Tyre inflator

[Pete-B]

Hi, A merry Christmas and a great new year to you all and yours.

 

I think Santa's is going to bring me (with a bit of luck) a Ring RAC 900 tyre inflator. Because of circumstances I need to keep my eye on a few more family cars plus a couple of more vans. so I was wondering, instead of using the batteries on the separate vehicles (some of which may be flat) I could buy a cheap 12volt battery just for this purpose, I've got a battery/conditioner in my garage so I could always keep a battery topped up.

 

The thing is, just how cheap could I go for a battery which I would only ever use for this purpose? I've seen some priced at somewhere between £20 and £30 and even cheaper some cases.

 

I would appreciate any suggestions from the more knowledgeable among us, thanks.

 

[pepe63xnotuse]

If you're set on using(and buying) a 12v car battery, although probably more expensive, would one of your vehicles benefit from a new battery?..

...if so, maybe replace that, and as long as it isn't too duff, use the battery taken off it for the pump?..

 

[Tracker]

I find that something like this is far more versatile.

Mine is not this make so I cannot vouch for this particular model, but you get the idea!

As with most of these things the tyre pressure guage is probably not particularly accurate.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/PORTABLE-STARTER-COMPRESSOR-BATTERY-BOOSTER/dp/B00IDCMLFE

[747]

If I had a number of vehicles to check out, I would go the whole hog and buy a small 240 volt compressor. It would be fine for coping with the higher tyre pressures for motorhomes. They are usually on wheels and easy to move about.

 

After saying that, the bigger Ring inflator is up to the job. I actually have a smaller version which so far (touch wood) has coped with a couple of stints at putting a bit more in the motorhome tyres.

 

This might be a good time to mention that if your van will be stood about over the Winter, it does no harm to boost the tyre pressures to avoid possible flat spots on the tyres. Remember to drop the pressures again before you use it again. :D

[Robbo]

Why not just run the engine while the Ring RAC 900 is being used. That should replace any energy in the battery being taken by the air compressor. Unless others know differently?

 

I've got the same make of Ring and wouldn't be without it.

[Derek Uzzell]

The Ring RAC 900 draws about 25 Amps maximum. This is (normally) too much for a dashboard 12V socket but not a massive load, so any reasonable-capacity/reasonable specification 12V battery should do unless it’s intended to use the tyre-pump for long periods and/or very regularly.

 

I use the method Pete-B is suggesting as, although my Ring RAC pump (the 700 model not the 900) ought to be able to be run from a dashboard socket (and used to do this happily), nowadays it will blow a socket’s fuse. This may well be due to a fault with the plug-in connector on my rough-and-ready DIY-ed extension cable, but I sidestep the problem by powering the pump directly from a 12V battery.

 

With my previous Hobby motorhome I used to connect the pump to the vehicle’s starter-battery as this was easily reachable, but that’s less easy with my present Rapido as the starter-battery is underfloor and the leisure-battery is in the rear garage. Consequently, as I still have the Hobby’s original Motorcraft starter-battery that’s still hale and hearty after 10 years, I use that battery to power the pump.

 

This is convenient for me and - as Pete-B points out - does not rely on, or impact on, the state of charge of the battery of the vehicle whose tyres are being inflated. Not sure if I’d choose this method if it involved purchasing a 12V battery purely to power the tyre-pump, though I’d certainly consider it if (as pepe63 suggests) a battery-swap could produce a ‘pump battery’ (which is essentially what happened in my case).

 

It may be a bit late in the day, but there are alternatives to the RAC Ring 900 that are around the same price but have a higher performance. This 2014 discussion may be of interest

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Hints-and-Tips/Air-compressor/33618/

 

 

[pepe63xnotuse]

Off Topic..

I think, if I was in Pete's position, this would be likely to deviate from the initial objective and/or just snowball... :$ (lol)

 

If I was needing to "keep an eye on" umpteen vehicles, I'd be more concerned with 'em being able to start, than I would with their precise tyre pressure...and as such I'd probably either look at a hefty battery(if I had one spare), perhaps mounted on a small sack truck and with jump leads and an "inflator" conveniently attached?...or just very good quality jump starter / inflator.

 

[Pete-B]

Thanks for all the advice and information, much appreciated. I'm now undecided if I should get the Ring 900 or the Tmax which is a bit more expensive. I spoke to Ring this morning on the phone and they tell me that any 12v battery over 10amps would be fine. I then rang our local europarts and they have a 45amp battery with 3 year guarantee which he would do for £30 inc vat.

 

Not sure what power the Tmax would draw.

[Derek Uzzell]

Two T-Max tyre pumps are generally advertised in the UK. The lighter-duty version draws 30A, while the heavy-duty model draws 45A. (Examples of each below)

 

http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-RX1668BM?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PLA&gclid=CJS2wb2G48kCFYMIwwodQfgN3Q

 

http://www.jgs4x4.co.uk/t-max-adventurer-heavy-duty-12v-portable-air-compressor-4x4-tyre-pump-ba2663.html

 

It is possible to visually identify from the photos which is which, but as the asking-prices of each model vary significantly, before ordering it would be wise to confirm with a vendor exactly which version is being sold rather than rely on an advert’s photograph.

 

(I did discuss with a vendor who was advertising both T-Max models whether the lighter-duty (cheaper) pump would be adequate to inflate a near-flat motorhome-size tyre to 80psi and he (perhaps unsurprisingly) recommended the heavy-duty (more expensive) model.)