Air Compressor - Montana Owners Club

bob n pam · 04-06-2006, 04:13 PM

Do any of you have a recommendation for a 12 volt air compressor that will fill up a tire in a reasonable time? We presently have an Truck Air compressor, 245 psi, that takes about 20 minutes to fill a tire from 70 psi to 80 psi. Thanks.
Bob

Bighorn · 04-06-2006, 04:58 PM

Try this one at Sears

Compressor

harleyrider · 04-07-2006, 12:35 AM

Its not 12 volt-but if you want the most powerful protable air compressor the one I have is Awesome.Its called a "power Tank" It fills with CO2.And when i say fills it does it in seconds.One tank full will fill 39 Class A tires.When the tank goes empty you can get it refilled at any place that fills CO 2 tanks.I go to a local welding supply shop and get it refilled for 12 bucks.It fills to 200 PSI.I use it to run air tolls as well.Of course I also use it to fill my Montana tires as well as the truck tires.I use it also to blow stuff off the roof of my slide outs.Its small enough that it fits in the front storage compartment.I keep mine their with a spare tank as well.Thsi my friends is no question the most powerful compressor that you can buy.

Ok OK now the down side-its expensive.their always is a down side huh?

Broome101 · 04-07-2006, 03:08 AM

Bighorn does that one work pretty well in pumping up to 80PSI on tires? That's good price on one.

315RLS · 04-07-2006, 04:01 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by bob n pam

Do any of you have a recommendation for a 12 volt air compressor that will fill up a tire in a reasonable time? We presently have an Truck Air compressor, 245 psi, that takes about 20 minutes to fill a tire from 70 psi to 80 psi. Thanks.
Bob

Bob n Pam,
Others may have had better luck in finding a 12v. Honestly all I've found are junk. I spent a lot of time trying to find a useful one of these and finally bought a 110v 140PSI pancake compressor with some air tools included for a reasonable price from Sears. Before going out on a trip while cold I check and fill all TV and TT tires. Good luck.

kwbosch · 04-07-2006, 08:14 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Broome101

Bighorn does that one work pretty well in pumping up to 80PSI on tires? That's good price on one.

Broome101,

I'm not Bighorn but I have the same Sears compressor. It max's out at 125psi. It doesn't have any trouble filling 80psi. It's far superior to the 12 volt compressors I've had.

Ken

Bob & Lee · 04-07-2006, 09:57 AM

I never had a 12v one that was very powerful and I am impatient so I carry one of the large air tank in the truck, will fill about 3 tires then I fill it with my 110v

Bighorn · 04-08-2006, 02:23 AM

Bob
I have a Thompson Compressor built into my truck with a 4 gallon tank for on board air and a set of Grover air horns. It works better than any of the portable 12V units I’ve seen or tried but it’s still slow. I have three portable 12Vs in my shop that ranged from $25 to $48. They all worked about the same, they will get you to 90psi but 80psi in a truck tire will take awhile. Now I have an inverter in the truck and an 1850 watt small generator in the Monty both will run the sears model. Like Ken stated, it doesn’t have any problems, it’s like filling a tire at the service station.

Ed

sreigle · 04-08-2006, 07:05 AM

You might consider getting a decent 110v compressor and a 12v to 110v inverter.

I have never found a 12v compressor I felt does a good job to 80 psi. They take way too long. At least those I've tried. I haven't tried the power tank harleyrider mentioned.

I have, however, found a 110v compressor I think I can run off 12v using an inverter. Haven't tried that yet but will try it this week when I air the truck tires in prep for leaving here so I'll know if it works. The compressor doesn't draw much amperage so it should work fine. I've found 110v pumps do a good job to about 60% of rated capacity. So this 150 psi compressor does a very good job to 80 psi on our tires. This one is a Coleman somethingorother but there are other good brands.

deerrahn · 04-08-2006, 11:06 AM

We decided on a Husky Compressor from Home Depot. $100.00. It rides behind my seat every time we leave home with the Condo. Wouldn't have it any other way.

cargary · 04-08-2006, 04:16 PM

We have the same "Husky" air compressor bought from home depot as "deerrahn" has and have been very impressed with its performance so far. Orignally, we bought it for blowing out our water lines in the 5er, but have found out that it does a fairly good job on blowing up the tires on the truck as well as those on the 5er. I just recently used it with a power air nailer when finishing off my garage. Like I said, I'm impressed with it.
Gary & Carole

OntMont · 04-08-2006, 04:35 PM

I agree 12volt compressors are not the way to go, at least none that I have seen. I have a 120 volt one at home. One of the advantages of staying overnight at Flying J is that you can stop at the RV island in the morning and top up your tires while they are cold. Otherwise, if I got a flat, I would have to call the Road Service, but that is what we pay them for, isn't it?
(on further thought, I remember that CountyGuy has a pretty good rechargable compressor, maybe he can provide the details on his)
Steve, if you get your compressor to run from the inverter, please post the details, especially the size of the inverter. and the amp rating of the compressor.

