Recommendations for portable tire inflator

Nothing corrosive in cave water. Same stuff people drink. I seldom even rinse my gear afterward.

Al scuba tanks float when empty. Steel tanks are neutral or a few pounds negative when empty. With a drysuit, steel tanks eliminate the need to wear lead weights.

Out of the water Al 80 tank only weights about a lb less than a steel 100.

 

That seems like a good deal

 

A tank is a tank is a tank....now the one from Power Tank do come in pretty colours and with a nice mounting bracket. The real benefit is the regulator and valve from power tank. Works for both CO2 and Nitrogen, won't freeze, max 250 psi and flows 45 CFM which more than enough to run air tools (most require 35-40CFM). Wont find that at your local welding shop/brewing supply house.

 

I like the size of the Milwaukee and Makita ones. Much more compact than the Dewalt, which is almost the same size as some of their smaller jobsite radios.

 

I used a ni-cad Porter Cable set until I was 21 or so, and was lucky enough to move in with someone who was split across Milwaukee and Dewalt, and knew what they were doing.

I almost opted for DeWalt, knowing I wanted an inflator and was more attracted to the auxiliary tools. I like the low pressure option DeWalt has, but there are cheap tools that run on 9v batteries that will do the same thing. Milwaukee, the 12v line especially, won me over for power-to-weight and portability, as well as their large selection of auxiliary items compared to DeWalt

 

If you aren't in a hurry to inflate...the DeWalt one is a great budget option.

 

I brought this on the trail once.

I was aired down to ~15psi and it took an unbearable amount of time to reach 25psi on a 33” tire.

I dont recommend it.

 

All of the 12v inflators are pretty slow. There's a runtime limit on the milwaukee one I have, but the portability is nice.

There are tankless under-hood mounts that I think would do a much faster job

 

I have the same one but I just looked up the SCFM and it's only 0.5 the Viair one the others recommend for around $160 is 2.4 SCFM... so that should inflate almost 5 times faster. It did take me a fair bit to inflate 4 tires from 19psi to 34psi with the dewalt.

Just saw the

$103 viair 88p portable compressor kit (12V, 120 psi, forup to 33" tires)

viair 88p seems like a good deal 3x the inflation speed and cheaper than my dewalt. Might just sell mine and buy that.

 

I do very much like my Viair, but to be perfectly honest, the air chuck that comes with it is a pain to use. It does let air flow through when not connected to a valve. If you swap the air chuck for a nice, common air tool one, you need to be able to shut off the Viair when not connected.

So, my recommendation is to either get an automatic version, like the 400P Automatic, or make a pressure switch and relay setup like I did with my 300P. It was fun to do:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/viair-automatic-mod-vam.680478/

There are many others ways to mod it for power control.


All of that leads into DIY'ing an inexpensive multi-tire inflator:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/shellshocks-diy-inflator-deflator.613122/

 

+1 for the

$221 Viair 400P - 40043 Portable Compressor Kit. Tire Pump, Truck/SUV Tire Inflator, For Up to 35" Tires

Viair 400P

 

Had my portable tire inflator fail and came across this thread in researching a replacement. Seems like the better quality products like Viair all hook up to the battery only for power, or perhaps cigarette lighter as well. Is there not a high quality product that can use either a standard 120vac plug or connect to a vehicle battery? If I’m filling up family bike tires or the boat trailer, it’s really inconvenient to be limited to a battery.

 

Thinking about grabbing the Milwaukee M18 Tire Inflator. Anyone else using this one?

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Power-Tools/Plumbing-Installation/2848-20

The only consistent bad reviews are that the pressure gauge is a little questionable at low psi. Other than that, supposed to be really efficient.

Im pretty well invested in the Milwaukee tool environment so it makes sense, but just wondering if I should get something else.

 

come into the dark side... https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/milwaukee-tools.667467/ I think the consensus is that it is not really worth the money IIRC.

 

Thanks Joe! Checked that thread and there seems to mainly be info on the M12. I’ll keep digging for more on the M18 in there.

 

start here