Poor Man's On Board Air: Opnions?

[brunkhorse]

So i was researching onboard air options as I never have any quarters for those machines and I'd eventually like to have a train horn (please don't judge me) and of course all the quality systems run upwards of $300 so I decided to see if there was a way to do it for cheap.

I came up with the idea of using a small 120 volt compressor such as this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/air-compressors/3-gallon-100-psi-oilless-pancake-air-compressor-95275.html

either in conjunction with a generator or power inverter such as this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/automotive-motorcycle/power-inverters/750-watt-continuous-1500-watt-peak-power-inverter-66817.html

I calculated the numbers and the compressor only needs 312 watts to operate but decided to go with the 750 watt inverter just to have a safety margin. Can anyone tell me why this would be a bad idea? It's not the most ideal solution in terms of saving space but I will only really want the set up when I'm wheeling and not for daily use. It will be used for airing back up 99% of the time. Is there anyone out there familier with CFM and etc? Right now the only real negative I can forsee is the fill up time for 4 35 inch tires. There's also no duty cycle listed for the 120 volt compressors only the 12 volt ones so I'm not sure if the compressor is up to the task of inflating my tires.

[evilpersona]

why not just get a york ac compressor or another stock ac compressor and do it that way. thats my plan.

[565matt]

for on the cheap.. ditch your AC and use the belt run AC compressor as an air compressor. 100% duty cycle

[brunkhorse]

Definitely don't want to ditch the AC haha. But I was reading up on the York set up and it seems like a giant pita with having to go thru junkyards to locate the right one and the brackets to mount seem rare and then you have to mess w the belts and etc

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[DaveJKJ]

I have one of these and it works good. Works directly off the battery so it could be permenantly mounted under the hood if you got room for it. I just keep mine in the jeep all the time.






http://www.bing.com/shopping/search?q=mv50+superflow+high-volume+air+compressor&qpvt=mv50+superflow+high-volume+air+compressor&FORM=HURE


Dave

[LILWB]

I have that cheap red superflow compressor and it struggles to fill 35's and will only fill 2.5 of my 37's before blowing a fuse and shutting down. It works well on my wife's 33's though.
Now I'm looking into viair compressors and have all the parts for a permanent oba set up including a 3 gal tank. C

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[565matt]

Definitely don't want to ditch the AC haha. But I was reading up on the York set up and it seems like a giant pita with having to go thru junkyards to locate the right one and the brackets to mount seem rare and then you have to mess w the belts and etc

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HAHAHAHA yea it deff isnt the most popular idea but its really cheap

[HuLuD44]

Those viair systems are real nice. But are pretty pricey. I gutted my AC long ago to make room for a second batt (which hasnt happened yet) OBA is nice but I think of it as more of a luxury item and pick other things to upgrade first.

[brunkhorse]

I have that cheap red superflow compressor and it struggles to fill 35's and will only fill 2.5 of my 37's before blowing a fuse and shutting down. It works well on my wife's 33's though.
Now I'm looking into viair compressors and have all the parts for a permanent oba set up including a 3 gal tank. C

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Yeah that's the main beef I have with those compressors. They all give up before I can get all my tires filled up. I'd eventually want one of those constant duty viair systems but am looking for something to hold me over for now

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[agressivebudhist]

I have that cheap red superflow compressor and it struggles to fill 35's and will only fill 2.5 of my 37's before blowing a fuse and shutting down. It works well on my wife's 33's though.
Now I'm looking into viair compressors and have all the parts for a permanent oba set up including a 3 gal tank. C

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Upgrade the cheap china fuse holder that will melt..Shorten the lead wires and rock on..I mean really, i have the same compressor and run it every other day to top off my 245/70-19.5 from 70 psi to 105 psi, and a it has topped off my 15x10 stuan along with my 39.5s quite often..My compressor is a year old rides tossed in the floor of an all spring suspension international truck and after a year the pressure guage finally vibrated loose..(very common)..Im sure i have one around someplace to replace it.

First mode to do is cut the lead wires down to 12" and get a better fuse holder.Circuit breakers here are a great idea..Then use the hose to reach the tire.

