Tyre infators

[Pete-B]

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a decent, not to dear, tyre inflator that's suitable for our motorhome tyres.

Thanks for any advice and comments.

[Keithl]

Pete,

 

This very question was asked recently on 'Hints & Tips'... Link.

 

Keith.

[Guest peter]

a twin cylinder foot pump will do. Or if you've got a Mercedes Sprinter or Fiat x250 you will have a good one in your tool kit.

[vindiboy]

 Ring Automotive RAC900 Heavy Duty Air Compressor and Accessories Inc Storage Bag: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike

• I have just bought one of these from Amazon, brilliant tool, £69, very compact and does the job, 75 lbs psi no problem.

[Derek Uzzell]

Pete-B - 2013-04-26 7:22 PM

 

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a decent, not to dear, tyre inflator that's suitable for our motorhome tyres.

Thanks for any advice and comments.

 

It really depends on what you mean by "...not too dear..." and "...suitable for our motorhome tyres...".

 

If you want something to put a few psi into a tyre occasionally, then a hand-operated bicycle 'track pump' or good-quality foot-pump should do and won't be that expensive.

 

If you want an electric pump that can be run from your motorhome's dashboard 12V socket, cheapish pumps are available (from, say, Halfords), but these will be slow to inflate when the tyre-pressure is high (as will normally be the case with a motorhome) and may have a short lifespan if used regularly.

 

More powerful 12V pumps are available (vindiboy mentions the Ring RAC900), but these have a high current-demand (so cannot be run from a dashboard 12V socket) and aren't particularly cheap. They will, however, have a fast inflation rate and, if a tyre has badly lost pressure (eg. from a slow-puncture) will succeed where a cheap 12V pump will fail.

 

I strongly suspect that, if one dismantled a Ring RAC900, the engineering would be found to be less than inspiring. The snag is that (as far as I'm aware) there are no reliable comparative tests of high-output tyre inflators that might realistically be considered 'motorhome suitable', which means that choosing a best buy is not easy.

 

It will be apparent from the following websites

 

http://tinyurl.com/ckahm5p

 

http://tinyurl.com/btkfj2f

 

that there are several similar-price (plus a lot dearer) alternatives to the RAC900, but there's no certainty which pump (if any) might be a better choice.

 

(It does need saying that it shouldn't be necessary to play about with tyre pressures on a regularly basis provided that the tyre, wheel and tyre-valve are in good condition. Tyre pressures will alter significantly according to the ambient temperature. For instance, my Hobby's tyres' pressures were reading about 6psi higher in France recently than when I checked/adjusted them in cold weather in the UK prior to going abroad. But the rise in pressures was a natural consequence of the warmer weather conditions in France and no reason to lower the original UK-measured inflation pressures.)

 

[Keithl]

Or if you only ever want to inflate your tyres at home then get a mains powered compressor.

Something like Linkshould be suitable. But obviously you will need an air line and inflator to go with it Link.

There are plenty of other places like B&Q, Halfords, Screwfix, etc, etc that stock these type of compressors. Or check out Lidl and Aldi as they have offers every so often and can prove very good value.

 

Keith.

[hallii]

I bought one of these

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002Q560WE/?tag=hydra0b-21&hvadid=9557946549&ref=asc_df_B002Q560WE

 

It will inflate up to 80 psi no problem.

 

I actually tried several on Halfords car park, most would not handle anything higher than 55 - 60 psi.

 

This one does, it's cheap and compact. If you want something to pump up a completely flat tyre it might get a bit hot, and take a while. For topping up it works well. It also cuts out automatically when the pre set pressure is reched.

 

H

 

 

[duetto owner]

hallii

does the engine have to be on for it to work and will the lead reach from the dash to the rear wheels.

 

i looked a few yearsago and gave up either too short a lead could not reach rear wheel or hopless at inflating, a couple even burt out all went back for refunds, exhausted the halfords range and a local autofactors range.

 

used to use sainsburys thier pump was very reliable but became too popular, causing queues.

[Derek Uzzell]

There's a 2011 report on tyre inflators here

 

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/36189/mini-compressors-tested

 

and the Ring RAC630 was the Best Buy.

 

It needs highlighting that the test involved inflating an 18" car tyre from 20psi over a 1-minute period and the RAC630 managed to raise the pressure to 28psi.

 

However, it's a very different ball-game if you need to raise a motorhome tyre from, say, 60psi to 70psi. Cheap pumps may well be able to do it, but they won't be quick and they certainly won't enjoy it.

