Truck Bed Inverter Outlet to power up portable air pump?

Has anyone used their truck bed inverter outlet to power up a portable air pump? I live near the beach and do a far amount of surf fishing on the sand. After I come off the beach, I need to air up my tires from 20 lbs to 30 lbs. I don't always trust the the State Park Air Stations.

 

It will work, but so will the ones in the cab. It has to be a small compressor and it will take a while.

 

It'll probably work on something small. I tried hooking up my porter cable 6 gallon pancake compressor just for fun and it can't even turn it over. I have a small automotive compressor that works off the cigarette lighter. To go from 20 to 30 psi in the big Tacoma tires is practically measured on a calendar though. More of an emergency thing. One day I going to splurge and buy the on-board ARB compressor. Looks soooo nice and get's good reviews. It can be mounted under hood or in the bed.

 

Hm I was going to try using my pancake compressor too, but I guess I'll just have to buy a viair compressor.

 

It will power my 100 psi pancake compressor.

 

I got this at HF with a 20% coupon.
Hooks to your battery, runs 30amps at 12volts = 360watts.

Beats having to pay with coins somewhere and does a pretty good job. Does the job for a few bucks.

 

Also the stock inverter is capped at 400w from a 12v DC to I think 110v/120v AC.

The max amps you could run on that inverter is 3.33amps at 120V AC. 400watts / 120v = 3.33 amps.

Every eletrical component needs to state the electrical draw. Look it over and that will tell you what you can run.

 

The issue is more in the inrush current, which is high on a compressor and could potentially trip the breaker. But Prairie Hawk seems to be saying that it doesn't trip.

 

Yeah I agree with you, peak start up draw will be alot higher than continuous draw. What size fuse is hooked up to the inverter? Could be other components tied in to it and Toyota raised the amps on the fuse. Would also like to see the gauge of the wiring, it might be running hot.

This 100psi air compressor from Porter Cable draws a continuous 10amps at 120v AC. That is 1,200 watts, 3xs the recommended rating on the stock inverter.

https://m.lowes.com/pd/PORTER-CABLE...MI_Iem5qqF2AIV1bbACh1o6AEGEAQYASABEgJAevD_BwE

 

Here is another for comparison.

Draws 2 amps at 120v AC. This is under the recommended spec of 400watts as it pulls 240watts. It doesn’t show peak draw but should be fine.

https://m.lowes.com/pd/Campbell-Hausfeld-1-Gallon-Portable-Electric-Pancake-Air-Compressor/3533062

 

2nd Gen owner, but I have used this compressor/inflator many times using my bed outlet.

http://m.sears.com/craftsman-120v-portable-inflator/p-02875121000P

 

I have a 1/3 HP 3gal Harbor Freight pancake compressor. Label says it draws 2.6 amps. I've run it on an old nasty square wave 500w inverter with no issues. Those cheap little 12v air compressors suck for car tires. They get hot and take forever, i had one that said not to run it for more than X minutes without cool down. There's a reason ARB ones are big bucks.

 

You should be able to run that in your bed’s inverter as you are 2.6/3.3 amps and 312/400 watts.

 

I've tried a pancake compressor on mine. Did it with the truck motor running

 

I have one of these that runs just fine off the bed outlet. 97080.html

 

$75 VIAIR 88P - 00088 Tire Inflator Portable Onroad/Offroad Air Compressor for Car, Truck, SUV & RV | 12V On/Off Road Tire Pump Air Compressor Portable Heavy Duty 120 PSI, Alligator Clips, Twist Chuck

https://www.amazon.com/Viair-00088-88P-Portable-Compressor/dp/B005ASY23I

get this while the sale lasts.

It hooks on the battery with the truck running and you don't have to ask what if's. I paid $70?80? I forget but definitely not the price that's on there now for $47! The cables that attach to the battery and the air hose are more than long enough to reach all 4 corners, with length to spare.

It's small and it sits in the storage space in the back seat of my DCSB. It's worth it. It's brought me up from 15psi to 30 in about 15-20 minutes. I like it for state forest roads. Those roads are rutted and anything less than 15psi makes my teeth and liver chatter. I've used it a few times on the beach when there's a line at the air station.