Tyre inflators- buy a compressor or use garage air line?

ripplyuk

It'll have to be a compressor. I didn't get on well with the manual type ones. The foot pump took forever and the bike one didn't seem capable of reaching the right pressure. Perhaps I was doing something wrong but it just seemed to let out air once it reached a certain level.

I'll try the supermarket one for now, and look into the portable ones that plug into the cigarette lighter. They're certainly much cheaper than the mains powered ones.

agrinnall

Adrian's answer may be more efficient (I don't know, I've never used one) but for me it's way more MSE to use the footpump and manual pressure gauge that I've had for many years and that live in the car.

And for the OP, there's no reason why a footpump should take forever unless there is a problem with your tyres that is causing the pressure to drop significantly between measurements (in which case a) get it fixed and b) check more often).

Ectophile

Even a double-barreled foot pump seems to take forever if you've got big (4x4 or van) tyres to inflate.

I use a £20 electric one from a local motor factors. It's not particularly fast, but a lot less effort.

knightstyle

We have to pay 50p at the Tesco petrol station so I bought a compressor at Lidl, it was under £10 and is much better than the one I bought a couple of years ago at Halfords for £9.99, that one lasted about two months so I took it back for a refund.

Richard53

I bought a footpump recently after many years with just a 12v compressor. It was as bad as I remembered, aching thighs, back pain etc. AdrianC is correct - a bicycle track pump (on of those with a t-bar handle and brackets for your feet) is far easier to use. Those will get you 120 psi on a bike tyre, so should handle a car tyre no problem.


A cheap 12v compressor backed up by a decent digital gauge will do the trick. I have two digital and one pencil type and they all agree to within 1 psi, so accurate enough.


Failing that, put the tyres about 3 psi over at the petrol station, and then let them down to the correct pressure when you get home and the tyres are cold.

AnotherJoe

ripplyuk wrote: »

I'll try the supermarket one for now, and look into the portable ones that plug into the cigarette lighter. They're certainly much cheaper than the mains powered ones.

More to the point they are much more portable , i keep mine in the car, one day you may need it by the side of a road, a mains powered one is going to be useless even if you had it with you.

ripplyuk

AnotherJoe wrote: »

More to the point they are much more portable , i keep mine in the car, one day you may need it by the side of a road, a mains powered one is going to be useless even if you had it with you.

Do you mean for a flat tyre? I couldn't cope with that, I'd ring greenflag or whatever breakdown company I have. It could be useful for a slow puncture though.

Actually it never occurred to me to keep something like this IN the car!

Nilrem

ripplyuk wrote: »

Do you mean for a flat tyre? I couldn't cope with that, I'd ring greenflag or whatever breakdown company I have. It could be useful for a slow puncture though.

Actually it never occurred to me to keep something like this IN the car!

Where else would you keep it

We always have a 12v one in the car (and a mains one in the garage), as the time you're most likely to need it is when you're out and about.
Especially if you get a puncture and need to swap for the spare that has been in the boot for 2 or 3 years without being looked at.

Richard53

ripplyuk wrote: »

Do you mean for a flat tyre? I couldn't cope with that, I'd ring greenflag or whatever breakdown company I have. It could be useful for a slow puncture though.

Actually it never occurred to me to keep something like this IN the car!

Where else? No use for a blow-out, of course, but if you come back to the car to find a tyre almost flat (the most common puncture in my limited experience) then a quick blast with the compressor in the boot gets you on your way without having to change a wheel. Next stop would be a tyre place or home to change the wheel, of course, but at least you're not doing it by the side of the road.

takman

Nilrem wrote: »

Where else would you keep it

We always have a 12v one in the car (and a mains one in the garage), as the time you're most likely to need it is when you're out and about.
Especially if you get a puncture and need to swap for the spare that has been in the boot for 2 or 3 years without being looked at.

That's a good point to make about the spare wheel in the boot. When I last checked mine it was at 16PSI. Perfect for using my Eezibleed kit on but no good for using the wheel on the car!.