Who Carries an Air Compressor?

[JC2]

Originally Posted by majfrizz

i carry the sears unit listed below. got it last year on Black friday for about $70. it has 150lbs and you can also adjust the air pressure, so i can also use the lower pressure to blow out the lines in the winter. light weight and makes it easier then running the DP while airing the tires.

1.5 Gallon Portable Air Compressor with Hose and 8PC Accessory Kit- Craftsman-Tools-Air Compressors & Air Tools-Air Compressors

We also use this one.

[Steve N Sal]

Originally Posted by majfrizz

i carry the sears unit listed below. got it last year on Black friday for about $70. it has 150lbs and you can also adjust the air pressure, so i can also use the lower pressure to blow out the lines in the winter. light weight and makes it easier then running the DP while airing the tires.

1.5 Gallon Portable Air Compressor with Hose and 8PC Accessory Kit- Craftsman-Tools-Air Compressors & Air Tools-Air Compressors

We carry the same compressor as indicated in the ad. Great unit and have had it now for eight years. Always gets the job done.

[tchester]

I just recently purchased this compressor and it works great. Used a sale ad to purchase for $89. Plan to carry it cross country this summer with a spare wheel and tire, just in case.

I have used my on board compressor to blow out the water lines but did use a regulator set at 50psi.

Tom

[Wayne M]

Don,
I couldn't vote. My Winni has an on-board quick connector for what I consider two purposes. One, getting towed the towing company can hook up an air line to it and have brakes on the DP when towing. Two, I use it to fill up to 110 psi. Mr _D pointed out that his tires take 120 psi and his pressure regulator on the MH is 125 psi. I'm amazed that he cannot inflate to 120 psi since the highest pressure is 125 psi from the system. In some cases the system has to pump up to maximum, then the connector pushed onto the tire. It may only put in a few pounds at a time and it can be time consuming but it will inflate them. I have a 150 psi canister here at the stick house. I set it to 150 psi, let it fill up and kick of, then blast the tire. A very slow process, but it works. The continuous demand required of the canister system just cannot keep up with the volume in the tire.

You need to do some research on the web. It seems you are concerned about tire pressure and the effect of cold, and that is good. We all need to be concerned, but, it is not as bad as you may think it to be.

let's use Michelin's 275/80R22.5 LRG as a model. It is rated for loads of 4500 pounds at 70 PSI, and for loads of 6175 at 110 psi for a single tire. (Look at the charts for duals, this is just to give you an example.)

So let us say that you single fully load weight for one tire is. Just remember that it is critical to have equal air pressure on both front tires to have control of your RV. So if one tire weighs less it will be overinflated to maintain equal pressure with the heavy tire. Let's assume that your weights are 5400 lbs on left tire and 5175 on the right tire. So for the tire I mentioned, 95 psi will support 5510 pounds on a single tire.

Consider that this particular tire low end for that weight would be 95 psi at 5510 pounds. So you have a little fudge factor of 110 pounds. (Don't gain weight). Take that same tire up to 100 psi and you can support 5780 pounds of weight. Your fudge factor would be 380 pounds and you can eat all the McD's you want. Since the tire is rated for 6175 pounds at 110 psi, you can drive from Alaska to the Desert and not have to worry about an increase in tire pressure. If the temperature increases 10 degrees the tire pressure will increase by 2% so if you were inflated to 100 psi and increased temperature by 30 degrees, your tires would be approximately 106 psi. That is still well below the Mfg's highest pressure rating for that tire of 110 psi.

Do the inverse and go from the desert to Alaska and drop 30 degrees. Tire pressure would be 94 psi and still within the load limits for the tire.

Also a consideration is altitude. For every 1000 feet of increase in altitude the psi will increase by 0.48 psi, and for every 1000 feet of decrease in altitude the psi will decrease by 0.48 psi.

Take that same tire inflated at 100 psi, add the 2% increase for temperature increase, and then for a 5000 foot increase in elevation add 2.4 and you will come up to approximately 108 psi - still below the 110 psi max. Do the inverse and you would end up with 92 psi. That tire is rated for 5370 at 90 psi and the example weight is 5400. Some really mathematical calculations would need to be performed to see what 92 psi would support, so in that case I might add a couple pounds, but then when the inverse changes it may be necessary to remove some if the conditions are exactly as described.

So yes, check them (I do every time we move from a site) and if they are within those limits, or the limits of the chart for your particular weight - don't worry about it.

