air compressors

12v or 240v

12v would be the new ARB one at an 8 out of 10 cause it is yet to be proved in long term use

I have the old ARB one in carry case and Darkie has a non working Blue tongue under his bonnet.


Cheers Kev

EndlessAir or home made, using an airconditioner compressor

10/10

Blue tongue - wired into the back of GU Patrol (away from the engine heat) with airlines plumbed to front and back bumper.
Reason : 100% duty cycle. Rating? 8/10
But I used a supercrap one for several years before I saved for the bluetongue. Both pumped up the tyres, and neither makes the coffee.....................Keith.

No 1,

This is another can of worms.

I think what you have to ask is when choosing a compressor is what is the toughest task that you want it to do.

If it only has to fill a small air tank to run diff-locks, just about any compressor will do that.

If you want a compressor that will reset a tubeless tyre on to a rim after a repair, that will reduce the number of compressors that are available.

I have found that the Big Red will reset a tubeless tyre on a rim and that is the one that I use. Having a compressor that will pump a tyre up in 10sec is not much use if you can't get the tyre set on the rim.

The only other compressor that I would look at is the End Less Air but that is limited as to where it can be fitted.

Wayne

They are all ordinary in my opinion. We all want one as fast as the home or garage compressor and to re-seat tyres. Haven't found one yet that will re-seat tyres without drama. When I say that mine will reseat tyres that have just been removed and still have memory to their shape. But very difficult to reseat them if you have 8" cruiser rims and the casing has ben lying down for ages.

Anyway I rate them all at 3/10. but believe the Bushranger max air to be a whole lot better than the old ARB one but then again I have a $100 bushranger copy that is the main one I use and that is just as good and been going stong for three years now.

I have the old ARB one that was originally in a case. I would give it a 5/10, but since I got it I mounted it into the vehicle, installed a pressure switch and a small tap in the airline at the tyre end.

Now I would give it a 7 as it will reseat a tyre (just ;-) )by pressurising the small tank and the air line and releasing it all at once. Not real quick on inflation, but being able to trap the air in the line while moving around the vehicle helps. It has never cut out either, even after inflating 8 tyres in one hit.
Longevity is good too as I am the second owner and I know the 1st owner used it a bit and had it mounted under the bonnet.

http://offroadrecovery.zoovy.com/c=5e5cnCGWcYWDSSslSypHSsykG/product/007-222/ExtremeAire_Magnum_6_CFM_Compressor.html

thats what I have on board. 10 out of 10 for me .. I have a stainless steel pressure tank (custom made) and drive all the air consumers on board. I drives my rattle gun and other air tools easy and I can air up my 6 tyres from 25 to 60 psi without waiting for the compressor. I was looking at an endless air but it is too hard to fit it to my engine and the support was lacking completely.
It blows my 100 amp circuit breaker at times ( I have to upgrade to 150 or so, the cable I used is thick enough). Similar to endless air I run the engine when I air up but I guess even with the toy ones you eventually run the engine because most of the jap cars have no decent batteries.
I have a high idle switch so my alternators can even charge the batteries while I use the compressor. Usually it does not take more than 10 -15 minutes to air up all 6 tyres.

good luck
gmd

I can't criticise my Blue Tongue III - its had a huge amount of work over 7+ years and still pumps as good as new. Give it 7/10 for quality and longevity. Its also got a fan, so it can pump continuously.

My backup/portable pump is the current model Terrain Tamer twin cylinder - It pumps at the same speed as the Blue Tongue and only cost $125. Give it 6/10 for value for money.

From others I've seen, you can't beat an air conditioner compressor for speed, but to install correctly is not possible on most vehicles.

For reseating difficult tubeless tyres I use a modified ARB deflater fitted with a length of hose and a tyre chuck - pump up another tyre, fit the deflater, remove the valve and 5 seconds later the first bead pops on.

Endless air 10/10, ARB 6/10, Bluetounge MKII 5/10 (have had all but got rid of the Bluetounge)

Most are slow but if you want to seat beads then any compressor will do as long as you have an air tank to store some volume. I would recommend around 9L

Now once you get an Endlessair then you will wonder why you even considered any of the others. For an outlay of around $400 to build your own complete with tank, it works out to be around the same price or cheaper than the others. Also if the compressor dies, you can get another from a wreckers for $20-$40.

Not all engines can accomodate an Endlessair however. If interested in building one then I have detailed my experience On my website.

Regards
David

I went with one of these, Big Pro 7 3.5 cfm on 12 volt, 5 cfm on 24 volt. http://www.probag.com.au/components%201.html#compressors looks very similar to the one from off road recovery.
Works very well, plumbed into a tank which then is connected to the Central Tyre Inflation System in the Humvee, can adjust tyre pressures on the go!!
Before that I had an early Blue tongue which never missed a beat, i was the second owner and both of us gave it lots of use.

old ARB 5/10 - too slow but reliable

New max air 9/10

new new 50lt 16CFM 15/10

9 / 10 Bluetongue twin head as main compressor......7 / 10 blue tongue single head as back up (was originally my only compressor)..

basing my ratings on reliability first and volume supplied second...nothing is worth 10

was interested in an endless air but they cant even be bothered in answering an email enquiry about where to buy one..so have just purchased another twin head blue tongue for second vehicle...
yes that gives me three blue tongues......a twin in each vehicle permantly mounted and the single head portable between either

ARB old..........2 out of 10
ARB new........7
Bluetounge.....4 to 5
TwinTounge...6
Warn Winch/compressor...9
Big Red..........3
ElCheapo cigarette plug types....minus 1 to minus 5 (not worth buying ;-)
MaxAir...........5
MaxAir Copy...4
Big Thumper..8
These rough ratings are of compressors I've used, seen running or heard 1st hand reports of. Priority was given to capacity, quality, price & duty cycle. The pic is of my Big Thumper (sold under several names) was $320, about 4cfm, continuous duty but takes up a fair bit of room many wouldn't have under the bonnat.

In garage I have cheap Chinese made “direct drive” 40L unit. Serve me ok, but not powerful enough to drive air tools for long time plus some quality issues. 5/10

In car I have MaxAir from Bushranger 8/10 – dislike stupid curly hose, inconvenient case and very bad position for air filter. Performance-wise OK.

Also I have twin-piston compressor from Projecta that I plan to install permanently in my car altogether with receiver. Very fast, but incredibly bad quality. Still in stage of rebuilding. 2/10

Serg