I think I asked this years ago, but might get some new opinions. I like to keep a plug kit and a little compressor in all my vehicles and I need a new one now. Anybody know of one that works? I've been using Campbell Hausfield that are cheap and actually work ok on cars and golf carts, but take a long time to fill up a pickup tire to 70 psi.
Ed Norman
Harbor Freight has one that has really good Reviews..http://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-100-psi-high-volume-air-compressor-96068.html
I got dh one for Christmas many many years ago, so long ago that the company no longer makes that model. But it works great! Yes it's slow, but as Bff said, "sure beats changing a tire". We've used it many times to put a few pounds of air into leaky tires when we couldn't get to an air compressor.
I have a couple Interdynamics "Truck Air" compressors that I've had for 10+ years. I was about to highly recommend them, but I just poked around the web to see what they sell for now. It looks like they're now making them in China, and they're not nearly as good as they used to be. So I can highly recommend them, but only if you can find one of the old US-made ones like mine. They say "Made in USA" in the lower right corner of the front, and on the box.
You can pump faster by hand than one of these little things pumps, and hand pumps are much cheaper and will probably last much longer than most cheap 12v pumps. Doing things by hand isn't popular these days, but sometimes it's the best way.
If you have room, carry a 5-7 gal. portable air tank as well. It won't completely fill a big tire, but it'll top off several, or get one from flat to high enough to drive on after you plug it, and it's faster than a compressor or pump.
And of course, always carry tire plugs. Folks keep telling me they don't work, but I've been using them for decades and I've never seen one fail. I have, however, been really inconvenienced when I needed one and didn't have it.
You can pump faster by hand than one of these little things pumps, and hand pumps are much cheaper and will probably last much longer than most cheap 12v pumps. Doing things by hand isn't popular these days, but sometimes it's the best way.
If you have room, carry a 5-7 gal. portable air tank as well. It won't completely fill a big tire, but it'll top off several, or get one from flat to high enough to drive on after you plug it, and it's faster than a compressor or pump.
And of course, always carry tire plugs. Folks keep telling me they don't work, but I've been using them for decades and I've never seen one fail. I have, however, been really inconvenienced when I needed one and didn't have it.
You get much better results if you jack the wheel off the ground. The little compressors work better filling the tire w/out also lifting the cars weight!
I have a Campbell Hausfield and it cautions you to not run it over 10 min b/4 you stop and let it cool...the actual compressor is about the size of a 50 cent coin...
That looks like one of the nicest 12v pumps I have ever seen, which isn't saying much for 12v's, because most of them are made extremely cheap.
I'm putting this one on my Xmas list.
Can't live without a can of fix-a-flat and a portable 12v compressor.
I at one time used to farm and used a Campbell Hausfield to air up a combine tire the big one. It took about an hour but since it was so far to a regular air compressor and since we were working on the combine to get it ready for the field it was the thing to do. We plug the leak and aired it up.
I found myself at Harbor Freight yesterday and bought this one. It runs smooth and sure has a different sound from the other tiny units. More bass and fairly quiet. And it works good. This weekend I will let most of the air out of a 17" pickup tire and see how it fills it back up, then report.
Your train? Did you say your train?
Today I got a low pressure warning on the work pickup. I was headed up the bottom of a canyon and had made it just past the section they graded last week. I found a rock stuck in the tread, right on top of the tire luckily. I got out my plug kit and since air was leaking, I got out the new compressor and hooked it up. It went to pumping as I tried to remove the rock. I tried three different pliers and a hunk of rebar and a hammer and that rock wouldn't budge. Meanwhile, the tire went flat even with the little compressor going. I changed the tire and went to the tire shop. The rock was the size of my thumb, stuck way inside the tire. It wasn't a fair test for the compressor.
The little curly air hose that comes with it is so stiff it won't uncoil. It has a proprietary connector on the end but might be replaceable with a regular air hose. If the hose was 5' long, it would make reaching rear tires easier. The pickup was a regular cab, if it was an extended cab, the compressor wouldn't reach.
The little curly air hose that comes with it is so stiff it won't uncoil. It has a proprietary connector on the end but might be replaceable with a regular air hose. If the hose was 5' long, it would make reaching rear tires easier. The pickup was a regular cab, if it was an extended cab, the compressor wouldn't reach.
Get an extension for your power cord and it will reach. I've had to do that with most of mine
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