PORTABLE COMPRESSORS
Submitted: Friday, Jun 08, 2001 at 00:00
ThreadID:
270
Views:
2061
Replies:
7
FollowUps:
8
This Thread has been Archived
Sally Ramshaw
About to embark on a 14 month trip round Oz & am in the market for a portable compressor. Just don't know which one! 4WD Monthly had an article on them recently & it appears as though Big Red & ARB came up trumps, but I've heard conflicting stories on both products. There are so many on the market! Looking to spend anywhere up to $400 approx. Can anyone relate stories on their experiences to help my decision please.
Reply By: David - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2001 at 00:00
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2001 at 00:00
Sally, the Endles air compressors are very good & quick if you have the room under the bonnet, they they are a modified airconditioning compressor& come complete with all the gear for the installation.
If you are or know someone who is mechanically minded, you can pick up an old aircon compressor from the wreckers or automotive airconditioning place at very minimal cost (
mine i got for free), then strip it down & block the oil gallery line from the head to the crankcase, tap a grease nipple into the crankcase, reassemble & fill the crankcase full of high temp bearing grease.
The suction side of the compressor runs from the air cleaner & the pressure side is your outlet, a mate of
mine has one of these
home made units fitted to his GQ patrol for about 5 years now, he's constantly up
the beach & deflating & re-inflating his tyres & it's never let him down.
AnswerID:
625
Follow Up By: Rod - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2001 at 00:00
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2001 at 00:00
Sally, I support David with an ex Aircon compressor. I installed my about 5 years ago, never let me down. I didn't and don't grease it, every now and then I put a bit of one of the teflon engine additives in it. My vehicle is a L/cruiser 75 series with a 4.5lt petrol. I think you should also be aware that with the Endless Air units the $350 does not include any mounting brackets or all the other bits and pieces required.
FollowupID:
166
Follow Up By: Sally - Saturday, Jun 16, 2001 at 00:00
Saturday, Jun 16, 2001 at 00:00
David, Thanks for this information. We weren't aware that you can do this. We have access to a aircon compressor from a 60 series wreck (we have a 60 series landcruiser & the wreck has been invaluable providing some great parts & accessories). My husband Matt is mechanically minded & we're thinking we might give this a go. Rod has confirmed your suggestion too. Your instructions are easy to follow (Matt says thanks!), so we'll
check out the exploroz teams' upcoming feature on compressors first, then make our decision. Sal.
FollowupID:
176
Reply By: ExplorOz Team - Friday, Jun 15, 2001 at 00:00
Friday, Jun 15, 2001 at 00:00
Sally, we are about to publish our choice of Air Compressor in the next update of our Vehicle Setup Feature. We looked at Endless Air, that others have mentioned to you already because it is a very good concept. The idea's been around for a while but they have had trouble marketing it because of the complexity in providing mounting brackets to suit the range of 4WD vehicles and overcoming how to access other belts in your car if they need replacing outbush. You can read a very trumped-up report in 4WD Monthly, but we give the "warts and all reports" and unfortunately, from first hand experience, we can report nothing about its performance because after 5 weeks of ordering it, the brackets never arrived and the company who make it (who are the only distributers) never returned our calls). The whole thing turned into a nightmare and our recommendation to anyone looking at this product for off the shelf use is that it is still not ready for market release due to the fact that they can't give you the whole kit to simply install it. The compressor itself is about $350 but by the time you actually get it installed it will have cost $1000 and for that, its just not worth it - give the Endless Air the flick!@.. So, which one have we chosen? keep an eye on the feature over the next few days for the update.
AnswerID:
636
Follow Up By: Sally - Saturday, Jun 16, 2001 at 00:00
Saturday, Jun 16, 2001 at 00:00
Thanks for the info - we will be looking forward to the feature. It is still a month and a half before we go, so plenty of time to decide. The responses on the ex-airconditioning units are very interesting because we do have access to an airconditioning unit on a 60 series wreck, It's just a matter of do we want to go through the process to save ourselves a bit of money & we're leaning toward doing it this way, given that we won't be earning an income for some 14 months. Hope to see you on the road somewhere in the central Australian desert!
FollowupID:
173
Reply By: Joseph Baz - Saturday, Jun 16, 2001 at 00:00
Saturday, Jun 16, 2001 at 00:00
Sally if it is of any help I run a blue tonge III
purchased from Opposite Lock,Im very Happy with the unit,maybe is not the fastest unit in the market but is allways a good excuse to have a cuppa while u pump the tyres,Thomas pumps are the manufactures of this pumps and they have a very wide knowledge and a very big market in the USA
I hope this may reduce the confussion
Cheers
Joe
AnswerID:
642
Follow Up By: Sally - Saturday, Jun 16, 2001 at 00:00
Saturday, Jun 16, 2001 at 00:00
Thanks Joe, appreciate your reply. Sal.
FollowupID:
178