Well, I found one of these in my garage:



And I'm just wondering if anyone's had any experience with em? Are they good? Can they fill up a tire to 35psi w/o any problems? I'm pretty sure this thing is REALLY old, found it in my garage's attic, and who knows how long it's been sitting there.

Was thinking about cutting off the cig lighter part, and putting on clamps so I could connect it straight to my battery so I can fill up my tires whenever they get low (cause my cig lighter port is KIA/MIA/DEAD lol). Good idea?

All thoughts appriciated.

 

Only way to find out is to give er a try...

 

Well, first thing first. All cig lighter appliances are 12v correct? Would hate to short something in the compressor just by hooking it up to a battery. And which wire/connector is which, is the top little stud the positive connection lead and the two push-in-able side connectors the negative leads, or visa versa?

 

12v is 12v. The little compressor will only draw as much amperage as it can draw. The only difference connecting it directly to the battery (provided you connect neg to neg and pos to pos) makes is the potential current that you can pull without blowing a fuse but again the circuit will only draw as much as it can. Electrical circuits are not "push", only pull.

 

'cept that he's already said "cause my cig lighter port is KIA/MIA/DEAD".



In this case, yes that's a 12v compressor.


The tip is positive (red), the sleeve is negative (black).


Many of the folks I run with have plug-in compressors, and yes, "they work".

The answer to "35psi with no problem" and "are they good" is relative. The specifics deal with "How big is the tire?", "How much time do you have?", "Is the hour you'll spend filling four tires from 15->35 twenty times a year worth saving $300 on a better compressor?".

A few moons ago Schucks/Krager ran a special on a neat little plug-in compressor with a built in gauge. I think they were $25? Anyway, a LOT of folks bought them and they work fine. But they're slow. I can fill my 285/75's from 12psi->40psi in about 3:30 using a Viair 450c, which runs about $200 on the street. A buddy is running an Viair 550c ($300 street) and can do a similar tire in about 2:30. That Krager compressor is taking people about 10 minutes or more. I would _guess_ your compressor will be at least that long, in fact I would bet you'll be closer to 13 minutes (depending on tire size) - AND you'll have to let it cool off in-between tires.

You have to look at a couple of things. A "pressure" spec is irrelevant unless the CFM (cubic feet per minute) is given as well to specify how MUCH air you're pushing at that pressure. If that pump starts out at 10psi and 10cfm, that's awesome, but if it drops to 0.1cfm at 30psi, you'll be around a LONG time waiting to get to 35psi.

The other thing is "duty cycle". The Viair 450c and 550c are rated for a "100% duty cycle" - the "c" is for "constant". That means that the compressor can run all day and not fail. If a compressor has a 50% duty cycle, that means if you run it for 15 minutes, then it needs to cool for 15 minutes. A non-100% duty compressor will also have a "max run time" spec. That may be 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes... In this case, it's HIGHLY improbable that it will be long enough to fill four tires without needing to rest for the same amount of time that you ran it.

The best suggestion came from Mr. Wigg... Try it. If you burn it out, then it was a freebie, and you basically haven't lost a thing, but you've gained some knowledge.

 

Awhile ago I got a cheap little Canadian Tire compressor like that one, and the first time I used it to top up a low tire on my celica, smoke started to pour out of it and part of the case melted. I'm not sure I'd rely on it as your sole means of airing up a tire, especially since you've no idea how old it is.

 

Wow, thanks alot midi, great information. But yeah, if it melts and burns out, no biggy since I never even knew I had it and I already suspected it wouldn't be that good at airing up a big ol 33x12.5x15 tire lol. Just thought it'd be nice to have something that can hide in your glove box that you can use for an emergency even if it took forever ya know?

Will eventually get around to making a real oba system, I've already got a spare horizontal 12gallon air tank and some 1.8 horsepower 120v oilless compressor from work, but just havent gotten around to figuring out everything else I'll need and how to hook it all up. Plus I'm really loath to loose that amount of space...

 

That's a LOT for OBA dude.. wow. And if you're thinking of driving it from an inverter, you'll put an incredible load on your battery trying to keep up with the motor in the compressor.

One thing... I've found that having a storage tank for OBA really doesn't buy you as much as you'd think. I have a 2L tank and it may help for the first 20 seconds for the first tire, but that's nothing relative to the overall fill time for 4 tires. The tank is really there just to support my air horns.

 

Yeah Like I said before, I haven't really figured out what I need to do to get that compressor running from a 12v line. Was toying with a dual battery setup to help with the drain, but we'll have to see. My funds are a little low this time of year after buyin presents for everyone else. I never have much gift money for myself left over lol.

Lol yeah I was definitely thinkin bout gettin me a pair of train air horns. How you like em? I have no horn at the moment, so I use my obnoxiously large and insanely loud PA setup to yell at drivers that cut me off.

 

tee-hee.

I like 'em, they certainly get people's attention! I sourced the horns off of eBay a few years ago. There're two behind the grill, an 18" and a 16". Plastic horns but I think the reeds are metal. I run 150 PSI into them so they stand up and get noticed. One BIG thing though, I'd since found a pair of metal horns that I though would be more fun, but I was wrong. I swapped 'em in and - WOW. They were loud, but the pitch made them sound wimpy.

There are folks around that will sell you REAL train horns, but they're pricey - like $300+ for a 3-horn array. Hit eBay, and beware of the real cheap stuff.