How big an air compressor

road-runner wrote:
The HF compressor might be good for emergency use, but for general use I'd consider it pretty lame.

I have one. Actually my third one, and "pretty lame" is a pretty good description. At it's 100-PSI rating, pulling a 16" Class C tire up from 70 to 80 takes a very long time, and I let the compressor cool after each tire. Luckily I custom Dually Valves (BORG) and tire inflation's about a twice-yearly project at most.

There's a 30-minute break-in process that needs to be done. Still, these compressors Do Not last long on long, hard runs. They use a little fabric element of some kind as the "piston ring" and when that fails the compressor is junk. So far, nobody's been able to find the repair part.

I like having it for the portability, and I'm limited by the size of my RV compartment. Otherwise I'd want a bigger one such as goes for about $100 on sale at Home Depot. RIGID I believe. I prefer "Compressor" (with a Tank) for the flexibility it offers over "Inflator" (compressor, no tank).

At $39, not a bad deal. I get probably 4 years out of a compressor. Should make portable air tanks out of my two junk ones. They look like new.