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I'd like to get a portable tyre inflator for the cars and van. Max £75
What's the best out there?
Do you want it to do tubeless as well?
I got one of these and it's been very good (the pressure you set on the unit is very accurate which is about all I'd expect an inflator to do other than inflate).
The Makita one is good if you already have batteries. I just wish it had a locking trigger.
Actually the recommended pressure for the van rear tyres is 68psi - that's high for a little portable unit.
Actually the recommended pressure for the van rear tyres is 68psi – that’s high for a little portable unit.
The one I linked to is rated to 150psi
oops I didn't see that
thanks
i bought something like this off aliexpress (although the link is Ebay)
I liked the fact i didn't need lots of wires. just screw it on and away you go. i've not tried super high pressures but i took my 22" tyres up from 20 to 40 psi. did seem to take a while. Can be plugged in if you run out of juice.
I have to be honest - I needed one in a hurry a few months back and screwfix was local and open, so ended up with a £20 analogue one.
It's a bit noisy, it's not fast (but it's not F1!) but it plugs into the cigarette lighter and blows up flat tyres like it says on the box. I'm not sure what extra i really get for 3-4x the price.
Educate me.
I think higher spec units can reliably work at higher pressures eg >50psi
I just looked mine up and it says rated to 100psi.
OK, analogue so might be a bit variable.
I've got a large capacity track pump (something like this. The barrel is massive compared to most track pumps so it shifts a lot of air.
It's great for car/motorbike tyres too. Faster than any cigarette-lighter pump I've seen. Says 60psi on the web page though so it may struggle to get up to 68psi but a bit of weight on the handle may do it 🙂 .
As a bonus, it's great at MTB tyres too.
Educate me
At some point it'll become landfill because it can't be repaired. Same with any from Amazon.
Viair can be repaired/rebuilt. They also do a range of 100% duty that can be run continuously - the actual duty cycle of the rebranded specials will be low.
Viair can be repaired/rebuilt. They also do a range of 100% duty that can be run continuously – the actual duty cycle of the rebranded specials will be low.
How many tyres are you pumping up! Mines been out of the box half a dozen times since we had it. I must be thinking differently of what a portable tyre inflator's for.
I have an airman. It's quite small and about as effective as anything else I've used. Has been used to blow up paddling pools and other things too (before getting a proper compressor)
The only thing that died on it is the cigarette lighter bit, put a new one on and it works fine again. I've had it years and it's been surprisingly robust.
Found it recommended by motorcycle overlanders
How many tyres are you pumping up! Mines been out of the box half a dozen times since we had it. I must be thinking differently of what a portable tyre inflator’s for.
I had one in an overlander Defender pumping up Michelin XZL's to 50psi after airing down for sand. I'm fitting one to my XC90 for a Scandinavian roadtrip next year.
For the slight cost increase over a rebranded Amazon special they are a no brainer.
I’m not sure what extra i really get for 3-4x the price.
I paid a bit extra to get accurate tyre pressure control (I can set the pressure I want and it stops inflating when it gets to that pressure). Yes, I could use a separate analogue pressure gauge but that becomes a hassle switching from one to the other and back again.
How many tyres are you pumping up! Mines been out of the box half a dozen times since we had it. I must be thinking differently of what a portable tyre inflator’s for.
My reason is nothing like as exciting as Rusty's – I had an older car with very leaky alloys and I was fed up of pumping the tyres up every couple of weeks with a footpump.
What’s the problem with a cheap one that plugs into the 12v aux socket? My Ford came with one, but I’ve got one I bought when filling the car up years ago, cost about £10, and I used it regularly on the Octavia, cos it had a slow leak. The loud rattling sound was an occupational feature for the last four years because of flat tyres on cars being in storage. I’d do a regular patrol of our big storage area, and mark on the screen any flat tyres, so if the car was needed, other drivers would notice and stick some air in before driving it away.
There was a good reason for doing that!
As far as checking the pressure with the pump gauge goes, check using a hand gauge, then have a fine-point permanent marker handy and once the pressure is right just put a little mark on the pump gauge window; no need to keep checking then. Put a bit of clear tape over the window to stop the ink wearing off.
I run Viair compressors on my van air ride - as said, they're rebuildable and bombproof. I also have a length of hose with an adapter on the end so I can put it onto bike/van tyres if needed... 150psi on tap in an instant 😀
As far as checking the pressure with the pump gauge goes, check using a hand gauge, then have a fine-point permanent marker handy and once the pressure is right just put a little mark on the pump gauge window; no need to keep checking then.
I thought of that but it was useless (my old foot pump even had an adjustable red marker for just that purpose) – it could read a psi, I could unplug it and plug it back in again and it would be a completely different reading.
The Makita one is good if you already have batteries. I just wish it had a locking trigger.
+1....
Have used it loads in the last year. Getting stuck in mud or sand, inflating the air bag that levels the van(rather than normal wedges/chocks) and the bike tyres. Has the advantage that you can use it away from the vehicle.
An old toe strap strap around the trigger works well.
Can be preset to the pressure you want, pull strap and walk away.
I've got the Guild 12v one thats the same as the Aldi ferrex one. £40 full price but often on sale.
The battery won't do all the van tyres if they were flat but for regular checks it's fine. It does have a 12v ciggie lighter adapter for big efforts. It also has a locking trigger. 😀
For you guys with a Viair unit - where did you buy them?
Airman = cheap, good chuck in the boot and forget option.
Viair = you drive off road, deflate and inflate regularly depending on conditions. (Mines a 400p and is awesome)