Viair compressors arent all that much better in terms of parts and assembly..Id run three of the red ones plumbed to one tank any day over a viair unit..Well actually im going to install two of them on my tow pig to support the 15 gallon tank and the air ride cab and sleeper soon. Adding a third if i ever design and build a trailing arm air ride front axle..

On board air is nice if I i need to change a tire on my front beadlocks..as its 20 high torque bolts per rim with the lugnuts included.Its a bit much if your just airing up and down non beadlocked tires that are small.

[Cybergrunt]

Been hovering over this thread since last night (there's many ways to go with this). It has the making of a good white paper, like Dom's locker thread or a winch thread. I kicked a few ideas around today with some engineers and wheelers at work and will create another comprehensive thread. This started as a budget air solution and should stay that way. Sounds like this is a temporary solution until you get an onboard air system. Looks like you're willing to throw 110-125 bucks into this based on your post. I have a similar compressor to the HF one you're looking at. As for the inverter, at 700 watts the compressor will run albeit at 1 CFM @ 40psi. The issue you might have is surge during a regulated restart when the tank is somewhat compressed. In this weather I'm sure you don't want to 86 your AC. That leaves a slew of 12 volt air compressors. Less expensive ones (20-40) that plug directly in the cig lighter are light duty and won't meet your requirement at up to 1.27 CFM. The Viair 90P is a direct power 75 dollar unit that is 1.77 CFM. You can get other brands at up to 2.54 CFM for the same money (pep boys master flow) but I don't know about the quality. From here you obviously go up to hundreds of dollars. Compressed air tanks open a whole other conversation.

[LILWB]

Those viair systems are real nice. But are pretty pricey. I gutted my AC long ago to make room for a second batt (which hasnt happened yet) OBA is nice but I think of it as more of a luxury item and pick other things to upgrade first.

I sourced a bunch of the new parts myself and am reusing the tank some fittings and air lines which saved a bunch of cash. Other than the compressor the biggest expense was the $25 viair relay/ pressure switch and the $30 alu manifold. I couldn't see dropping $600 or so on a kit. So far I have less than 150 into it if I use the superflow compressor. I just need a check valve to put on the compressor. But you have a point since I have been doing armor and drivetrain stuff instead of that.
Since tires are so expensive I dont want to wear them out early by driving at 8 psi on the pavement. I killed my first set of mt's that way so at the very least its nice to have something cheap to air up with. Sometimes the trailhead is real far from... anything



Upgrade the cheap china fuse holder that will melt..Shorten the lead wires and rock on..I mean really, i have the same compressor and run it every other day to top off my 245/70-19.5 from 70 psi to 105 psi, and a it has topped off my 15x10 stuan along with my 39.5s quite often..My compressor is a year old rides tossed in the floor of an all spring suspension international truck and after a year the pressure guage finally vibrated loose..(very common)..Im sure i have one around someplace to replace it.

First mode to do is cut the lead wires down to 12" and get a better fuse holder.Circuit breakers here are a great idea..Then use the hose to reach the tire.

Viair compressors arent all that much better in terms of parts and assembly..Id run three of the red ones plumbed to one tank any day over a viair unit..Well actually im going to install two of them on my tow pig to support the 15 gallon tank and the air ride cab and sleeper soon. Adding a third if i ever design and build a trailing arm air ride front axle..

On board air is nice if I i need to change a tire on my front beadlocks..as its 20 high torque bolts per rim with the lugnuts included.Its a bit much if your just airing up and down non beadlocked tires that are small.

Thats a good idea and some great insight for my plan. My plan was to mount it under the hood and rewire it with 8 or 10 ga. But I am hearing it doesn't like the constant heat. So I was thinking of using two, mounted in the tub behind each tail light but that would be an even longer wire run....hummm
Ill probably just stick with the plan and upgrade if it craps out. Then again the parts have been sitting in a box for over a year so......

But regarding the original post. If you camp a lot or fish on the beaches an inverter is a great idea (margaritas anyone?) so and if you have the room for the shop compressor then why not?


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[Tat2dfreak]

How something like this,

http://www.atozfabrication.com/store/product.php?productid=16539

[brunkhorse]

As Bill said that opens up a whole another conversation. How much would that cost to fill up? And where would u get it done?

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[Tat2dfreak]

I think it cost about 15 bucks to fill and can filled at a welding supply store or fire extinguisher store maybe even a paintball store.