# Air compressor



## Whason (Sep 15, 2008)

So i jumped on the tubeless train and want to get an air compressor. What kind of AIr compressor's do you all have at home?

Any recommendations on Air compressors? I want one that can be used with presta and schrader. Pump car and bike be fairly accurate, but not to expensive (less than 100 bucks please?) , plug into the wall and possibly plug into the car adapter. So if I wanted to I could take it on a car trip.

A quick search didn't yield anything to useful.


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## gmats (Apr 15, 2005)

Aloha Whason,

Regarding the presta and schrader. That can be accomplished with any one of the many adapters and tire inflating systems. Pumping up car and bike tires also almost any compressor. The idea is a smaller one will just take longer. It is all about "pressure" and air-flow (CFM). A car tire takes lots of volume but less pressure. A bike tire takes more pressure and less volume. In each case, psi and CFM both add up to amount of power required. Give up one and you can get there but with more time involved. Think pumping up a car tire vs your bike tire with a floor pump.

Accurate? That's more dependent on your pressure gauge then anything else. Not expensive? Again, you can get by but it'll just take longer. 12V and AC? That's a bit tougher.

The closest thing that comes to this is one from Harbor Freight:
Portable Power Pack - 12V, 5-in-1 Portable Power Pack

I'm sure there might be other distributors. Good luck with that search.

g

Oh..........Edit:
To seat tubeless tires, sometimes you'll be needing high pressure AND high flow at the same time. With that, you WILL NEED more capacity and one of those small, portable type compressors might not have enough. One method around that is to get one of those small, portable air tanks and use your compressor to fill the tank (several passes) so you have a larger amount of stored air and higher PSI. Sorry, missed that earlier.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Sounds like you're looking for an inflator and not a compressor. A compressor pumps air into a tank at a certain pressure and maintains that pressure in the tank. One of these less than $100 is going to be a POS (I'm not even sure one that cheap is available...even the ones at walmart are more than 100). There are some in the 100-200 range and when I was shopping for them, found the reviews to be hit-or-miss for different models. I settled on a Lowes house brand model for around $150. It's portable, but requires AC power. For inflating tires, seating the bead on tubeless, using the blower for general shop use, one of these is fine. I suppose it's technically rated for some low demand air tools, but the thing would be running an awful lot to keep up with the demands of the tool.

One of those things that plugs into your car's cigarette adapter for inflating tires is an entirely different animal. They generally put out low airflow and are not especially useful for seating the bead on a tubeless tire. They cannot run any sort of air tools - not even a basic blower tip. You can inflate your tires if they are low and that's about it. I cannot offer any recommendations for one because I just don't find them that useful. I had one years ago that crapped out on me when I needed it most (when I had a flat tire) so having a line to a wrecker works better.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

*You're asking for too much*

As mentioned, you want something that can deliver high pressure and high flow rate to seat your tubeless tires. That means you'll need something with a tank. These types of air compressors just don't seem to come in 12V models, probably because a tank is too cumbersome to haul around in your vehicle.
I've got one like this at home for my tubeless tires. Works great for bikes, I can do both tires easily on one tank fill if the tires don't put up too much fight.








3 Gallon Air Compressor - 1/3 HP, 100 PSI, Oilless
It is around $60 and you can get something like it at Walmart. It's near useless for topping off car tires though, unless you have a half hour to spare. Emptying an entire tank into a tire will change the pressure only a couple psi. The tank is just not large enough to supply the required volume.


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## Whason (Sep 15, 2008)

Ok so, no need to be portable, want to be able to seat tubeless tires and top off my car tires. Interestingly two people have recommended harbor frieght. I've had bad experience like maybe 4 years ago with their tools, but if you guys have had good experiences I might need to give it a shot.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

This is actually the one I have and it came from Walmart.








I just linked to harbor frieght because it seemed like it would be quick to find a picture there.


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## Whason (Sep 15, 2008)

Anybody know what sort of air pressure we need to seat tubless bike tires? Would this work?

Walmart.com: Masterflow 12v High Volume Air Compressor / Inflator: Automotive


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## reptilezs (Aug 20, 2007)

its not the pressure its the volume. a 125 psi max compressor with a tank will be fine. 2-5gal tank is plenty. compressors in this range will be oilless and loud. on sale about 75-100$


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## estabro (Oct 9, 2009)

Whason said:


> So i jumped on the tubeless train and want to get an air compressor. What kind of AIr compressor's do you all have at home?
> 
> Any recommendations on Air compressors? I want one that can be used with presta and schrader. Pump car and bike be fairly accurate, but not to expensive (less than 100 bucks please?) , plug into the wall and possibly plug into the car adapter. So if I wanted to I could take it on a car trip.
> 
> A quick search didn't yield anything to useful.


Are you unable to mount your tires with a floor pump? You might find that a compressor is not necessary.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

estabro said:


> Are you unable to mount your tires with a floor pump? You might find that a compressor is not necessary.


An air compressor is to a floor pump like a power drill is to a screwdriver. Maybe not necessary but very nice to have.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

I have this one.

Shop Kobalt 1 HP 2-Gallon 135 PSI Electric Air Compressor at Lowes.com

It's perfect for bicycle tires.

It takes a few minutes to do the Jeep's tires because it has to run to refill the tank. If I dial back the output PSI a bit, the motor can keep up and I don't get excessive pressure drawdown and I can keep inflating while the pump runs. It refills fairly quickly. The 1HP motor is more powerful than most compressors in the 2gal capacity. This compressor works well for me.

For comparison, take a look at this one.

Shop Campbell Hausfeld 2-Gallon Inflation and Fastening Air Compressor with Nailer and Accessory Kit at Lowes.com

The motor for it is only 0.33HP. This thing would have to run forever to refill the tanks on that small of a motor. It doesn't even tell you what the max pressure of this one is. This one has cheap POS written all over it.


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## Ford Prefect42 (Aug 31, 2011)

I already have a compressor but want to get the necessary attachment for presta - I see one on Stans website but it's $120. is there an economy model out there?


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## reptilezs (Aug 20, 2007)

Ford Prefect42 said:


> I already have a compressor but want to get the necessary attachment for presta - I see one on Stans website but it's $120. is there an economy model out there?


yea the 50 cent presta to schrader adapter


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Presta Air Compressor Bicycle Inflator, fits both Presta and Schrader - Prestaflator.com
Not a bargain, but less than the Stans. 
I think folks make their own with silca parts, too.


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## Ford Prefect42 (Aug 31, 2011)

Thanks what is a good gauge?


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## Rodog50 (Feb 28, 2013)

So do I need a "Prestaflator" for the WalMart compressor that I buy? Unclear why I would need it?


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## hkenshin (Apr 7, 2008)

No you don't. I got this pistol grip inflator from Harbor Frieght and a presta adapter. $8+1. Sometimes have to fiddle with the attachment, but it works great. For better fit, there was a thread a while back where someone DIY'd the head off the problem solvers to the pistol grip. The head is ~8 bucks on amazon here


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## 4Crawler (Oct 30, 2011)

I had an old HF pistol grip inflator that the rubber hose was shot on. So picked up the new hose end from Presta Cycle and the Presta chuck and it is like new.


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