Safety, convenience and peace of mind. These are three things that an air compressor can offer you as you drive your commute or take a long leisurely drive through the country in your precious car.
If you’re a car owner with any amount of experience, it’s likely you’ve suffered a flat tyre. Whether something has punctured a tyre or they have simply deflated over time, these things can happen at inconvenient times.
No matter what the circumstances, having the proper pressure in your tyres contributes to safe driving and proper car maintenance.
This is where an air compressor comes in: Something you can take with you wherever you go in your car and can be used to inflate your tyres on the go.
What Type Of Car Tyre Pump Do I Need?
You need to consider many things when shopping for an air compressor. Each person’s needs vary depending on the vehicle you own. Here are the things you need to keep in mind when you’re shopping for a car air pump.
Power Source
Since you’ll mainly use it for your car, it is important to know what type of power source it uses. For starters, the most common are battery-operated, outlet-powered, and car battery-powered ones.
Battery-operated car tyre inflators are wireless devices that run on rechargeable batteries, usually charged through their USB port.
Heavy duty outlet-powered ones are plugged into a wall socket but are commonly used for shop, garage, or home purposes only.
The most common and reliable air pumps for cars are battery-operated inflators. You can plug these into the vehicle’s power port or lighter port. It will use the car’s battery to power the inflator. There’s never a worry about fuel consumption or finding a wall socket or even reaching for your compressor when the batteries are flat.
PSI Capability
Items differ in the capability to produce enough air pressure to inflate a tyre. Some can draw up to 100 PSI while others can produce up to 150 PSI. Although most vehicles require around 30-40 PSI, keeping this in mind is essential.
In addition to its capability to inflate tyres, compressors can also be used in multiple ways. Air blowers help you clean dirt and water blowers are great spring cleaners or car washers. That is why there are several attachments available in the market to convert a normal or portable air pump into an air tool or pneumatic tool.
Air Power
When we talk about air power, we mean how fast or slow the inflator pushes out air to the tyres. Some inflators will take up to 30 minutes to inflate a tyre from flat but some can inflate in just 10 minutes.
For garage use, a compressor like the Wolf pump is a reliable machine that can deliver up to 116 PSI and has a 1.5HP motor. The size of the tank on this product is 6L which can store compressed air for easy inflation.
Gauge
Since you’ll be relying on a device to deliver the exact PSI for each tyre, it is important to consider the reliability of an inflator’s gauge.
There are new ones with digital pressure gauges and LED lights where you can select the PSI required to inflate your tyres to the optimum level. While some use an analogue gauge for pressure monitoring.
Hose And Cable Length
If plugging into an outlet or into your car, consider how long the hose and power cable should be. Cars with long wheelbases require a compressor with a long hose.
While some have fixed hoses installed, most air compressors like this BlueSpot hose can cover long distances. This helps you go around your garage and reach each corner of your vehicle.
Portability
Hoses and cables are messy and portability is something you need to consider when getting an air compressor.
Packing away after use can be hard if you have lengthy wires. That is why you need to have something that is easy to pack and compact yet reliable so you can store it inside your garage or car in a tidy fashion.
Duty Cycle
Not all air compressors can run for an hour straight. Most of them have duty cycles where they can operate for a certain amount of time before it cools down before operating again.
This is important to note especially if you plan to use an air compressor heavily or not.
Auto Shutoff
An automatic shutoff is a feature you need to consider to get the perfect PSI for your tyres. The device will shut down when it reaches the PSI you’ve set for your air compressor.
Think about acquiring a compressor with this feature to help curtail your energy consumption when filling your tyres to an optimum level.
Conclusion
With these considerations in mind, it should now be easy for you to decide which type of air compressor you’ll need. For overall garage and shop needs, an outlet-plugged compressor is ideal. While for on-the-go car needs, it’s best to use a portable one. Pack these away and plug them into the car’s power outlet so it runs off the car’s batteries.
Coming soon to Yavolo in September 2023, are even more ways to keep you going on the move.
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