1/3 HP Pancake Air Compressor 100psi

So. My soon to be father-in-law got this air compressor for me for my birthday.

$50 3 gallon 1/3 HP 100 PSI Oil-Free Pancake Air Compressor

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-gallon-100-psi-oilless-pancake-air-compressor-95275.html

Yup, Harbor Freight . I don't have a solid compressor for airing up after the trail; I have this:

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/prod...206712000000&gclid=CIGeuIyOx8cCFZRgfgodU1ILsw

Question is, based on specs which would you take with you on the trail? I'm a weekend warrior and use my truck to get to remote campsites that are often off of Jeep trails/FS roads.

 

If you have the factory inverter package - the Harbor Freight outfit will probably run off the 400 watt setting. The tank is a plus - it can dump a lot of air into something after its charged up. I've never had any luck with the jump start / compressor packages, so can't comment on that one. I see Colorado is your home turf - be aware, that air compressors are de-rated by 6% per thousand feet altitude. That means you will lose 30% of the delivery capacity- even on the east side of Denver.

I used one of the MOD guides to rig mine to run the inverter at the 400W setting even while traveling. That would allow letting the compressor to charge up the tank while wheeling along. The 100W setting wouldn't allow that - the 1/3 HP motor would be too much load for that.

 

Unfortunately I don't have the inverter package I do have a 400w inverter that runs off the cig adapter? I don't know how many watts the harbor freight compressor is... Doesn't seem to be listed in the specs. I see the amperage is 2.6 (I don't know electrical at all). Would it work to run an extension cord from the cig adapter inverter to the compressor in the bed? I'll end up getting the outlet in the bed at some point, but just gotta do a ghetto work-around for now.

Interesting about the elevation and delivery capacity of the compressors - Never even thought about that!

 

The way wattage is figured - and this is short and sweet - AMPs x Volts = Watts. So your HF compressor outfit will be using approximately 2.6 A x 110 V = 286 Watts. Just be aware that your inverter will pull 286w/13.5 vdc = 21.2 amps excluding any losses - which there will be. Don't melt your lighter ports and dash wiring OK? Wire a switch and fuse to the battery and run wire to the inverter with something that won't get hot. Like a stranded copper #10.

There are a lot better electricians on here than me - so I'm sure I'll be corrected - but this is the basic "way it works".

 

Hahaa I'll try not to melt anything. Thanks for the input @GREENBIRD56, much appreciated