Portable air compressor - input

Most of the "portable compressors" aren't all that water resistant. Fans/fanbelts tend to launch water.

My VIAIR stays in the cute little cloth purse it comes in.

At some point it may go in the bed . Really no need for anything else with what I have

 

I just asked this question a few posts back.. I’d like to know myself.. my guess is that the viair 12v option is more compact & storable since it’s what most here are using..

 

All of the decent 120v ones I have seen draw more than the ~3.4A that you can get from that outlet.

 

Yup. I remove the hose and put it next to the bag behind there to make it less bulky.

 

I'm running the smittybilt unit at 5.65 CFM and this thing kicks butt. it also has a super long hose that I can use to air up my Jeep from my truck which is definitely nice to have. I also got the extended warranty with it just in case. I got it on sale for $130.

Oh and by the way I wired it straight to my battery. It has its own circuit breaker built into it that you just switch the button if it overloads.

 

5.65 CFM?? Wow that’s a lot.. I’ll have to check it out

 

Thanks for offering your professional opinion. What are the significant differences between the 400 and 450 models? Advantages and disadvantages of both?

 

400 is 30% duty cycle at 2.30 cfm. 450 is 100% duty cycle at 1.80 cfm. Both have the auto stop feature

 

I'll jump on the Vivair 400+ train. I've had cheaper compressors before they take FOREVER to inflate 4 tires and overheat if you try to air up 8-12 tires.

Vivair 400 I've had for years and I'll air up 3 trucks all with 31-33" tires in the middle of the desert with no overheating problems and does it in a reasonable amount of time (1-1:30 per tire).

Used to have an 88p before that and it worked, but by the time I was on my 3rd tire it would start taking 3 minutes + just to add 15psi, if I had a friend's truck with me we'd be sitting there forever or sometimes have to wait for it to cool down.

Its a tool I'd just spend the $ on and get a good one, you can use it on future rigs and probably get 10 years worth of work out of it if you buy quality from the beginning.

 

That duty cycle is rated at 100PSI though. So for most tires it really won’t make much of a difference.

Honesty if you’re not going over 33-35” there isn’t a need for the 450P. The 400P has faster fill times and you won’t have to worry about the duty cycle rating at all. Duty cycle is tested at 100PSI so the lower the PSI the longer you can run it for. I’ve filled up 4 trucks in a row with the 400P and still didn’t engage the thermal overload switch. The 450P is more advantageous when you’re filling tires 37”+ and multiple vehicles (over 4) since it has the 100% duty cycle rating. But most people won’t ever have to worry about needing that high of a duty cycle.

 

Perfect thank you! Definitely would rather have the higher cfm of the 400. Only filling 33’s at this point. Any recommendations on where to buy? I didn’t see anything close to the $140ish that another member got his for about a year ago. Best I’ve seen is close to $220. But maybe that’s just what it is?

 

The $140 was probably the 400P non auto (40043). For your convience I would go with the auto feature. It just makes filling a hell of a lot easier. Search part number 40045 (you can even upgrade to a digital gauge on the inflation gun, if you call viair they’ll sell it to you for $10). The best places I saw when I was there was Walmart, VM Innovations, it Amazon. But it’s always nice to support a local off road shop who sells them too.

 

This is the one I'm using. Nothing but good things to say so far about it. One of the guys I personally know at 4wheelparts also runs the same one and says he's had the same luck with it

 

I just got done installing the

$91 viair 88p portable compressor kit (12V, 120 psi, forup to 33" tires)

viair 88p in the bed cubby. Changed the wire out to 8 guage due to the distance from the battery to the bed cubby. Installed a different 20amp fuse. Removed the on/off switch from the compressor to make it easier to access. Then decided to cut the hose off and install a coupler.

I probably should have bought the viair 400 since I basically modified the 88p to due what the 400 is already setup to do. But I was trying to keep the cost down and I'm running 265/75/16s. I'll probably be purchasing another compressor again in the future

 

440p bumps up to 3.0 cfm but you lose the auto off feature

 

Saw a video & it’s looks euuuuge compared to the viair.. but it has 2x the flow as a 300/400p

 

Was a big step up from my viair I used to run...but that was the 88p.

 

Yea but where the “test” CFM isn’t the same place where viair test CFM. They test it from the internal flapper valve (instead of the end of the hose where viair tests it). I can tell you for a fact the 400P has the exact same fill times as the “5.65CFM smittybuilt. But that’s a great compressor too. Nothing bad to say about it at all!

 

Damnit i miss my cubby!! Damn 2019’s didn’t come with em!! Only have the small one next to the 120V.. probably going to install one myself

 

Ahhh good to know..