Portable Inflator suggestions

[rreegg]

I’ve been considering getting a Milwaukee battery powered inflator but haven’t been sold yet. Mostly use m12 but have m18 as well. Heavily considered a m18 inflator over the summer but passed. Now I see there’s an m12 inflator at Home Depot for ~$135

For a passenger car (35psi) I can get away with a floor/bike pump. For a truck tire (60psi+) the floor pump is not feasible - end up usually just going to a gas station.

I have a pancake compressor which would be the cheapest truck inflator option - would just need the appropriate attachment. But problem is it’s not too portable.

The m12 is rated to like 120psi but would imagine it’d be pushed getting a truck tire up to 70psi.

Any thoughts? M18 would be nice but still not sold.

Optimizing for price and portability/ functionality

 

[Fredrickson]

Since you already have a (pancake) compressor.. why not just get a portable air tank?
Most have a gauge and a short hose attached..

 

[Nero]

What about on board air? I have one for adjusting my air bags on the fly, all I would need to get an air hose hooked up would be a Tee fitting

 

[asmith]

I have heard nothing but good things about the M18 inflator. m12 seems like it would be a little underpowered and take quite a few batteries to top up multiple tires, maybe not, but just seems that way. I don't think any of these would be great for filling up multiple tires from empty. You can do it it would just take awhile.

I have the dewalt 20V version. I love it. it is quick and does my 35" tires great.

 

[Clb]

Viair
Ftw
I blow up 4- 35's from 8 psi to 40 something in under 15 minutes ( never paid attention)....
I've got the 400.
Eta
I run a 4 way inflation hose on the crawler.

VIAIR: #1 Brand For Tire Inflators & Air Compressors

With best-in-class design and performance, VIAIR compressors lead the market in quality, reliability, and convenience.

viaircorp.com

 

[scsmith42]

I've owned the M18 inflator for over a year. LOVE IT! I use it on everything here on the farm - including 120psi semi tires.

A friend has the M12 and it was he that advised me to get the M18. It's much more robust.

One other thing - get the highest AH battery for it that you can. I'm running an 8AH in mine and it's much better than the previous 5AH.

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

I bought a portable tank last summer and I can’t believe I lived this long without one. I think it might struggle with 35s at 60-70 psi.

 

[miked]

I have had a tank for years.
Got tired of hauling it back and forth to air up the tires on my equipment every spring.
Picked up an Milwaukee m12 inflator and with a few extra batteries it gets the job done. But I do believe I would have been happier with the m18 model.

 

[03wr250f]

i run a napa maxitrak 12v 10.9 cfm (legit pulls 80 amps) and a 4 tire inflator i built for my truck because it is so long compared to the readily available ones normally made around jeeps, or other short wheel base vehicles.

My truck has on board air and a tank for the airbags and i could air up tires that way, it would take forever with the .5 cfm compressor I have.

The maxitrack or other chinese dual piston compressors can be found for roughly $120-140 on amazon. They have a 25% duty cycle meaning 15 min of run time 45 min of rest, however i can air up all 4 of my 35s from 12+/- psi to 35 psi in 7 minutes, so the duty cycle never bothers me. I paid $115 for my compressor from napa in 2020. If you go the 12v route that is what i would run, they are portable, fast and cheap. Onboard air you will spend considerably more to fully set it up, or i hear lots of good things about the m18.

 

[Clb]

That's a Screamin deal. ^^^
Used continuously over duty cycle will kill them. Mine is continuous duty rated so I can do multiple rigs.
Guess I should time mine .
For you guys that are going to be making the 4x inflator, get the air chucks that push/pull lock in place AND stop flowing when removed .

 

[rreegg]

Thanks for the input all, some good suggestions I hadn’t considered.
Gonna think it over and look for deals. Might continue hoofing the pancake compressor as a portable tank. Glad to hear the m18 unit works so well

 

[catbird7]

I carry a JNC Air, basically a jump box with built in compressor. Neither product are high usage items for me so it made sense to buy a combo unit offering both.

 

[Dirtleg]

i run a napa maxitrak 12v 10.9 cfm (legit pulls 80 amps) and a 4 tire inflator i built for my truck because it is so long compared to the readily available ones normally made around jeeps, or other short wheel base vehicles.

My truck has on board air and a tank for the airbags and i could air up tires that way, it would take forever with the .5 cfm compressor I have.

The maxitrack or other chinese dual piston compressors can be found for roughly $120-140 on amazon. They have a 25% duty cycle meaning 15 min of run time 45 min of rest, however i can air up all 4 of my 35s from 12+/- psi to 35 psi in 7 minutes, so the duty cycle never bothers me. I paid $115 for my compressor from napa in 2020. If you go the 12v route that is what i would run, they are portable, fast and cheap. Onboard air you will spend considerably more to fully set it up, or i hear lots of good things about the m18.

Curious about that one. Seems like a knockoff of the Ez-Flate MOAB.
What concerned me with the NAPA model is no warranty expressed or implied.
You've obviously had a good run of it. How much run time would you say it has on it currently?

 

[Clb]

1 thing to keep in mind, when using these
Run the engine so the alternator is feeding them.
When my redtop started to go ( that's a whole new thread) I could hear the difference in the pumps output from idle to off.

 

[DougBoy66]

I use the DeWalt one. Mostly because I already have invested in 20v max tool. It works really well. Just set your wanted tire pressure and hit the go button and it can also plug into the cigarette lighter if the battery dies on ya. It also does the high flow air for mattress or pool floats or whatever