12 volt compressors

[jmilner]

Do you know of any good 12 volt Compressors . I have looked at some but they come up short. I have a 2500 Chevy and a 30 ft Sunnybrook 5th wheel with 16 inch tires. I put up to 80 lbs in the tires and am looking for a 12 volt unit. It is not easy sometimes to find a place where you can add air to your tire pulling a 5th wheel.

[crcr]

Viair - got it on Amazon. Amazing performance. It may look like a toy but it's not. We exploded a tire on a hand truck with it (unintentionally).

[moose888]

Northern Tool sells a nice one for about $100 dollars . It comes with clips to nook up to your battery not the kind that hooks into lighter. I use it to blow up Bobcat tires, trailer tires etc. The compressor comes with a nice bag to carry it in .
Hope this helps.

[SpencerRB]

Check out the Puma 12v compressor. About $200 on ebay. Blows away anything in the price range, including the Viairs. Do a search on google and you'll see how popular they are with the 4x4 crowd who generally have extremely high compressor demands.

[deleted-2]

I have the Harbor Fright one.
Gets hot and quits when trying to inflate a large tire to higher pressures.

Also carry a small tank 110 volt CH compressor that I can run with the generator.
It will inflate tires to 80 psi easily.

[jmilner]

Thanks for the info now I have a lot to consider

[jmilner]

Thank you all for the info now I have a lot to consider.

[christopherglen]

I used hornblasters com, click the blue "view catalog", then look at the parts..
I put the dual 480c on my truck, I think the tank is 5 gallons. I have a 120/150 pressure switch for the compressors, and a 80/120 pressure switch running a buzzer in the cab. If the pressure drops below 80 psi, the buzzer alarms (telling me of the low pressure).

[wintersun]

The local gas stations pumps seldom can provide 80 PSI so I top off my tires with a bicycle pump (good for up to 140 PSI). Very portable and no need for an outlet. If I manage to get old enough to where that is a problem I would opt for an air tank over a portable compressor as I have yet to find a compact 12v compressor that was good for more than the 35 PSI of car tires and most burn out with even light use.

[slarsen]

Harbor Freight has a pretty decent one for about $60 if I remember right. I've had it for about 3 years. It takes my air bags to 100 psi in just seconds, obviously much longer on tire inflation. And it does get hot.

But then, the process of compressing air does create much heat, as releasing compressed air drops air to freezing temperatures. That's the process of refrigeration.

[time2roll]

I use the MV50 on Amazon for $60. Works great to at least 80psi. I am confident that it will work right to the 150psi rating although I would expect it to slow down some as any compressor will do. Tops off my tires plenty fast. The MV50 clamps direct on the battery. If a compressor has just a cigar plug it is going to be weak. Viair is top line and a little more money.

[CORNFED__5-0_]

I use a Viair 380C duel compressor systems with a 3.5 gal tank. It runs the air bags, an impact wrench, can air up tires of any size.

[larry_barnhart]

2edgesword wrote:
I'm wondering if you could use a 120V unit with an inverter. It gives you the power of the 120V units working off 12V battery power?

Yes I can use our ac air compressor with our 2000 watt inverter and also have the viair 400P but it is slow and needs to be off to cool down. I think I read some now are better for a longer run. the viair was for adding air not from flat to full pressure.
chevman

[2edgesword]

I'm wondering if you could use a 120V unit with an inverter. It gives you the power of the 120V units working off 12V battery power?

[nremtp143]

Viair.

[msmith1199]

I don't know the brand off hand, but I bought one once at a truck stop that works okay. But I have 22 inch tires that need to go up to 100 psi. I paid about $140 for the pump and it works, but it won't win any speed contests. It probably took it 20 minutes to take a tire from 85 psi to 100 psi once.