I hope I have given you some "explanation" instead of just saying like the end of my previous sentence, "don't worry about it."

Happy trails.

Whew, that was a blast of hot air!

[Jack1234]

We full-time & use the Sears unit. I could not use the onboard air....

1) toooooo much hassle having to pump the brakes to get the compressor to kick-in.

2) toooooo much noise running the diesel in a campground while I move from tire to tire.

3) tooooo inconvenient....prefer to check the tires on my schedule, when the weather is nice and a day or so before we are ready to leave. Since I don't have my big diesel spewing out noise & exhaust I can take my time and enjoy doing the job right.

4) tooooo restrictive using coach air.... With my compressor I can also use it to air-up my bikes, use a pistol adapter to air dry and clean my mountain bike, the coach & the toad, also look after pressure in my toad tires, etc.

We added quick connect adapters and an "in-llne" digital gauge to also improve efficiency and ease. Bottom line.... love this compressor... cheap .... compact easy to store.... versatile. As a result, we are more inclined to regularly monitor & baby our tires.

[Tallyrver]

Originally Posted by Craig_R

Same here.

YEEEEEEEEP!!! same here

[jimbooth25]

i have a 200 lb pancake model for get who makes it wasnt cheap but i do take it along for the longer trips away from home usually during summer check the pressure befor we leave and we travel about 1.5-2 hours north and come back that sunday/ monday but when we do our trips to the north in the fall for two weeks and trip to beach, and our winter trip witch is usally about 1 month long then i take it with me hual it in the back of the jeep and then place it inside the coach up in the drivers area on the floor dont trust leaving it in the storage conpartments eversince th erear one was broken into. they got nothing beacuse i had nothing but wood in that conpartment and they didnt try any of the others. I have such a big compresser for my contracting jobs its easyer to move around than one on wheels

[sdennislee]

I use the on board compressor and save the weight and space normally devoted to a portable compressor.

[Rick Long]

Yep...

[Sky_Boss]

Originally Posted by Wayne M

...I hope I have given you some "explanation" instead of just saying like the end of my previous sentence, "don't worry about it."

Happy trails.

Whew, that was a blast of hot air!

LOTS of great stuff. I think my main concern is being able to establish cold tire pressure and then inflate accordingly. Any driving (I've read that even over a mile) will affect the tire air temp and thus the pressure reading. (Sigh...can you tell I can be a bit anal? ) LOL

You know the government drill. Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with a grease pencil, cut it with a chain saw.

You did raise some points of interest I hadn't considered. Good stuff my friend.

[IRVTrekin2]

Use a portable Sears unit with 150 psi and it really does a nice job on the tires and many other uses.

[DriVer]

I have an now old and obsolete (I expect) Sears tankless compressor that will inflate my tires up to 125 psi. I would not leave home without it.

[Davdeb1]

Originally Posted by majfrizz

i carry the sears unit listed below. got it last year on Black friday for about $70. it has 150lbs and you can also adjust the air pressure, so i can also use the lower pressure to blow out the lines in the winter. light weight and makes it easier then running the DP while airing the tires.

1.5 Gallon Portable Air Compressor with Hose and 8PC Accessory Kit- Craftsman-Tools-Air Compressors & Air Tools-Air Compressors

Ditto, just start carrying it, I didnt want to have to run my engine every time I used ti.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by Wayne M

Don,
I couldn't vote. My Winni has an on-board quick connector for what I consider two purposes. One, getting towed the towing company can hook up an air line to it and have brakes on the DP when towing. Two, I use it to fill up to 110 psi. Mr _D pointed out that his tires take 120 psi and his pressure regulator on the MH is 125 psi. I'm amazed that he cannot inflate to 120 psi since the highest pressure is 125 psi from the system. In some cases the system has to pump up to maximum, then the connector pushed onto the tire. It may only put in a few pounds at a time and it can be time consuming but it will inflate them.

I tried for over an hour to inflate the front tires from about 115 to 120 psi, finally gave up. It just couldn't do that measly five psi. The high cut off is 125 and the low is 85 so you have to bleed off air till the compressor kicks in, just not worth the time!!

BTW, almost any air compressor will have trouble pumping that last few psi as the volume is low when the pressure is high. I suppose a 250 psi unit would easily do it though. But that's not what the Cummins has.

I tried several compressors and even one rated for 150 psi was slow, but it worked. Now I've changed to larger, higher rated tires so I need less pressure, still use the electric compressor.

I check my tires every day before we move, although I very seldom have to add air while on the road.