Tyre inflators for home use. Are they useless or worth the money. A quick look at Halfords online reveals a few that use the cigarette lighter socket but don't mention any mains capability, which is what I would want also.
Anyone got any thoughts on them either way.
I live remotely so popping to the local garage is a chore I could do without and even then the equipment is not that modern.
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I have never seen a dual voltage mains/12v unit.
The cigarette lighter ones are quite adequate, you can get one from £10 up.
We've had one for several years and used it for car and trailer tyres on many occasions.
May be worth checking the gauge accuracy against a properly calibrated one, though.
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I got an electric one from Halfords. HJ said that they were not very accurate and to get something else. I was a bit worried when I read the blurb inside the box (when I got it home) - it said that the reading should only be used as an indication and not as an accurate reading!!!!
The problem comes to knowing what is accurately calibratd. Are the ones at petrol stations more accurate than Halfords digital reading pump?
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What sort of drain does it put on the car battery?
Talking of good tyre gauges with which to check one of these 12v pumps against, who owns the one that HJ has recommended from ITC and is it worthy?
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1. It will drain the battery if you inflate one or two tyres from scratch; I run the engine. You should not run these pumps continuously, by the way.
2. The ITC gauge seems well made and is very handy to use. I can only assume its accuracy to be better than others, I must admit.
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Recommended gauge:- Halfords "keyring" digital type.
checkout AutoExpress - product tests.
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Garage air lines used to be no-no's because of inaccuracy, also the fact that you wouldn't be checking cold tyres when you got to the garage. I use both a foot pump and electric pump at various times, but I don't rely on their gauges and do a second check with a pressure gauge (accurate to +/- 1 lb).
I don't know about mains powered pumps, I just keep the engine running when it's in use.
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The drain on the battery is pretty minimal. Three or four minutes pumping should have no noticeable effect.
No need to worry unless your battery is knackered in the first place, in which case it would be too low to turn your engine over.
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I use an electric pump to get the air in, put it 'over' pressure on the built in gauge, check with the proper cylindrical pencil type gauage and let air out to adjust to the correct reading. No problems with the battery and this way means that you know all you have to do is let some air out, instead of having to put more in and check again. I would have thought that, in this day and age, if garage petrol pumps have to be accurate and checked, then their airlines should be the same, particularly if they are charging you to use them!
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Sounds stupid but where can you buy a pencil gauge? I presume that these are accurate. On your last point, I thought that garages now have to offer free air or is that all those that I go to seem to be free.
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I got what seems to be a perfectly decent one from Halfords and I'm sure they still sell them.
Please, nobody tell me that these are hopelessly cheap and inaccurate and all my tyre pressures have been umpteen PSI out since ever. (Is there a smiley variant to indicate sudden paranoia?)
GJD
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The 'blurb' says they're accurate to +/- 1 lb. I use the Halfords one.
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Annecdotal.
A mate and I used the local tescos garage to inflate a tyre to 30psi.
We then checked it against our own two foot pumps and a calibrated pump at work. All three read exactly 30.
I wonder why we don't have more luck with girls? ;-)
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What PSI are you inflating the girls to?
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I have to confess on the rare occasions I have success mine *look* as though they've been well over-inflated!
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These things are toys. Why not use a manual pump? Good for your legs, heart and lungs too.
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Take up exercise again, 55 years after squarebashing? :o(
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Squarebashing? I just missed that. Too young by a few months, if remember correctly.
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Have to agree .......you can get twin cylinder pumps which may be a tad quicker, so unless you have a heart condition or dodgy knees why not use the manual type.......no problems with mains cables or flimsy cig.lighter wires.
KB.
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Better still are the latest workshop pumps used by bicycle racing teams. They are miles better than even the twin-cylinder foot pumps. I use one that "blows" on the in and out strokes. And being designed to pump bicycle tyres up to 160psi, they can manage 30-ish in a car tyre in no time. Do not confuse with a standard bike pump, unless suicide is your bag.
Chris
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get a cheap 12v pump from Halfords; connect it to your your battery charger - and you have a mains-operated pump. Have done so for last 12 years with no problem. Buy an ITC guage as recommended by HJ, That's all you need.
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tell me - what is the "ITC guage" and where do you buy it?
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itc = international-tool.com
27. Where can I buy the tyre pressure gauge and battery charger that Honest John keeps mentioning?
The Accu-Gauge S60X circular-dial tyre pressure gauge, 0-60psi, costs £13.25, plus £2.95 for a protective rubber cover, and plus carriage. Buy online from www.international-tool.com, or telephone 01604 646433.
The Airflow Battery Conditioner costs £40 from Airflow Products, tel: 01635 569569. The advantage is it trickle charges so gently up to 13.5 volts (then recharges as and when necessary) that it can be left attached more or less permanently without the need to disconnect the battery or remove the vent plugs, even if the car has an alarm/immobiliser unit.
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I haven't bought (or used) an electric pump for a while, as I found it quicker (and less hassle) to use a foot pump. The electric pump I had was painfully slow, which wasn't surprising when you looked at the mechanism - it must have displaced all of 5cc per stroke! Maybe things are better now, but probably not at the cheap end.
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check out a compressor - surprisingly good value for money now.
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Go to HJ's Home page - to FAQs - to number 27. There's the link. I biught one on-line. Excellent.
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ChrisR has come up with the best idea yet. He suggests a cycle workshop pump (also known as 'track pump'). Type it in to your favourite search engine for lots of options. They go from about £25 -£50 including a gauge. As he says, if they will pump up a cycle tyre to 100 psi then they'll manage 30 psi easily enough. Your local proper bike shop will sort one out for you. My previous post (above) cautioned against use of a foot pump if you have a heart condition or dodgy knees. For this pump, the heart condition warning still applies but substitute dodgy knees for tennis elbow or back problems. :-)
Having got the cycle pump, the next step will be to get the bike to go with it, of course. See you out there.
KB.
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12v pumps.......many tests recommend one of the Halfords models, the one with a yellow pressure gauge surround and built in lamp. From memory, the same model, minus lamp, didn't perform as well. Strange, that.
Performance is measured in time taken to inflate.
I bought one several years ago, and use it a lot (I'm a slow-puncture magnet).
Great little piece of kit.
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My brain hurts too when I use my 12v pump. I got it from Charlie Brown's a few years ago, and it's an incredibly noisy little beggar.
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My digital Halfords compressor is CE approved. What is CE approval?
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CE approved is an EU standard which, IIRC relates to electrical equipment.
If you look on the back of your computer it will doubtless have one there.
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Brian
Yes, the CE marking confirms that the particular piece of equipment meets the relevant EU standards. It applies to more than just electrical equipment though, and covers both domestic and industrial equipment.
It's great fun when you buy plant from the US and say that it is legally required to be CE marked!
Regards
John
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It is also one of the "standard" range of available "mini-stickers" from a popular mail order supplier. Put them on whatever you want, even Dave's girlfriends probably sport one (just checking if you're reading every post).
And seems to be the largest lettering on the cheapest nastiest toys on the market.
I think they print it on all the toy boxes from China.
David
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Thanks for all the advice - as ever a whole host of working solutions. The bike pump sounds the best, I am sans dodgy heart or back or knees so far (doubtless will get them soon after getting the pump) and I have a bike and motorbike too. Oh, and the ITC gauge too....
One last question, Dave, on the rare occasion you get to inflate some lovely female, have you managed to find the connection to test her PSi yet?
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