Air Compressors

Hi there Allan,

I've had one of these http://www.bushranger.com.au/maxair_2_compressor.php since 2006 and never had an issue with it, a great performer. there are plenty on the market it's just best to choose one that suits your needs.


cheers Unc

Personally, I believe you get what you pay for. Cheap chinese copies will do the trick in the short term but will more than likely let you down when you need it most. Pay decent money once for a decent compressor....ARB, Bushranger, Bluetongue etc will all do a good job and will generally last for years. They will all have different inflation rates but at the end of the day, as long as they DO the job is the main thing.........

Allan
I have an ARB unit fitted in my unit coupled to an under tray 10 litre tank, have found it to be quite good with both the effectiveness of having a 'volume' of air available, and also a good 'duty cycle' too match.
Last year's trip up the canning turned me to that unit from one of my travelling companions.
After stopping to "wind up" the tyres his unit did 8 x large tyres in the same time it took the 3rd vehicle to do 4 small ones using another type. ( won't go into detail )
Prior to that I thought it to just be another brand to be honest, but proved me wrong quite quickly.
Hope this helps in your decision.

Regards
Paul

We use twin ARB CKMA12 compressors with a high performance 6 inch fan (not cheap computer type) to keep them cool..... these are plumber into a 18 Lt air tank with 2 x 1/2 inch feed lines.... line out of the tank to the coupling is also 1/2 inch..... air line from coupling to tyre chuck is 8m of 3/8 rubber hose.

The power cable to feed the compressors are 2 x 8B&S via 2 x 70 amp relays.

We have gone overboard with the installation but we are after maximum performance and reliability.

There are so many cheap chines ones on the market it's hard to know whats good and bad and the way I look at it I want proven quality.... an air compressor is something you have to have working 100% when you need it.

For a reasonably priced occational use portable unit I've found the Bushranger Maxair has proven reliable. (The Ironman Flomax looks to be a rebadged version)
For intermediate use the ARB compressor is compact being both portable or suitable for in car mounting. The Twin compressor version gives an excellent inflation rate suitable for oversized tyres.
Possibly the best value high capacity electric compressor is the Boss 4cfm (if you have the space). With an inbuilt fan it is continuously rated and suitable for big tyres, regular use & reseating beads.
Really depends on your actual needs.
Cheers Craig.................

Allan
I have 2 Compressors..

One is A "Big Red Series 2", basicall all packaged up in a box. Had it for 8 years, and is an awesome jigger, and will pump up tyres air beds ect like all day, no matter how hot it gets.

Recently I had an ARB Compressor fitted under Bonnet, only because I got such a good deal fitting an ARB Air Locker, I went with their Compressor Package too.
I actually love it, got 2 air lines and just flick a switch, and its blowing up tyres, like no tomorrow.

Either one are good.

Cheers
Bucky

I have a ABR compressor, Seems to be one of the better ones and very reasonable on price. Google "Sidewinder" and you will come across there range of products.

I have no association with them and only mention them as I have their product and am happy with it. Did 15,000km in three months and used it several times to get out of soft sand by reducing tyre pressure and having to re-inflate them with it. South of Hermansburg on the Finke river does not have a lot of people passing by, you are on your own resources.

Jim

Hi Allan,

As a member who spends a fair amount of time in the bush, and also sells compressors, I would offer the following suggestions.

Firstly, with respect to Chinese Compressors, others have commented that cheap Chinese compressors are not worth it. Firstly many of the more common branded units you see in auto and 4x4 shops are probably made in China as well. If the company buying the compressors goes to the factories in China and wants the unit made as cheap as possible then the factories are only too happy to oblige. On the other hand if you go to the factory and say I want this, and it must have a thermal cutout, (not just the sticker saying its there) and I want a 50Amp CCt breaker instead of a 40Amp, it must have soldered connections not just crimped, and I want spares to be able to rebuild and supply spares if needed, etc etc, then the factory can and will make a good product. It will cost cost a bit more but the product is generally good.

We have been using the same factory for over 5 years for our compressors and we get ours built to the highes spec we can, we do not scrimp on price and as such believe our units are very good. We are now on our third generation of 60mm compressors pushing out about 160l/m free to air, with our latest models BP160A having a larger heatsink to provide greater cooling and extended run times. Our original units were similar to the ones you mentioned about 3 years ago but we have made a lot of changes since then. We also do a 24 Volt version of the same unit.

There are many on the market that look very similar, however it can be whats inside that makes the difference. Is the heatsink a metal heatsink or just a plastic shroud?

If you want to have a look at the units we have a couple of blogs on them on exploreoz.

kurk