air compressor poll

[lefty]

you have a budget of say $150 only
you currently do not have a compressor at all
would you buy 1x good quality single fast flowing one
or 2 x $75 slower,smaller ok quality ones?

and reasons for your choice?

 

[eden]

good quality one.
reason: reliability. will take up less space. and one decent one should pump quicker than one cheap one anyway.

 

[carljwnc]

Quality over quantity.:ebiggrin:

 

[mr turbo]

I would get 1x good quality.
You only get what you pay for & you want it to work when you want it to & need it to. :iconwink:

Regards
Mr Turbo

 

[Kevin]

anything that is Viair based

 

[lefty]

looks like one good one beats 2 ok ones according to the poll. The reason I put up the poll is because I have 2 smaller ones and after thinking about it they could be the way to go because:
-if one breaks down I still have a spare
-can lend to someone if they don't have one
- can use both at the same time ( will it be as fast as one good single? I donno)
- storage: I can store one under the cargo tray next to the jack and the other under the front seat

just my thoughts

 

[Kevin]

or- they can both break down together! :biggrin:

 

[eden]

being a tradesmen i will always supply quality. i don't want a warrenty call!

 

[Barry]

Projecta Typhoon compressor $ale price (early Oct. '09)

I'd spring the extra $9 for the Projecta Typhoon while it is still on sale for $159 (usually $212) at REPCO.
It is the twin head version. The single head Storm (next model down) is $179.
Getem while they are hot!

The 'moral of the story' is keep your eyes open and everything on the wish list eventually available at less than retail. :ebiggrin:

And a big thanks to apsilon for filling me in about the REPCO sale!

 

[silver]

Blue Tongue/Twin Tongue seem to get a good wrap on some some sites. Made in the good old US of A apparently. The Twin Tonge is bloody dear though and they draw around 16 amps.
There is a lot of different stuff out there and some many different comments about different brands. Buggered if i know. That's the trouble with so much stuff coming out of China. I find it reaaly hard to have any faith in stuff made there.
Maybe i will take a hand pump!!!

 

[Barry]

Bottom line is, buy the best quality you can afford. As to the 'Chinese connection' ... don't look too closely at the origin of your computer / components / screen. :lol:
Would love the 'twin tongue', but recon that the Typhoon, for the price, was a better option for me.
Remember, you can have any 2 of the following three variables:
Ultimately, best quality and best performance is never cheap, but there is a lot of high price stuff that misses out on one or both of those variables. :biggrin:

 

[silver]

I know what you mean about chinese stuff. My Samsung monitor is a chinese sourced panel and it's a great monitor and lots of stuff comes from there. I suppose i don't really have a problem with chinese sourced stuff if it is made for a parent company i trust but being unsure of/unfamiliar with the parent company causes me some concern.
If it was a 'Green Dragon', best quality, super whoopie do compressor i don't think i would buy it but a Samsung compressor i probably would.
I think my best option is to listen to what people here have to say, check the 4x4 websites/forums and do the rounds of the off road shops and then make up my mind.

 

[apsilon]

I have a Blue Tongue. Works, should be reliable and so far has been, but is slow by the standards of the current crop of compressors. My only complaint with it is no in line gauge so you have to stop and check with a seperate gauge which extends the time to inflate even further.

The 4WD Action mag compressor roundup rated the Projecta Typhoon above both the Blue Tongue and Twin Tongue at a fraction of the price.

I can post up the test results between them if someone wants me to but I'm not going to type up all 32 compressors.
Of course long term reliability is hard to test for a magazine review but when you're paying half the price does it really matter if it only lasts half as long?

As for China yes there's a lot of cheap junk that comes out of there but there's also so damn good quality coming out of there of late as well. Real problem is telling the good stuff from the junk as "Made in China" no longer means "Buyer Beware".

 

[Barry]

I'd have been happy with the single head Projecta ('Storm' model?) but for the special that Repco had. Might be worth puting up its specs as well as a comparison if you can.
Yep, 'Made in China' no longer means what 'Made in Taiwan' did 25 years ago, or 'Made in Japan' did 50 years ago.
No doubt in another 25 years there will be great stuff coming out of places like the Phillipines / Indonesia, or parts of Africa. (Given the resource base in Africa that would be fantastic for that part of the world.)
Lets just hope, for all our kids sakes, that by then the 'stuff' in question will be built using low carbon technologies and solar powered for our fuel cell 'Gen10' Outbacks! [Hijack ends]

 

[silver]

I looked at the Projector models a couple of days ago at AutoOne. They had 2 and the smaller one was $165.
I am stopping off at Port Macquarie tomorrow on my way up to South West Rocks for a few days and will do the rounds of the 4x4 shops.
It's a long time before i head off on my trip but what i am trying to do is sort out the rubbish from the good stuff and then i can keep an eye out for stuff on special.
I don't mind if a compressor is a little slow as time won't be of any concern to me but i do need reliability and really need to watch the weight i put in the car.

