12-v tyre inflator – quiet, fast, powerful

[mubs]

I have one ~ 12 years old, and it works ok. Noisy as hell, though. And unable to get up to 60 PSI, even though the built in dial goes to 200 PSI (one of the cars has a toy spare that needs 60 PSI).

Anybody make a high-quality, quiet, one that can be kept in the trunk? Like those $200 ones they keep in garages for spray painting, etc., except not as big and expensive, but same kind of design (rotary?)?

As an aside, do those fix-a-flat-in-a-can things work?

TYVM.

[Mercutio]

Fixaflat works well enough to get your car to someplace that'll sell you a new tire.

[e_dawg]

High-quality quiet compressor that you can stow in your trunk? Yeah, let me know when you find one. :) As far as quietness goes, the only thing that will do the job is a compressed air tank. But they aren't exactly the most compact nor practical devices.

[jtr1962]

I have one of those to inflate my bike tires in the garage (I use a battery charger for power). It inflates my bike tires to 110 psi with no problem. All the ones I've heard so far are noisy, and a fair number are so cheaply made they break after inflating one or two car tires. My brother's compressed air sprayer is good for inflating tires, but as e_dawg said, it's not really the most practical thing to carry around, and it requires 120 VAC.

[Pradeep]

I got one of those all in one jump start/battery powered 120V outlets/torch/air compressors from Sears when they were on sale for $80. Xantrec something. Very compact. Compressor is noisy but does the job. How many times do you inflate a tire anyway?

On an auto related note, my dead Chevy truck must have passed whatever ailed it to my neighbours Chevy truck, cause it caught on fire not far from home yesterday. Started in the engine bay and then spread to the dash/shifter column before he managed to hose it down. Luckily no one was hurt but it only had liability coverage :( I'll have to tell my father-in-law not to bring his Chevy Malibu over in case that gets it too.....

[blakerwry]

For the occasional air boost in my tires I just goto a local gas station. Most of them have air compressors for about $0.50 a use (should be able to inflate 4 tires with that).. quick trip lets you use their air compressor for free.

[mubs]

Thanks everybody.

Pradeep, this thing is like insurance. You don't need it till you need it (another one for Sechs to put in the Favorite Quotes thread).

Blake, I try to fill air at gas stations as well, but out here, many gas stations either don't have the air pumps, or they're perpetually broken. Further, the difficulty comes when the car is at home and you find the tyre squished down. Changing to the spare is a lot of work for what's not really a flat.

So, now it's time to spec and design the thing. A precision instrument that we SFers will design, get manufactured. It will be sold thru Sharper Image.

And it will come with a power brick with a standard 110VAC cord on one end and a 12VDC cord with a cigarette lighter socket on the the other. That way, use it in the garage, or on the road.

Unfortunately, I know didley about compressor technology :x (I'm not an ME).

Further ideas welcome.

[blakerwry]

just get one of these (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=3992&cat=4338&type=1&dept=5428&path=0%3A5428%3A4091%3A4338)