just went out and purchased a handy dandy slime air compressor for like 50 bucks , works real well and fast purchased at autozone

 

A lot of good info. and you guys have me thinking about this. Each of these different solutions have their own merrits. This is what I'm gathering;

Different onboard air options;
- Cigarette lighter compressor
- Continuous use rated compressor with reservoir air tank
- Reservoir Tank only
- Scuba Tank only
- DIY CO2 system
- Lowes/Pinvlave system
- Powertank
- High Pressure Air Paintball System

Here are the considerations;
- Cost (I'll define low as under $100, medium as 100 - 200, high as over 200)
- Speed for tire inflation (fast and slow)
- Durability/Reliability (subjective, low, medium and high)
- Versatility (will it run power tools)
- Size (does it take very much interior storage space, none, small, medium, large)
- Convenience (easy, medium, and difficult)
- Safety (danger presented by the solution – Safe, Safer, Safest) To carry Compressed Air On-board is to carry a bomb in your jeep. The higher the compression and volume, the larger the Bomb. Scuba Tanks and High Pressure Air can be up to 4500 PSI. CO2 gets up to about 1000 PSI. The “week link” is the valve and regulator. I would never transport a high pressure compressed air tank while having any sort of regulator attached, unless there is a regulator protection device attached to the tank. From where I sit, this is what you pay for, when buying a power tank. So except for the PowerTank option, I’m assuming that regulators will always be removed for transport.


Cigarette lighter compressor
- Cost Low
- Speed for tire inflation Slow
- Durability low
- Versatility (will it run power tools) No
- Size (Interior Space) Small
- Safety Safest
- Convenience Easy

Heavy duty compressor with reservoir air tank
- Cost High
- Speed (for tire inflation) Fast until tank is empty
- Durability/Reliability Medium to High depending on quality of components
- Versatility (will it run power tools) Yes until tank is empty
- Size (Interior Space) None
- Safety Safest (tank is at low pressure so in the case of puncture, this is not a very large bomb)
- Convenience Easy

Reservoir Tank only (Pig tank, sealed tubular bumpers etc.)
- Cost Low
- Speed (for tire inflation) Fast, but only good for about one tire.
- Durability/Reliability High
- Versatility (will it run power tools) Yes for a very short time.
- Size Interior Space large if carried inside your jeep
- Safety Safest
- Convenience Easy

Scuba Tank only
- Cost Medium
- Speed (for tire inflation) Fast
- Durability/Reliability High
- Versatility (will it run power tools) Yes
- Size Interior Space Large
- Safety Safe
- Convenience Easy

DIY CO2 system
- Cost Medium
- Speed (for tire inflation) Fast
- Durability/Reliability High
- Versatility (will it run power tools) Yes
- Size Interior Space Medium to high depending on tank sizes.
- Safety Safer
- Convenience Medium (regulator must be attached and detached with tools for use)

- Lowes/Pinvlave system
- Cost Medium
- Speed (for tire inflation) Fast
- Durability/Reliability High
- Versatility (will it run power tools) Yes for a limited time.
- Size Interior Space Small to Medium depending on tank sizes.
- Safety Safer
- Convenience Easy

- Powertank
- Cost High
- Speed (for tire inflation) Fast
- Durability/Reliability High
- Versatility (will it run power tools) Yes for a limited time.
- Size Interior Space Small to Medium depending on model/tank size.
- Safety Safer
- Convenience Easy

High Pressure Air Paintball System
- Cost Medium
- Speed (for tire inflation) Fast
- Durability/Reliability High
- Versatility (will it run power tools) Yes for a limited time
- Size Interior Space Small
- Safety Safe
- Convenience Easy

 

A home made co2 system is the same as a power tank. You do not need to put on the regulater every time. Just leave it on. The paintball sytem would not be a good buy because the limited amount of co2.

 

you can leave a regulator attached if you have the proper screw on cap that has cut outs for the regulator, or something that prevents the valve from breaking off . i would secure the bottle real good you know what happens if in a accident, you might be wearing a co2 bottle for a hat.
heat also effects pressure in tank so on a hot august day inside a closed jeep if the tank is say overfilled you could pop the safety disc. which brings on a sense of emergency if you've never had a co2 tank go off inside a jeep before you can also get compressed nitrogen tanks

 

Been thinking about this and I wouldn't attach the Lowes reg to an HPA bottle. The lowes systems runs at 1000 PSI, and HPA at up to 4500 PSI. It might be okay, I just wouldn't take the chance.

And in case anybody missed what I wrote earlier. I would NEVER transport a high pressure cylinder with an unprotected regulator attached. What Possumface said, can not be stressed enough.

 

To me the $50 Magna-Flow (Tsunami) compressor make the most sense. It's small, compact, cheap$50, and safe. It's only draw back seems to be the 2-3 minutes per tire it takes to fill. Shoot for $50 you could buy 2 and fill everything in half the time and also have double the reliability. The 8-12 minutes it takes to fill, big deal, everyone usually stands around shooting the bull for a half an hour anyway.

 

ya, im not sure why speed of the filling process is a big issue anyway some things shouldn't be rushed, you can watch the little gauge go up slowly and stop at the exact time required to get a exact pressure reading. " jeeps shouldn't be rushed" < should be a bumper sticker

 

Paintballers often run around and take dives on rocks top of those fiber wrapped 4500 psi tanks. They dont explode like bombs like some may think.
When they do fail (rarely) the just make a lot of noise and blow air all over the place. Not all that different from Co2 tank burst disk fail safes.
Never in my 8+ years of paintball have I seen a failed fiber wrapped tank. They are quite robust.

Look what I found stumbling around the internets:
@4x4 Rockshop


$155

 

Common sense says you need to have it secured so it doesn't flop around. Wait, I forgot some people don't have common sense.

 

4500 psi fiber wrap tanks don't explode please help me understand this im not trying to be a smart guy cause i really don't understand this. co2 tanks blow up like bombs, so it would be my logic same would happen to fiber wrap tanks :confused: