Portable Tire Inflators

Hardwrkr13

Hardwrkr13

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Does anyone carry a portable tire inflator that runs off the 12v socket and have one to recommend? I usually just carry co2 cartridges but I’d like a 12v one that is small enough that I can carry both on tue bike sometimes and in the car on road trips.
 
I've carried a Slime unit similar to this for 15+ years, as well as a tire repair kit. Never needed them, but nice to have.

Walmart link......................


When you purchase one test it in your garage to ensure it works, and then every couple of years.

In the SUV I carry a Ridgid inflator I got on sale for $50 as the Slime would be way too slow for a tire that large.
 
ReSTored said:
I've carried a Slime unit similar to this for 15+ years, as well as a tire repair kit. Never needed them, but nice to have.

Walmart link......................


When you purchase one test it in your garage to ensure it works, and then every couple of years.

In the SUV I carry a Ridgid inflator I got on sale for $50 as the Slime would be way too slow for a tire that large.
Click to expand...
This is a photo of a cheapie that failed on me. It failed because of internal stresses and that would have happened between uses. It would have worked one day and not the next.

When the drive gear hit the gap, pumping stopped.

I'm not a plastics engineer but being made in China for a price point the nylon could have been recycled scrap and poorly, if at all, stress relieved.

I've switched to a more expensive higher output unit.


1781871308546.jpeg
 
Costco has a small Fanttik inflator. I haven't tried it but the Fanttik stuff I have tried isn't awful. For a bike I carry CO2 and/or a small manual stick pump. In the cars I have pumps that I like but they are bigger than I would want on a bike most of the time. I have found the trick for 12V pumps is to look for ones with low max pressure. A pump that will only go to 60 psi normally pumps about 3x the speed of one that will go to 200 psi as they put a bigger piston in the low pressure pump.
 
I wired a cigarette socket on my bike specifically for that reason. I have an old Cnd TIre cheapie, that I test out each year. I used to carry one in the car and when I needed it, I discovered the rubber around the nozzle had hardened and couldn't get a proper seal on the tire valve. I used slime fix a flat to get me home but I had to tell my tire guy who wasn't happy about it come change time. So watch out for that and check on that it works each year. Sometimes a back up compact bicycle pump is good to just get you enough air until proper access to air.
 
GreyGhost said:
Costco has a small Fanttik inflator. I haven't tried it but the Fanttik stuff I have tried isn't awful. For a bike I carry CO2 and/or a small manual stick pump. In the cars I have pumps that I like but they are bigger than I would want on a bike most of the time. I have found the trick for 12V pumps is to look for ones with low max pressure. A pump that will only go to 60 psi normally pumps about 3x the speed of one that will go to 200 psi as they put a bigger piston in the low pressure pump.
Click to expand...
My only concern is if the cannisters go bad. The one's I have are about 10yrs old now and although they look in good shape I don't overly trust them.
 
Hardwrkr13 said:
My only concern is if the cannisters go bad. The one's I have are about 10yrs old now and although they look in good shape I don't overly trust them.
Click to expand...
I've never seen a c02 canister empty without being punctured but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen. They hold 16 or 24g of c02 depending on size. If you have an empty one, it's easy to weigh the rest and make sure they are full.
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