Air Compressor
Hi All
I don't know about other caravan/motorhome users but sometimes checking your tyre pressure can be a right pain! Sometimes the machines don't work, sometimes they get damaged and you can't even see the PSI numbers, sometimes its just ridiculous charges in garages!
So we have been looking at spending some money on a portable 12 volt mobile system! Now here is the problem, as much as I look around and read reviews there just doesn't seem to be one that 1: Can pump to the PSI you need 2: Loads seem to take ages and then cut out because they are to hot!, its like a mine field of customer usage reviews and no two people seem to agree!
The one that does keep coming up is the "Ring Make" and Halfords seem to sell a robust one for about £75 squid!
Question is does anyone out there use a particular good one which doesn't blow car or caravan fuses or doesn't heat up and take ages to cool down?
Thanks for any replies to this question
Gateway
Comments
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Gateway,
There is a thread called :--
Discussions/Caravan and Motorhome Chat/ motorhome tyre inflation pump
where loads of advice & info exist, and its not an archaic thread either.
If you find that then it should save you hours of waiting for responses on here .
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Hi to all-just a quickie. I have a small air pump (like the Michelin pump ) from Costco and it works well but never bothered with the pressure dial as they can be out, so bought a tyre pressure gauge to check. The other thing is to check the amp usage as caravan 12v socket is, I think, 6amp. Some of the air pumps can be a more. This also applies to some of the pumps that are used on awnings. Best to use the socket in the car and a rated socket extension if needed.
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RING make [or is that more correctly, have made under their brand?] the whole quality/pricepoint spectrum of inflators, so recommendations to be of value need to be specific.
For years with car tyres I had a medium quality one that for the cars we owned with a max of 35 psi worked just fine. The original even coped with the caravans we then acquired that required up to about 45 psi.
It was only back in 2002 when the new van was one with 65 psi did I quickly knacker "old faithful". That soon could not lift above about 60 psi. Stupidly I purchased a quite similar budget replacement and it worked, but only for a while till 60 psi again was its limit. So back to using a cycle track pump very capable of doing the job but needing some effort from me
Then following advice and also encountering our roadside recovery van using a RING RAC900 I splashed out the £70 odd pounds on one. This is in a different league to the two I had before. It however requires far too much current for "ciggy lighter" type sockets, requiring to be crock clipped onto the battery. A good piece of kit it has proved.
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Hi Gateway, I use a Ring RAC900 this needs power directly from a battery. It has croc clips and a long coiled airline. It will pump up to motor home tyre pressures. But is not cheap. I use a small 8amp hr gell battery which I also use with the air awning pump.
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This is another question rather than a reply. We have a twin axle motorhome, and one of the tyres on the rear axle has gone flat, but we have the anti-puncture filling in all the tyres. We believe that it is the vale that is leaking, but can we pump up as normal, even though we have the gloop in the tyre?
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I appreciate you are asking for a 12v pump but I now use a Michelin Superfast Pump £75 from Halfords but it is mains operated and a little bulky so for use at home. The up side is its very very quick up to the 64psi on the van tyres and excellent on an SUV`s tyres as well. Carry a ring for use in emergencies as have virtually never had to pump up tyres when away. I have tyre pal on the van which is very useful and has been totally reliable since purchase around four years and 10000` since purchase.
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Should be able to re-inflate as normal.
Don't forget to inform whoever does any repair to the tyre that you have the anti-puncture gunk in there. The tyre will probably need to be removed to effect a repair and it can be extremely flammable and will certainly be very messy!
Personally I won't use it!
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To start with, I used a re-chargeable one from Aldi - which was fine whilst it worked but after a few months, packed up and I couldn't be bothered to go through the rigmarole of sending it back. I bought the RAC 900 and that developed a leak on the hose connection after a short while - so that went back and was replaced.
It's OK but I find the long, coiled, air hose a bit of a pain - getting tangled up and snagging on things. Yes, once clipped to the battery, it's possible to go round the car with the hose - but the pump is at the other side so you have to switch it on - over-inflate the tyre - go round to the other side - switch it off - and then go back and deflate the tyre to the correct pressure. Nowhere near as convenient as the hand-held re-chargeable one.
The other option is to use the small 40 aH battery I use for other things - but again that means shifting the whole lot from tyre to tyre which rather defeats the object of having the long air hose.
With hindsight, I wish I'd thought this through a bit more before shelling out £75 or so.
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There is another very practical solution well able to get to the high pressure sometimes met with both motor homes and caravans, plus it is very portable.
A high quality cycle track pump, where this one is a good readily purchased example.
It is of course only practical for topping up where the MH or caravan needs that odd few PSI, and for correcting your tow cars rear tyres for the tow home etc.
Pumping up a total flat will be a challenge too far, but then you're likely to be needing the services of a tyre dealer anyway.
Whilst I have an excellent RING RAC 900, that is reserved for home use, this comes out with the van, we need it for the bikes but found it also does the van well.
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