Wanting to buy 12v air compressor

Bushranger Max for me too. It also has a pressure switch too so its not running all the time.

Bushranger max air as well mines 14yrs old and done a fair amount of work cost $360 back then but worth the extra dollars for a long lasting reliable compressor. It puts out 72lts a minute has a higher temp cut out than some has a 35amp fuse so your not going to be drawing massive amps which can ruin or shorten the life of a low out put alternator just something to consider.

DingoBlue, would you have a brand name of a 12 v compressor that puts out that volume.
Cheers

Blue M, ARB Twin Motor Compressor output 174 L/Min.

Macca.

I don't get the big deal about a 170 LPM flowrate myself....my Maxair compressor has my tyres pumped up fairly quickly (MaxAir 3 claims they are 72 LPM), it might not be as quick as the ARB unit, but it's not a huge amount of differance longer in reality. For occasional use it's hard to justify the price of the ARB units for many people, I'd say I use my compressor more then occasionally, and whilst I looked into upgrading to the ARB twin unit (purely due to my compressor getting on in years, it still works fine currently), I didn't bother when I got the price. If someone wanted to give me one I wouldn't say No (i would be more then happy to own one), but there is no need to spend that much on a compressor to get something reliable and still pumps tyres up in a half decent amount of time.

Well look at this one 300psi and only $10 !!!

https://www.kmart.com.au/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?urlRequestType=Base&catalogId=10102&categoryId=&productId=119654&errorViewName=ProductDisplayErrorView&urlLangId=-1&langId=-1&top_category=&parent_category_rn=&storeId=10701

I have the Bushranger Max air and also the ARB unit . Both are very good and would happily purchase either again . Something to consider is the size and portability of the two units as you may find one more convenient to carry or use.
I prefer the ARB for permanent mounting in a vehicle but the MaxAir is a great portable unit.

Be careful of the output claims of many of the compressors as they are very misleading.
The output is measured with no load resistance and depending on the quality of the unit will produce much less when pumping up a tyre.
The MaxAir units are only 72 litres a minute but will still outperform others with claimed outputs twice that amount.

FYI MaxAir use Viair compressors on their units

Hi Rumpig, when you have 6 or 8 tyres to pump up from 20 psi back to highway pressures, the larger the volume of air, the shorter the time to complete the task. Particularly off road tyres, that are quite large. Worth reading the articles in the attached links.

http://unsealed4x4.com.au/12v-portable-air-compressor-comparison/

http://unsealed4x4.com.au/issue017/#35

Macca.

Wicket, volume of air supplied is probably more important than pressure, after all 300 psi @ 10 Ltrs./Min. will take an awful long time to pump up a tyre.

Macca.

Regardless of what the test says about compressors Macca, I still stand by my opinion that it's hard to justify the $870 it says it costs for an ARB twin compressor for many people....i'll save that $520 extra it says they cost more then what I'd likely buy, and enjoy spending it on something else on my vehicle instead.

No problem rumpig, lots of people will agree with you regarding the price.

Macca Interesting test results for the compressors couldn't help but notice Bushrangers ran a lot cooler than most of the others maybe their thinking of the long term life and reliability of their product by running them at a slower speed.

$870??? Are you serious???

To pump tyres back up?

Each to his own Kev. When you have 8 large tyres to pump up in 38 degree heat, I want something that will go the distance without issue. Also if I want run my air tools, I want something with enough volume.

Macca

If speed at which you can re-inflate tyres is an issue, and the ARB cost $900ish, you could get 4 cheaper compressors and have them all running at once instead. ??

Neihoh, not practical, in order to run 4 compressors at once, you would need 4 anderson plugs, and at least one if not two extra batteries on top of the two I already have. At approx $200 for each battery, (for quality batteries), plus the extra weight of the batteries, and finding somewhere to mount them, and the cost of installation & wiring, the cost is getting up there. Plus, cannot run air tools without the volume that a tank provides.

Macca.

Have to agree ARB is a great unit , only had the single unit but worked a treat,

I have the ADR sidewinder twin which is getting on a bit now. it has never given any trouble and is fast enough for my inflation needs. Just be aware that any the big output units draw a lot of amps

I give the abr sidewinder compressor a big tick.

+1
It too won top spot in a magazine comparison

Both niggly issues easy fixed.
I modded mine with 10’ of airline and some extra fittings (1 joiner), and fitted a screw on valve connector.
Did that early on and makes life a lot easier.

Next mod to do will be small airtank and pressure switch, so I can plumb air up and have a fitting to the front and rear of vehicle, and just use the 10’ airline at either end easily.

Thanks Les, I have seen online some of the fittings you have mentioned so I need to get off my backside and chase them up.

My answer to getting to the compressor output to the tyres of the vehicle, a Ranger, and also to those of the caravan was to fit 12v Anderson plug adjacent to the tow ball hitch. I then made up an extra long extension cord with Anderson plugs each end. The final change was to replace the alligator clips on the compressor lead with its own Anderson plug.

That’s also a decent option to make life easier Mac.

With a max amp draw of 90amps will your alternator cope, they have a max operating temp of 60deg which is fairly low but maybe they run cooler than other brands something worth checking out.

What compressor are you using abqaiq?

Yes, this is the one I swear by.

Probably not real practical for a portable type of use.

I have mine plumbed-up to a converted and inverted 9kg LPG cylinder....which supplies front and rear Ryco outlets, two sets of large air horns, rear air bags (with in-cab adjustability and digital gauge) as well as the Airsafe Hitch.

Of course the air bags and Airsafe Hitch are protected from over-pressuring by use of regulators and there is a check valve, safety (blow-off) valve and a pressure switch (90psi= ON and 120psi=OFF).

The first thing I do when I get in the truck is flip the toggle switch to power-up the compressor... it runs off the 120ah Itechworld lithium battery I recently installed which has less sag during the compressors operating cycle than the TWO 100ah AGMs that were there before.

Roachie

I've got the normal Thumper and found it works ok for us. It pumps up 6 tyres pretty quickly from 16psi to 40psi without any problems. I've had mine for a few years. I'm not sure what you would gain by spending the extra $$.

I've got a Thumper as well. It does the job fine and very cheap. I've had an ARB in my last car and it was great, especially the auto pressure cut off, but the price is way up there.