 

Instructions for the RAC630 are here:

 

http://www.free-instruction-manuals.com/pdf/p47111374.pdf

 

The quoted current-demand is 10A, but these pumps can 'surge' at start-up, so a 10A-rated dashboard socket may prove marginal. As the current-demand is relatively low, running the vehicle's motor should not be necessary.

 

The Amazon advert quotes a power-cord length of 3.2metres and a flexible air-hose length of 53cm. This would be inadequate for reaching the rear wheels of my Hobby, but might (though I doubt it) be OK for a Duetto.

 

I've had cause to dismantle inflators with a similar specification to the RAC630 and there's not much actual 'pump' inside. I would rephrase hallii's suggestion that "If you want something to pump up a completely flat tyre it might get a bit hot, and take a while" as "There's a strong likelihood that, if you try to pump up a completely flat motorhome tyre with an RAC630 it will get very hot and (assuming the pump survives) take a very long while".

 

But hey, it's cheap enough...

[malc d]

duetto owner - 2013-04-27 1:33 PM

 

hallii

does the engine have to be on for it to work and will the lead reach from the dash to the rear wheels.

 

 

 

I have a similar kind of inflator which will work from any of the 12v sockets around the van, I don't use the dashboard connection.

 

 

 

[Colin Leake]

Most of the Cheepo Halford and Michalin pumps can't get up to the sort of pressures we require. I recently bought a Halfords pump that runs from its own internal rechargeable battery. It's rated up to 100 p.s.i . Not cheap but does seem to work very well indeed. With no wires to plug in its very easy to use. Only problem is I have no idea how well the batteries hold their charge so I will need to check the level of charge from time to time untill I know how long they hold the charge for.

 

I can't see why one would ever want to pump up a tyre from completely flat with any pump like this but if you did forget it as you would never even get started. You would never be able to put air in fast enough to make the tyre seal on the wheel rim.

[Derek Uzzell]

Colin Leake - 2013-04-27 8:10 PM

 

...I can't see why one would ever want to pump up a tyre from completely flat with any pump like this but if you did forget it as you would never even get started. You would never be able to put air in fast enough to make the tyre seal on the wheel rim.

 

No electric (or hand/foot-operated) pump that a motorist is likely to buy will be capable of inflating a tyre that is not already 'sealed' to the wheel-rim.

 

Before choosing a tyre inflator, it's commonsense to decide what the pump will be required to do.

 

If you just want to adjust your motorhome's tyre pressures slightly once in a while, then a hand/foot-operated pump should be adequate, and won't require an electrical power-source.

 

If you don't intend to carry the pump on your travels (or use it in an emergency) then a 230V pump kept at home is an option.

 

But, if you want an inflator that you can carry in your motorhome, that can pump up a significantly deflated tyre (I'm talking about a tyre that has deflated to, say, 30% of its normal pressure, not one that's so flat it has come off the rim) in a reasonable time-frame, a powerful electric pump running from the vehicle's battery is the logical choice.

 

I don't know which pump you bought, but there are recent comments on a Halfords rechargeable-battery pump here

 

http://reviews.halfords.com/4028/239082/reviews.htm

 

and the March 24, 2013 review is not confidence-inspiring when it comes to motorhome-tyre suitability.

 

As I said earlier, if you open up the type of inexpensive 12V pump marketed to inflate car tyres, you'll find a dinky little compressor driven by a hugely geared-down dinky little electric motor. Conversely, higher powered pumps like the Ring RAC900 and T-Max products have a large compressor driven by a large electric motor. In fact, you don't need to dismantle a cheap pump to know there's not much 'guts' in it as the weight gives this a way. A cheap 12V pump will be light and a heavy-duty pump will be heavy. A light pump should be OK for light duties but, for motorhome tyres, pump-weight counts.

 

 

[hallii]

duetto owner - 2013-04-27 1:33 PM

 

hallii

does the engine have to be on for it to work and will the lead reach from the dash to the rear wheels.

 

i looked a few yearsago and gave up either too short a lead could not reach rear wheel or hopless at inflating, a couple even burt out all went back for refunds, exhausted the halfords range and a local autofactors range.

 

used to use sainsburys thier pump was very reliable but became too popular, causing queues.

 

No, I don't have to run the engine, and yes, the leads just reach the back tyres. It would not be difficult to add a few feet of cable and I might do that when I get round to it.

