Extremely Generous Reader Frederick sent me a tire inflator I’ve wanted to buy for myself for quite some time…
Upon opening the box I learned that it comes with a nifty nylon case, so it really will be practical to keep it in the Jeep pending need. But I wanted to make sure I knew how to use the thing…
It handed me an immediate WTF moment when it seemed both ends of the power cord terminated at the compressor.
Oh. Heh. I knew that.
The permanently-mounted air hose is extremely short. But the slinky attachment screws on in a high-quality-appearing manner.
I’ve needed to check tire pressure on the Jeep’s trailer for quite some time anyway…
Took only a few minutes to get the first tire up around 50 PSI. Works great!
And then…failure. I swapped sides to do the same to the other tire, and couldn’t get the compressor to work at all. Checked the fuse, it’s fine. Pried out the common little rocker switch and checked continuity, it’s fine. Checked the Jeep fuses – they’re fine. I don’t have any other appliance that uses that power plug, so I couldn’t immediately eliminate the Jeep as the cause of the problem.
Fortunately Landlady was here. So I went over and plugged the inflator into her car. Where it worked just fine. The Jeep’s cheap-ass 13-year-old power plug, which is never used, gave up the ghost on first try.
So, no problem. I’ll get a couple of battery clips next time I’m at the hardware, and this useful tool will go permanently under a seat. Good to know, though.
I should do the battery clip thing too. I’ve carried one of those little compressors (not NEARLY as nice as yours) for probably 20 years. Not the same one, mind you, just one of them. Have only used one twice. The first one was with my Geo Metro. The “cigarette lighter” had literally never been used before then. The tire inflated eventually…. but the “plug” heated so badly I was frantic that it would overload and melt down before mission was accomplished. Never used the “plug” again for anything.
The second time I was driving a Geo Prism, a much nicer car. I was also using the “plug” regularly to charge a cell phone. Cell phone battery life was really SHORT in those days… so it got used a lot as I drove my 300 to 400 mile a day work circuit.
The day I had to use the tire compressor (first time – it had never been out of the box in years), the plug worked flawlessly… but the compressor crapped out after only 20 minutes or so. Got enough air into the tire to make it to a service station, but that was it.
I have a different little compressor in the trunk of the Saturn. I’ve never needed it for a tire, but I’ve attempted to use it to inflate a small air mattress. Forget about it. Might do the job in a month or so, but not much before then.
Just glad I don’t drive much of anywhere these days. Mega sigh
I have an old Sears 12V compressor that I use regularly to inflate auto & bicycle tires (mostly bicycles nowadays). I normally use it plugged into my jumper box but I have used the “cigarette lighter” or “always on power outlet” plugs in several cars over the years (Jeeps and Hondas mostly). Never had an issue. I keep telling myself I should replace the compressor because it looks like a POS that will fall apart every time I use it, but it never does. It has survived at least 2 jumper boxes.
That said, I’ve never had to take an auto tire from flat to filled. Probably never had to add more than 20 PSI.
I’ve taken to buying my tires from Costco. I laughed the first time when the kid told me how wonderful it was that they use nitrogen. Air is 78% nitrogen anyway, whippersnapper. But I have to say, I’m here to tellya, I hardly ever add pressure to my tires now. Now I just drop by once in a great while and have them top me off with more nitrogen. And they won’t even take a tip.