westslope
Wheeling
- Location
- Wildfire country, BC
Compact Rechargeable Cordless Tire Inflator
- Thread starter westslope
- Start date
-
- Tags
- tire inflator
- Location
- Covington, Va
Buy the one that matches your cordless tools at home.
The Milwaukee is really nice and has auto shutoff at a preset pressure.
westslope
Wheeling
- Location
- Wildfire country, BC
Good idea. I have Makita 18V tools and a 18V Ryobi weed wacker (trimmer). The Makita tire inflators are a little big but the Ryobi one is rather compact. It lacks features but is inexpensive.
Do like the Milwaukee portable tools and reckon they are well worth the extra expense.
RYOBI 18V ONE+ Lithium-Ion Cordless High Pressure Inflator with Digital Gauge (Tool-Only)
Do like the Milwaukee portable tools and reckon they are well worth the extra expense.
RYOBI 18V ONE+ Lithium-Ion Cordless High Pressure Inflator with Digital Gauge (Tool-Only)
It makes sense to get one in the system that you already own. I have Ridgid 18V tools so I bought their inflator and it's been great for what it is.
It's not a substitute for a heavier duty one that connects directly to the battery terminals, and not a substitute for my onboard ARB compressor, but a convenient way to top off tires that are a little low.
Project Farm has a good comparison review of some available options, although these are probably larger than what you're looking for:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWNYjkh-JyI
It's not a substitute for a heavier duty one that connects directly to the battery terminals, and not a substitute for my onboard ARB compressor, but a convenient way to top off tires that are a little low.
Project Farm has a good comparison review of some available options, although these are probably larger than what you're looking for:
westslope
Wheeling
- Location
- Wildfire country, BC
The option from Canadian Tire has a USB-c cable for charging the lithium battery and can also operate from a 12-volt cigarette lighter port in the vehicle:
- Can go from 24 to 34 PSI in less than 2 minutes; maximum pressure 150 PSI
- Contains a 12V DC car charger
- Removable rechargeable lithium-ion battery
- Compact and lightweight design makes it portable and easy to carry
- Can inflate 4 tires in 1 charge
meisanerd
Need Bigger Tires
- Location
- Edmonton, AB, Canada
I had a ctire inflator previously that claimed similar to that, also ran off the accessory port. The key to those claims is that they are for something like a 15" car tire. Mine would take around 1/2hr to refill a flat tire on my X...
What is your use case? Occasional use to top up a tire or two, or airing up all four after offroading?
The cig lighter aka 12v accessory port is usually <10A draw because of the fuse size. A decent 12V compressor that connects directly to the battery terminals, like a Viair 88P, might be more than twice that, ~20A. The ARB I have permanently installed has a maximum ~30A draw IIRC.
Cig lighter connected compressors are, in my experience, pretty weak and slow. They also tend to have lower duty cycles, so you have to let them cool down after X minutes of use, otherwise they'll overheat. I've been able to run my starter battery connected and onboard units pretty much continuously without cooking them.
The compact battery operated units you're asking about probably have more in common with the cig lighter connected ones... they work alright in a pinch and will fill a tire eventually, but they're just not as powerful as other options. If you opt for one of these, I would recommend as others have said getting one with a battery that matches other tools you may have.
westslope
Wheeling
- Location
- Wildfire country, BC
Good questions @outback97. I have never deflated my tires offroad so would use it for bicycles, inner tubes (maybe) and emergency top off.
In the interests of saving space, I went for the Ryobi model, purchased on sale at Home Depot. I use the same batteries for the lawn trimmer/weed wacker. Experimented topping up a couple of tires from circa 28 lb pressure to 36 lb pressure. Took a while but seemed to work well and did not drain the 3 Ah battery. I carry two 3 Ah batteries.
In the interests of saving space, I went for the Ryobi model, purchased on sale at Home Depot. I use the same batteries for the lawn trimmer/weed wacker. Experimented topping up a couple of tires from circa 28 lb pressure to 36 lb pressure. Took a while but seemed to work well and did not drain the 3 Ah battery. I carry two 3 Ah batteries.
Sounds like a great choice for your uses. Coincidentally last night I used my Ridgid 18V to top off a couple tires on one of our cars. The cordless inflators are very convenient.
Not sure what type of terrain you're driving on, but IMO if you've never aired down your tires offroad you're missing out. It really smooths out washboards and rocks, and improves the grip of your tires noticeably. It does take some time to air back up when you get back to pavement, but it's worth it, again IMO.
westslope
Wheeling
- Location
- Wildfire country, BC
@outback97: Typically I am driving offroad, parking the X, and then hiking, wading or paddling. Mind you I can think of a couple of places where in the past deflating the tires would have helped with both traction and comfort.