Question on purchasing a Portable Tire Air Compressor?

I noticed some are 150 psi others are 200 or 250 psi and some are 300 psi.
Now I understand the science of PSI (pressure per square inch) but how does it relate to the performance of these portable compressors?

It seems that these numbers don't even affect the price because some of the 150 PSI units costs more than a 300 PSI unit whiles a 300 PSI unit may cost more than a 250 PSI unit elsewhere.

FYI: these are the kits you buy that plug into your battery or 12v cig. lighter and compress air to inflate your tire if you get a flat or something and can't get to a gas station.

http://www.mysears.com/Craftsman-C3-...flator-reviews


this is the unit i have, i mainly got mine for the track though... the main thing that should affect price would be the CFM rating... Cubic feet per minute, this is the actual output of the pump, not the pressure.

Get one that will actually fill up a tire. Seriously, I bought one that could not pump air into a tire. I use now one if those compression tanks that is also useful as a pneumatic nailer.

its based on how fast. its based on the flow. you need to inflate super fast getter a higher psi pump, dont care about speed get a cheaper one.

e46's don't get flat tires.

I have an old Sears Craftsman model 900150350 that plugs into an AC outlet and is a lot more powerful than those DC ones. It will add 10 pounds to a tire in minutes. I don't think they sell it anymore. It has lasted me for at least 10 years or more.

Originally Posted by usernamehere

e46's don't get flat tires.

lol. True. My 330i rims got bent from a nasty pothole last winter and my tire stayed inflated all the way home (about 15 miles). When I replaced the rim the tire shop guy said the tire was still good and re-used the tire. Not bad for tires with a 2001 DOT date on them.


This Air Compressor would be for our C Class Benz.

That thing gets flat tires like every week and the Mercedes donut/spare tire is utterly useless!

um dude, that is both of your cars, on a flatbed within a week!!!!.....

hey at least this time there's not a 70$ 20ft tow involved

you dont need 300psi, or even 150 psi.

tires only run 50psi max. what matters is cfm, or cubic feet per minuet.

Originally Posted by dakkon

um dude, that is both of your cars, on a flatbed within a week!!!!.....

hey at least this time there's not a 70$ 20ft tow involved

yeah I know

I keep a good bike pump in my trunk. Yes it takes 100 pumps for 20psi roughly, but its a good workout lol and I donot need to rely on batteries or power.

I bought this a couple years back on sale.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02875114000P

Ironically it was NOT in a Sears but a Walmart or Kmart (approx $20.00). Very reliable and simple. Used quite a bit since neighbors spotted me with it :-). It's smaller than a phone book and takes about 8-9mins to fully inflate a completely flat tire. It has a preset feature so you can set it and walk away and it will stop at the preset and not over inflate tire.
Since they're not that expensive I decided not to over think the psi rating, flow rate etc thing. It worked out well for me.

I have the Slime Heavy Duty that plugs into my cigarette lighter.

http://www.slime.com/product/71/Heav...OMP-06%29.html