Your thoughts 12V air compressor

[Tools R Us]

... Viair, its quite confusing and I'm not sure since they're cranking them out in China that anyone in the states even knows whats what anymore.

Having had both apart, worked on them, my guess is the Viair and MV50 come out of the same plant. The Viair has nicer wiring, hose, etc, smaller displacement, but the hard parts appear to be the same.

 

[warezdog]

Having had both apart, worked on them, my guess is the Viair and MV50 come out of the same plant. The Viair has nicer wiring, hose, etc, smaller displacement, but the hard parts appear to be the same.

You answered my question before I was even able to ask, they look VERY similar, I do like the fact you can buy rebuild kits for the Viair's 300/400 series

 

[Tools R Us]

You answered my question before I was even able to ask, they look VERY similar, I do like the fact you can buy rebuild kits for the Viair's 300/400 series

Have never had problems getting parts from Q-Industries. May help that one of their repair centers is local.

 

[1973Guppie]

Called viair today and it seems going to a continuous duty will end up being slower as the cfm are actually lower than the 33% comp I am running. Only way to increase is to add another 400cc compressor which I don't know if I want to do

 

[1973Guppie]

Sounds like my cheapest alternative is to simply add another 2.5 gallon air tank in line with mine. Should increase capacity and only about $60

 

[landcrshr]

IIRC, the 33% only applies after 40psi, so not really an issue when filling tires. I would wonder about the performance though when trying to fill 5gal. at 100+ psi.

 

[warezdog]

Called viair today and it seems going to a continuous duty will end up being slower as the cfm are actually lower than the 33% comp I am running. Only way to increase is to add another 400cc compressor which I don't know if I want to do

380 on a 5 gallon tank
0 to 145 PSI 7 min. 20 sec. (± 10 sec.)

400 on a 5 gallon tank
0 to 145 PSI 4 min. 50 sec. (± 10 sec.)

VIAIR Corporation - Tech says at 33% you can run for 20 and have to rest for 40

Basic math tells you that the 380 would certainly produce more air in that 40 minutes that you'd have to let the 400 rest.
With a 400 you can fill the 5 gal tank about 4 times in 20 minutes, the 380 would take nearly 30 to do the same but could do it twice before you can run the 400 again.

I'm not sure those guys at Viair really know what they're talking about, sure you get more flow for the equal run time from the 400 but anything over it's duty cycle the 400 gets its A$$ handed to it by the 380.

 

[warezdog]

@1973Guppie Adding a tank would be the cheapest way to go, you could have it filled before you aired down and then still have a 20 minute run time after you've used the air in both tanks.

All the other forums, pirate, expedition portal, etc. say for airing up tires 35" and up to go with a continuous duty that's why I chose the 380 and it's price point was within my desired budget.

You give up flow with a continuous rated compressor, the higher the flow the more amp draw and the less duty cycle.

 

[GW Nugget]

I can't believe I did this...
I just odered the ARB dual compressor set up from @socallove
This was a complete impulse purchase.
It is most likely the best compressor on the market.
I'm sure that it will serve the family well for many years.
It's going into the rear passenger 1/4 panel out of the way. I might add a fan to aid with heat.
They Puma was what I was leaning towards, but I couldn't get around the fact that it would need to be mounted in the back cargo area taking up need space for other stuff.
6.18 cfm @ 0psi. & 4.68 CFM @ 30psi. is some serious air flow.
Can you tell I'm pretty pumped about this.

GW Nugget aka Gary

Having fun with the LX & I'm out.

 

[lazy]

It is most likely the best compressor on the market.

That is certainly debatable. There are pumps which can truly be mounted any way, outside of the truck and push better numbers than the ARB. Sure, it's a couple hundred bucks more and not as "plug & play" as the ARB, but anyone can argue there are much better compressors than the ARB.

 

[Heckraiser]

MV50 is fine as a backup or occasional use compressor, but it really sucks waiting around that long if you air up frequently. About 4-5 mins per tire with undersized 285's was my experience. Works great for commuter car tires!

 

[warezdog]

Just ordered a set of those aluminum tanks and splitting a dual 380 pack with @BBP1961
Now that there are some dual packs at the $250 range spending half that seems like a good deal. All said and done, even using stainless unilok fittings will be under $225 with the tanks. Plan on having a chuck front and rear when it's done.

Now I just gotta find some air horns for those idiots that can't keep their face out of their smart phones while driving.

 

[landcrshr]

Just ordered a set of those aluminum tanks and splitting a dual 380 pack with @BBP1961

Don't forget to purchase an extra pressure switch, the dual-pack is only supplied with one.

 

[warezdog]

Don't forget to purchase an extra pressure switch, the dual-pack is only supplied with one.

Good call! Already got a 150 since I don't plan on running it higher but it says it comes with:
includes two heavy duty 40-amp relays and a 165 PSI cut-on, 200 PSI cut-off pressure switch

 

[landcrshr]

All compressor companies play fast and loose with the numbers...

Yeah, I wondered about this so I decided to conduct my own test.

First, these are the numbers quoted for my Air-Zenith (pretty impressive, right?):

And here is how I've installed it:

This is the flow meter I used for testing, it's calibrated in CFH, so divide by 60 for CFM.

First test, wide open (0 psi): About 160CFH/2.67CFM (not quite the 4.25CFM as claimed).

Next, metering down the flow control, I get about 100CFH/1.67CFM at 45psi.

 

[landcrshr]

Surprisingly, it didn't drop much more at 90psi: above 80CFH/1.33CFM.

Or at 100 psi.

I decided to check the battery voltage at the compressor, about 0.8V drop while running, not sure if that's significant.

I guess maybe I'll have to see what the manufacturer says.

 

[landcrshr]

Hmm, Why did I get both big & small images?

 

[malteserunner]

 

[Tools R Us]

Yeah, I wondered about this so I decided to conduct my own test.

First, these are the numbers quoted for my Air-Zenith (pretty impressive, right?):
...

Not surprised, some manufactures use calculated, not measured output for their advertisements. In other words, displacement X theoretical max RPM, pressure restriction = output. As you found out, nowhere close to real world number, but good advertisement?

 

[landcrshr]

Yeah, what prompted me to investigate was the low current draw claimed for the given pressures.

Perhaps something is up with just this one unit, I did find it on Craigslist. It was new-looking and in the box, although the box looked like it had been torn into by a kid at Christmas.