Should I buy an air compressor, if so, which one?

[Drew106]

I have been using a small 12v tyre inflator to top up my tyres at home. I use it quite heavily, which is probably not what it is designed for, so it keeps blowing fuses in my cars!

So time to get a new one...

I was thinking one that connects to the mains would be better than a 12v. But they seem quite hard to find. In fact the only one I can find is this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/RAC750-Powered-Inflator-S...

So now I'm thinking if I do that, should I spend a bit extra and get a small air compressor? This being I think the best one I can find for not too much money: https://www.sgs-engineering.com/sc6h-6-litre-oil-l... + an inflating gun should still be under £100.

It really is only for this one task - to inflate car tyres. But if I had the compressor maybe I would find other use for it in future.

So just curious to hear what people use for home tyre infation. Any product recommendations would be most welcome.

Really needs to connect by way of a mains plug as that's the only viable option at the moment.

TIA.

[GreenV8S]

I wouldn't expect the fuse to be affected by how often you use the pump. The only reason for the fuse to blow is that the rated current has been exceeded. If the current is within the rating of the socket and wiring (which it should be) perhaps the fuse rating is too low.

If you spend a lot of time inflating tyres you might be interested in the battery operated hand held inflators that are available now. I don't own one, but they look far more convenient than fighting with air lines and power cables.

[Mr2Mike]

Most 12v tyre inflators are very poorly/cheaply constructed as they are only intended for infrequent or emergency use. A proper mains powered compressor is a much better option for regular use.

[Mark Benson]

I have an SGS compressor, slightly larger than the one you linked to, it's not the last word in quality but it's good enough for what I need it for.

Inflating tyres is a doddle - get a decent attachment with a pressure gauge (I got mine from Machine Mart), a 10m curly hose (make sure you get matching fittings for the hose) and you're away.

Aldi and Lidl sometimes do cheap air tools in the aisle of dreams, they're decent enough for hobby use - I have an air gun which is great for 'shocking' stuck nuts and a load of other tools for various jobs I've done over the years. I don't use it that often, but when I do it's invaluable. I bought my second one last year after the previous one gave up after 13 years use.

EDIT: Be aware though that a compressor is quite noisy when it's charging the tank, and with a small 6 litre tank it may need to charge more than once to do a full set of tyres depending on how much air they need, so if you want to stay on good terms with the neighbours don't use it at unsociable hours.

Edited by Mark Benson on Friday 22 September 15:26

[justinio]

Wouldnt it be better to get your tyres repaired if they are constantly deflating?

[Drew106]

Mark Benson said:

I have an SGS compressor, slightly larger than the one you linked to, it's not the last word in quality but it's good enough for what I need it for.

EDIT: Be aware though that a compressor is quite noisy

Edited by Mark Benson on Friday 22 September 15:26

Thanks. Still can't quite make up my mind between the SGS and the small Ring Inflator - it would probably meet my needs, but some dodgy reviews unfortunately.

ETA: Re the noise - this is a concern. Had a long trip to do this morning and one of the tyres needed a slight top up which I did with my 12v. Even with this relatively quiet devise I felt guilty given it was 6.30am.

justinio said:

Wouldnt it be better to get your tyres repaired if they are constantly deflating?

It is for general re-inflating. I check my tyres at least weekly - have a great little digital Sealey gauge. A few PSI is required here and there. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Edited by Drew106 on Friday 22 September 16:14

[Magic919]

I use a SIP and it’s bigger than the SGS, but the SGS would easily do the job for me. It’s probably more like I should have bought. Got mine used over 10 years ago. Great for tyres, blowing sawdust away and the odd bit of nailing.

[DuraAce]

Drew106 said:

It is for general re-inflating. I check my tyres at least weekly - have a great little digital Sealey gauge. A few PSI is required here and there. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Edited by Drew106 on Friday 22 September 16:14

If you want a compressor then buy one but you do not need one!

I check all our cars tyres every 2-4 weeks. Very rarely need to add any air, if I do it takes five minutes using my trust foot pump.
If you need constant top ups are you sure you haven't got issues?

[GreenV8S]

Drew106 said:

I check my tyres at least weekly ... A few PSI is required here and there. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Are these ordinary car road tyres? If so that strikes me as an unusually high rate of loss.

[Drew106]

DuraAce said:

If you want a compressor then buy one but you do not need one!

Agreed. I probably don't need one, but I have always had to top up tyres at some point so want to be able to do this at home easily. A 12v is not cutting the mustard anymore, so want a mains one which are close to compressor money anyway, so that's the reasoning.

GreenV8S said:

Are these ordinary car road tyres? If so that strikes me as an unusually high rate of loss.

Yip, normal road tyres.
What would you consider normal loss? In my experience it is anything from 0-2 PSI/month.

I have had issues with my car recently after putting on a new set of tyres. It was initially thought to be a faulty valve, which I've since had fixed, however still losing a little more than normal which I think could be corrosion, not sure, still investigating but two tyres in particular are inconsistent. Which is a PITA.

So it has meant having to inflate more than normal recently which is kind of what has brought on to compressor shopping. Something I've considered getting for a while now anyway.