 

[apsilon]

I don't mind if a compressor is a little slow

I used to think the same thing until a month or so ago and we were airing up just out of Oberon with a freezing wind coming straight across us LOL.

The results for the Projecta Typhoon, Blue Tongue and Twin Tongue as promised.

Test 1: (245/70-16 tyre from 15psi)

- Start/Finish temp:
TT: 19.9/43.8
BT: 22.9/58
Ty: 23/48.3

- Free flow amp draw:
TT: 12
BT: 7.5
Ty: 14.6

- Min/Max amp draw:
TT: 16.4/16.9
BT: 9.5/9.8
Ty: 14.8/14.8

- Avg PSI / 30 sec:
TT: 5.7
BT: 4.2
Ty: 6.2

- Max PSI:
TT: 43.5
BT: 40
Ty: 40

- Total time:
TT: 2:30
BT: 3:00
Ty: 2:00

Test 2: (315/75-16 tyre from 15psi)

- Start/Finish temp:
TT: 21/55.9
BT: 22.9/70.8
Ty: 22/60.2

- Free flow amp draw:
TT: 12
BT: 7.1
Ty: 14.8

- Min/Max amp draw:
TT: 15.4/16.1
BT: 7.9/8.8
Ty: 15.4/15.6

- Avg PSI / 30 sec:
TT: 3.0
BT: 2.8
Ty: 3.6

- Max PSI:
TT: 40.5
BT: 40
Ty: 40.5

- Total time:
TT: 4:00
BT: 5:30
Ty: 3:30

Test 3: Endurance

- Start/Finish temp
TT: 20.4/100.9
BT: 21.4/110.7
Ty: 20.8/94.7

- PSI/min
TT: 35 @ 3:00
BT: 34.5 @ 4:00
Ty: 37 @ 3:00

- No of tyres inflated
TT: 12
BT: 12
Ty: 12

- Other:

- Prices:
TT: $800
BT: $340
Ty: $195

Typhoon received a "Recommended" whilst neither the TT or BT did.

Best value under $500 went to the ARB CKMP12

There was no overall winner declared.

Of these 3 the Typhoon matches or beats the Twin Tongue in performance for a quarter of the price so IMO, if you're looking for a compressor it'd be one to look at for sure (no I don['t work for Projecta or Repco etc. It'd have to fail 4 times over before you caught up to the spend on the Twin Tongue. That might change if you were looking for something to mount in the vehicle to run lockers as well as inflate tyres but otherwise, on paper at least the Typhoon looks the goods.

 

[Kevin]

I used to think the same thing until a month or so ago and we were airing up just out of Oberon with a freezing wind coming straight across us LOL.

Yeah, that was bloody freezing !

 

[scooby]

harbor freight compressor

Here we have cheap compressors that the hardcore wheelers use and swear by them...

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-150-psi-high-volume-air-compressor-66399.htmlsignal

With all four at 10psi I aired them up in about 3min. to 32psi )235/75r15's.

I have one and would never pay the absurd prices for one over $100..
It cuts in to my beer fund..

Quality really doesn't matter much when it breaks in BFE, a warranty is good for lighting that signal fire! That being said all that cash you spent on a high dollar pump can't be used to fuel the fire..:rotfl:
....a good ol' hand pump will suffice as backup..

Never trust anything mechanical/electrical if you can't fix it in the field

 

[carljwnc]

Here we have cheap compressors that the hardcore wheelers use and swear by them...

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-150-psi-high-volume-air-compressor-66399.htmlsignal

For some reason that link isn't taking me anywhere, but I think i found it. Is it the Central Pneumatic 150psi one with the battery clamps on it $59.99, as opposed to the 100psi one with the cig plug on it???

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-150-psi-high-volume-air-compressor-66399.html

I'm a bit wary of Harbor Freight stuff, but if it's tried and true I might give it a go. I really should be carrying one with me.

 

[scooby]

For some reason that link isn't taking me anywhere, but I think i found it. Is it the Central Pneumatic 150psi one with the battery clamps on it $59.99, as opposed to the 100psi one with the cig plug on it???

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-150-psi-high-volume-air-compressor-66399.html

I'm a bit wary of Harbor Freight stuff, but if it's tried and true I might give it a go. I really should be carrying one with me.

That's it... I love mine..