Don't pay too much attention to the max pressure rating, a decent compressor will give you CFM at 90psi, that is the number to compare, I think mine is 4. (Compressors are sort of like generators, to be much good, they are going to be heavy).

Buffpilot · 04-10-2006, 10:28 AM

I recently purchased a 12 Volt air compresssor from Harbor Freight. You must hook it up to battery terminals of your truck's battery and they recommend having the engine running. Specs say it will fill a car tire in three minutes. I used my emergency 12 volt jump battery and filled the Monty tires from 73 to 80 in less than two minutes each. Here is their website. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93186. Price is 69.99.

Take care, Bob Matzinger, Buffpilot

bob n pam · 04-10-2006, 04:35 PM

Wow! Thanks everyone for the great information. I'll let you know what we come up with.

Bob

sreigle · 04-20-2006, 01:38 PM

Update on my Coleman Inflationmate 110v compressor. First of all, it's not 150 psi, it's 175. Second, when we left Moab last week I aired the truck's rear tires from 55 to 80, then aired all four Montana tires. The tires were new when we left Mission and I found in Moab all were at 73 psi so the dealer's gauge varies from mine. So, aired up the Montana's tires to 80 psi. As I was finishing the last tire the compressor sound changed to a not-good sound and a few seconds later the compressor shut down. No pilot light on the switch or anything. The fuse blew. I assume it overheated even though it had not been running that much. Unfortunately the fuse is inside the case, requiring removal of 12 screws and the breaking of a seal. Had it been under warranty, getting to the fuse would void the warranty. I changed the fuse and it runs again but I will replace the compressor with a different brand if we ever get back to civilization. That will be middle of next month.

I no longer recommend the Coleman Inflationmate.

c5racer · 04-20-2006, 09:58 PM

I think you will find that elevation has a lot to do with tire pressure. I live at 3300 feet, and I left with 80 pounds cold, when I got to Yuma I had 90 pounds cold. Yuma is about 400 feet.

Steve and Mozell · 04-22-2006, 02:55 PM

I recently purchased the Sears compressor that Bighorn suggested. All the Monty tires are now at 80 psi. It filled the tires much quicker than my on board compressor for my firestone air bags. I am very pleased with this product and would recommend it to others.
Steve

JH Sechelt · 04-22-2006, 05:05 PM

We have a 110v, 2 gallon compressor from Canadian Tire. 125 lbs Max air pressure. You can top up tires with it but if you tried to run it constantly for 20 minutes or more it would shut its self down due to heat build up. If you need to put 10 or more lbs of air in all tires of truck & Trailer, you would have to let it sit and cool for a while every couple of tires.
Nice thing is our 1000 watt inverter will run it so you don't have to be plugged in to shore power. And small enough to put in the front storage compartment with generator.
J & D

sreigle · 04-23-2006, 07:53 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by c5racer

I think you will find that elevation has a lot to do with tire pressure. I live at 3300 feet, and I left with 80 pounds cold, when I got to Yuma I had 90 pounds cold. Yuma is about 400 feet.

Pete, that's likely what happened. The tires were mounted in McAllen, TX, near sea level. I measured the pressure in Moab, UT, at about 4500 feet. Thanks for the headsup. I will need to check the pressure when we get back down to lower levels to make sure they're not too high.

Bill Frisbee · 04-23-2006, 04:39 PM

This is what I use. Had an "on board" model (similar to the on board compressor with the Air Bag system) to activate my locking differentials and re-inflate tires when I had my "off-roading" Jeep Cherokee. Have the portable model now. Great for tires on the truck, the Monty, our bikes, grandkids toys, etc. Re-inflated my Monty tires from "winter-storage 70 psi" to "on the road 80 psi" this afternoon. Took about 2-3 minutes per tire. It is available all across North America from shops that cater to "off-road" enthusiasts.

http://www.arb.com.au/air_compressors.htm

Bill

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