---

Pistonheads is funny. You ask a question and somehow all this information gets extracted out of you. Like an interrogation. Not a complaint, just an observation...

It is somewhat changing the nature of my thread, but I'm going to roll with it...

What else could be causing higher than normal pressure loss? The specific problem recently has been an odd one. Very hard to predict - sometimes no loss at all for weeks, then they'll lose anything up to 10 PSI! top them up, fine again for while, then start losing. Very odd.

I've been back to the place that fitted the tyres, they reckoned it was the valves, so replaced them all. Which solved it for a while. Now they seem to be losing again. It is inconsistent though, so hard to pin point. Might be the valves again, so will probably pop back to the garage. Could it be corrosion? I would imagine that should be more of a consistent loss though? They're just little steelies, so replacing is probably easier than refurbishing.

[GreenV8S]

Drew106 said:

What would you consider normal loss? In my experience it is anything from 0-2 PSI/month.

Most of my tyres lose fractions of a PSI per month and I suspect most of that is from air escaping when measuring the pressure. A couple of PSI per month is at the top end of what I'd consider normal. You referred to refilling by a few PSI during your weekly checks, which implies you're losing way more than that.

If you're seeing these losses consistently on all your wheels, I wonder whether it may be the method you're using to measure the pressure applied so frequently which is causing that loss. If it's only one wheel or only a few wheels, perhaps you have a leaky valve, or a leaky wheel, or a slight puncture.

Edited by GreenV8S on Friday 22 September 21:27

[recordman]

I wouldn't be without my mains compressor. With three cars, a twin axle trailer, a mower with pneumatic tyres and two wheelbarrows in our household it makes tyre checking a doddle. An air blow gun is also most useful for clearing carb jets too.

[justinio]

If you want a compressor then get one of the Aldi ones on offer at the moment. Thats more than enough for blowing up tyres.

But, it sounds like you have an issue with your tyres/wheels. They shouldnt need topping up constantly like that. Air is escaping from somewhere, either when you are checking pressure, or your tyres or wheels are knackered.

Personally, I'd be checking to see where the air is escaping from.

[Davie]

I bought one of the Aldi efforts about 8 years ago and it's still going strong despite cracking one of the air line fittings which I replaced and the regulator is a bit iffy now so I flick it off (ahem...) when it reaches enough pressure. Also have the retractable line in the garage and it's excellent. I mostly use it for the tyres (three cars, two with older alloys so loose a couple of PSi a week here and there) and also with the air duster nozzle.

I've also used it to spray using a gravity gun which is ok but not for painting cars and such like... and the air ratchet is hopeless, noisier than Concorde taking off and all the power of an asthmatic 80 year old. Same applies to the digga-digga guns and the air grinder which wheezes to a halt when faced with anything thicker than tracing paper.

But I digress, it's a very handy bit of kit and gets used quite a lot... bloody noisy though.

Currently debating a new one.

[Dave.]

I got one of these a couple of years ago - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Powerplus-6-33CFM-116psi-...

Works great.

Recently tried a compressor and air tools from a usually well regarded outfit on here (who i've bought from previously and recommended them to loads of people over the years), fittings leaked, the impact gun couldn't remove wheelnuts torqued to 100nm, it was noisy (to be expected and could have lived with it for the little use it would have got, and took up a lot of room.

Bought a 18v impact gun and never looked back.

[Davie]

Dave. said:

I got one of these a couple of years ago - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Powerplus-6-33CFM-116psi-...

Works great.

Recently tried a compressor and air tools from a usually well regarded outfit on here (who i've bought from previously and recommended them to loads of people over the years), fittings leaked, the impact gun couldn't remove wheelnuts torqued to 100nm, it was noisy (to be expected and could have lived with it for the little use it would have got, and took up a lot of room.

Bought a 18v impact gun and never looked back.

I debated an impact gun but for the cost, I just picked up a cheap Workzone battery gun and then a 1'2" adaptor... crack the wheel nuts first with the bar then run them out and vice versa. But yes, my Aldi compressor (probably the same stuff) wasn't the most air tight despite PTFE tape and eventually, chemical metal. To be honest, the best use it's had late is blowing up one of those massive yoga balls for her and double airbed for me when I asked if the ball was big enough.

[PositronicRay]

Drew106 said:

Thanks. Still can't quite make up my mind between the SGS and the small Ring Inflator

Edited by Drew106 on Friday 22 September 16:14

Sorry but I was skim reading and this made me laugh.

[Drew106]

Dave. said:

I got one of these a couple of years ago - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Powerplus-6-33CFM-116psi-...

This one looks pretty good, thanks!

[Dave.]

If I were buying again, I'd probably go for the next one up with the small receiver tank.

[Mr2Mike]

Dave. said:

If I were buying again, I'd probably go for the next one up with the small receiver tank.

If it's only for inflating the occasional tyre a receiver will make things take longer, since you have to inflate both the tyre and the receiver. OTOH if you want to use air tools you absolutely do need something with a receiver, but most air tool s need a higher volume of air than the tiny compressors mentioned in this thread can deliver.