, lol.

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

This thread has gotten me thinking about a lighter weight solution to airing up 4 big truck tires from the sand running 20 pounds to the road worthy, load carrying 65 pounds. I ordered and received a Viair 440P and wanted to try it out before removing my 25 pound bottle of CO2 and bag of hardware. The whole package is so much slicker than the China Freight throw-aways. I pulled a car up to a garden cart I have that has languished for many years with 4 flat tires. They're only 10 inches tall so I thought I could inflate these fairly quickly. So, attached the spring loaded leads onto my XJ's battery; connected the clip nozzle to the tubed tire and turned on the compressor. Whoa! It only took 5 seconds to bring the tire up to 30 pounds pressure and I quickly pushed the 'off' switch before the tire was airborne! I would call that, "so far, so good".
jefe Low pressure sand running on the Mojave Road:

 

[67cj5]

This thread has gotten me thinking about a lighter weight solution to airing up 4 big truck tires from the sand running 20 pounds to the road worthy, load carrying 65 pounds. I ordered and received a Viair 440P and wanted to try it out before removing my 25 pound bottle of CO2 and bag of hardware. The whole package is so much slicker than the China Freight throw-aways. I pulled a car up to a garden cart I have that has languished for many years with 4 flat tires. They're only 10 inches tall so I thought I could inflate these fairly quickly. So, attached the spring loaded leads onto my XJ's battery; connected the clip nozzle to the tubed tire and turned on the compressor. Whoa! It only took 5 seconds to bring the tire up to 30 pounds pressure and I quickly pushed the 'off' switch before the tire was airborne! I would call that, "so far, so good".
jefe Low pressure sand running on the Mojave Road:

LOL, congrats on the new Toy, Yeah that can become a problem when you buy one of these things when you hear people complain about how slow they are on 37-38" tyres but when you hook em up to normal car and small tyres they go ballistic and nearly burst the tyre, lucky you were not too far from the switch,

 

[rickc]

End use will determine what works best. If the only use will be rare airing up of flat(ish) tires then a little cheapo inflator will be fine. If you are planning on going offload and need to air up and down more frequently, a cheapo will also work fine but will take forever and your pals will all be waiting for you. Cheapos will also heat-up quicker which means they will likely trip on thermal overload (if they have one). The type that plugs into a lighter plug are designed to be weak otherwise they'd pull to many amps and blow fuses. So back to end use; if you really want to go off road, consider a good air compressor as an additional insurance policy. Viair compressors are fine and they make some pretty reasonably priced portables. I strongly recommend portables vs built-in systems because they can be moved to where they are needed; your pal way back or way ahead may need air and your hose might not reach.

 

[67cj5]

That's a nice looking setup, I can't find anything like that over here,

 

[Happy Joe]

I may be mistaken (looked a bit did not find the power requirements), I believe the above Campbell Hausfeld Is a 110/120 VAC compressor; if you want to run it from most vehicles you will likely need a substantial inverter...

Enjoy!

 

[Buddha.]

for what its worth, the MV-50 (aka MF-1050) has some decent reviews from the offroad community. Id probably give this thing a chance before harbor freight.

what about the viair 88P? any info/review?
https://www.amazon.com/Viair-00088-88P-Portable-Compressor/dp/B005ASY23I

also, it appears that my price range is going to end up being around 50-65bucks. sound right? obvisouly id like to go cheaper, but based on the quality of components im not sure i can go less.

so far, it looks like superflow MV-50 vs viair 88p...

I have the viair. I've only used it on bike tires so far but it seems like a nice unit. No experience with the mv-50.

 

[str8t six]

I just purchased a Viair 88P, im hoping it will last me a good while for my needs. it has
really good reviews on amazon and it draws only 20Amps and is rated to 120psi!

 

[GoinBoardin]

I have an mv50 or mf1050, whatever the amazon compressor is. I tested it out of the box, then cleaned up the head and generally checked assembly. No real difference there. Recently replaced the cord with quality 10ga marine wire, that actually did make a difference. I air down roughly once a week, and have no desire to upgrade my compressor, unless/until this one dies.

 

[jadmt]

I have had an Viair 400P for 6 years and I wheel a lot so I air up and down all the time. I can fill 8 35" tires from 10 psi to 35psi and never shut down. In fact I think I have filled 12 before and it has never shut down. I use this thing on the trail and at home it works very well.

 

[Wildcat]

my brother-in-law gave me an air compressor out of a lexus (air ride). i stripped it down and made up some fittings to air tires. it has come in handy several times. u can find these at the pick-n-pull places. old cadilacs use them. i used the wiring and hose from my mv-50 that died.