# How many gallon compressor for seating tires?



## pernfilman (May 24, 2007)

I am gonna pickup an air compressor and want something small, I will be using this just to seat tubeless tires I am tired of blasting through C02 charges when I have a difficult tire. Would a 2 gallon compressor have enough juice to seat a tire on tubeless set up?


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## mntlion (Aug 30, 2005)

should be fine, as long as the tire seats right to start with. If not, you just have to wait for the tank to re-fill.


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## Dad Man Walking (Sep 7, 2004)

Agreed, if your only use for the compressor is to inflate tires, the 2-gallon size should be fine. You can also run nail guns all day with one that size--the small compressors are made just for that purpose. They won't have the capacity to keep up with other air tools though...so if you are dreaming of an impact wrench to make rotating your tires easy, (or just because you like the way they sound) you'll want to be looking at the 20-25 gallon tanks and bigger motors.


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## pernfilman (May 24, 2007)

My main concern is that the air compressor will have the initial burst required to seat the tubeless tires onto the rim just like a C02 charge does, as long as it can do that thats all it will be used for.


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## Dad Man Walking (Sep 7, 2004)

But we know that you really want the compressor...at 50 cents/fill w/ CO2 (if you are using the 12g fills from the paintball department) you'll have to do a lot of tire changes before the compressor starts to pay for itself. So I still say there's a bit of tool-envy involved 

(Just sayin'...)


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## KevinB (Oct 5, 2004)

pernfilman said:


> My main concern is that the air compressor will have the initial burst required to seat the tubeless tires onto the rim just like a C02 charge does...


An air compressor will be more than satisfactory for seating & inflating tubeless tires.

A 1.5 gallon compressor will work well for that purpose too. E.g. Husky 1.5 gallon Air Compressor:


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## pernfilman (May 24, 2007)

KevinB said:


> An air compressor will be more than satisfactory for seating & inflating tubeless tires.
> 
> A 1.5 gallon compressor will work well for that purpose too. E.g. Husky 1.5 gallon Air Compressor:


Damn I was actually looking at that exact model, I have some home depot gift cards to burn so I was gonna check that one out.


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## KevinB (Oct 5, 2004)

pernfilman said:


> Damn I was actually looking at that exact model, I have some home depot gift cards to burn so I was gonna check that one out.


I have one, several years old now, similar to the one pictured. I've used it to seat tubeless tires when my floor pump didn't have enough oomph.

It also works well for blowing out solvent from cartridge bearings prior to repacking them with fresh grease. And, I use it for car tires too.


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## sv_freya (Apr 18, 2006)

You can buy a compressed air tank. Looks basically like a propane tank, but with valving to take in (and put out) compressed air.

if you've got a local friendly garage or a friend with a compressor, you can fill it there. A tank will hold enough air for many tires, can out out air at a high enough rate to seat any bike tire you have, and will cost you under $50. 

If all you want is to fill tires, that'd be the cheap and effective way to go.


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## AL29er (Jan 14, 2004)

I get by with a 4g $100~ jobber that I got a few years back. Again good for nail guns and stuff too. Even at 4g it will start cycling while trying to seat a tough tire. I think a 20-50g would be awesome and open up to continuous use applications but that is real money once you start talking about that big of a unit.


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## tojnom (Feb 2, 2008)

pernfilman said:


> I am gonna pickup an air compressor and want something small, I will be using this just to seat tubeless tires I am tired of blasting through C02 charges when I have a difficult tire. Would a 2 gallon compressor have enough juice to seat a tire on tubeless set up?


I've been using this air compressor for almost two years. 90% of the time I use it for tires (tube and tubeless). It's easy to store and it comes with a nice wall mount. MSRP $100

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...Id=10053&productId=100536065&N=10000003+90157


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## clydecrash (Apr 1, 2005)

Well--I just had my compressor break down about 1 hour ago (thus I am searching the threads for new compressor suggestions). It is the same one that tojnom has used for two years. Mine lasted a year and 3 months (3 months past the warranty). I used it to install tubeless, mostly stan's system, and to blow parts for cleaning--maybe 30 sessions? The pressure regulator screw stripped. The hose started cracking at the nozzle too, but I was able to cut it down and reinstall.

I am looking for something more solid, and with less plastic. I probably will pick one up this weekend, so will try to remember to reply with what I purchases and why.


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## Dad Man Walking (Sep 7, 2004)

If you want to "buy once then forget" stay away from the that plastic homeowner stuff and get a small nail-gun compressor. It's probably very hard to make a compressor for $100 that is going to last...and when they wasted some of that money on the plastic case, wheels, a handle, a wall mount, and tossed a bunch of fittings, the budget for the parts that matter got squeezed even further. Buy it right, buy it once and you'll have the tool for the rest of your life.


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## neex (Mar 30, 2005)

pernfilman said:


> I am gonna pickup an air compressor and want something small, I will be using this just to seat tubeless tires I am tired of blasting through C02 charges when I have a difficult tire. Would a 2 gallon compressor have enough juice to seat a tire on tubeless set up?


Make sure you have a removable core or you won't get enough air flow at almost any PSI (that's my experience anyway). I use a 60gal shop unit but I think about 30-40PSI will do it provided you pull the core. I think you could do it with a CO2 inflator if you were crafty and using soapy water on the beads. My experience is for a true UST not a converted setup so you may have different experiences.

A.


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