 

H

[Derek Uzzell]

A caveat worth mentioning - if you run a tyre-pump from a dashboard-socket for any length of time, you should expect the plug to get pretty hot. After you've removed the plug from the socket, don't touch the plug's metal parts until they have had time to cool down.

[Colin Leake]

I did consider one of the heavier duty 12 Volt pumps but they really do need to be run direct from the battery using crocodile clips. No problem when batteries were easily accessible but a bit of one now they are not as is the case with both the vehicle and leisure battery in our motorhome.

 

So far the cordless one seems to be doing the job well. I topped up all four tyres, backs to 78 p.s.i and fronts to 68 withe now problem on a single charge.

 

I may possibly get a little mains powered compressor some time in the future.

 

I echo the comments made about the instructions being rubbish

[Guest JudgeMental]

have been using the cheap ring model for a good few years as got fed up with more expensive ones breaking down. it was recommended on here and works a treat and has outlasted the more expensive ones..... if it goes, cheap to replace....

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ring-Automotive-RAC630-Automatic-Compressor/dp/B002Q560WE/ref=pd_cp_auto_1

 

One thing: I had to order the ring extension lead to reach rear wheels as guess its really meant for cars...

[duetto owner]

Colin Leake

 

i liked the idea of clips t a battery, only problem i have is that autosleeper put both the van and leisure batteries under the drivers seat with is a real pain to take out and put back.

[WhiteCheyenneMan]

My Fiat compressor kept blowing off the valve as its clip-on connector wasn't man enough for the job. Perhaps I was unlucky. But my Michelin 12v Digital Rapid Tyre Inflator with auto cut off is brilliant, runs off the dashboard supply, goes well beyond 5.5 Bar and, most important of all, features a screw on connector ;-)

[Colin Leake]

Just out of interest what exactly is a tyre infator?

[Guest JudgeMental]

WhiteCheyenneMan - 2013-04-28 7:35 PM

My Fiat compressor kept blowing off the valve as its clip-on connector wasn't man enough for the job. Perhaps I was unlucky. But my Michelin 12v Digital Rapid Tyre Inflator with auto cut off is brilliant, runs off the dashboard supply, goes well beyond 5.5 Bar and, most important of all, features a screw on connector ;-)

Had 2 michelins cost over 70 odd quid, neither lasted two years, the ring cost 23 and still going strong. It has screw adapter as well

[WhiteCheyenneMan]

JudgeMental - 2013-04-29 7:09 AM

WhiteCheyenneMan - 2013-04-28 7:35 PM

My Fiat compressor kept blowing off the valve as its clip-on connector wasn't man enough for the job. Perhaps I was unlucky. But my Michelin 12v Digital Rapid Tyre Inflator with auto cut off is brilliant, runs off the dashboard supply, goes well beyond 5.5 Bar and, most important of all, features a screw on connector ;-)

Had 2 michelins cost over 70 odd quid, neither lasted two years, the ring cost 23 and still going strong. It has screw adapter as well

My Michelin is at least 5 years old and is still available at well under £50.

I should have said that it needs to use the 12v supply in the bedroom to reach the rear tyres.

[crinklystarfish]

Quality track pump / foot pump.

 

Much less faff than trailing wires / having the engine running / overloading sockets / having to pop the bonnet etc, etc.

 

One of the cases where advances in technology actually often make a simple job slower and much more involved and complicated than it needs to be.

 

Better for the heart and lungs too.

[Derek Uzzell]

duetto owner - 2013-04-28 1:09 PM

 

Colin Leake

 

i liked the idea of clips t a battery, only problem i have is that autosleeper put both the van and leisure batteries under the drivers seat with is a real pain to take out and put back.

 

There is the possibility with modern motorhomes where the starter-battery (or leisure-battery) is not installed in the engine compartment, to connect a high 12V-demand tyre inflator to the under-bonnet connectors intended for jump-starting the vehicle. However, how practicable this ploy will prove to be will depend on the length of power-cord the inflator has.

[Colin Leake]

Thanks for that useful information that I will bear in mind if I ever need to change mind. Easy to make up an extension cable if required.

[Keithl]

Hi All,

 

Just resurrecting this recent thread to say that Aldi have a 230v Portable Compressor in their offers on Sunday 5th May for £59.99 including an eight piece adaptor set. This includes a tyre inflator with gauge and the Max working pressure of the compressor is 8 bar (approx 115psi).

 

I haven't tried one so can't say how good they are but seem excellent value at the price.

 

Keith.

 

Edit Meant to add a Link.