Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Air compressor (Read 6544 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Air compressor

Yahoo Message Number: 699
I want to get my husband a small air compressor for Christmas. But it needs to make enough pressure for the motorhome tires. Does anyone have a small compressor that will do 120 pounds of pressure? Even our big compressor cuts out at 110.

Thanks.

Linda Robey

Re: Air compressor

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 703
Your compressor should cut out at 120 not 110. It should be able to adjusted to stop charging at 120lbs. You should be able to pump up your tires with the coach air system. The trick to the process is to have a gauge on your air hose.
1. You bleed the pressure down substantially 70 lbs or so.
2. Then the compressor kicks in to recharge the system. Normally this is a rapid recharge.
3. As the pressure crosses the 100 or so level you plug your hose into the tire valve. Then you can stop at 108 or 112 or something closer to the Max limit you need.

Best of luck. Den

Re: Air compressor

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 704
You can also check out sears which has small compressors that go to 250#. I carry one with me  and it plugs into 110 AC

Re: Air compressor

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 705
Den,

Don has a compressor at home that cuts out. But he did try to use the one on the coach and it did not seem to air the tires at all. I had the air built up and it read 130 on the guage. The motor was running to keep it built up. But when he put it on the back tire that had 95 in it, no air would go in.
I'm getting paranoid about tire pressure, I'm thinking we should have 115 in the front and 110 in the back. We have a 40ft Intrigue.
We did the A-Weigh We go thing and the one back side is heavier than the others.

But, back to your suggestion, the coach should be able to do 120 pounds of pressure?

Thanks,

Linda

Re: Air compressor

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 706
Thanks. This is what I was thinking about to surprise him. Does it REALLY go to 250? Can you tell me the model number or something so I will know which one it is? Maybe the price would help me find it.

Thanks again,

Linda

Re: Air compressor

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 707
Linda,

Find out how long it takes to inflate a motorhome tire 'another 5 pounds' before you get too excited. Some small compressors will go to 250psi if they have enough cooling to let them run long enough to do it.

Glen

Re: Air compressor

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 712
Yes Linda. According to the specs, your coach should stop adding air pressure at 120lbs. While you may not hear much or any air flowing into your tires, it has always worked for me. It worked both on my 99 Intrigue and now on my 2001 Affinity.

Best of luck Den

Re: Air compressor

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 713
Yes Linda, Glen is correct. Those little air compressors may take "years" to get a tire that bug pumped up to 100+ lbs.

Den

Re: Air compressor

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 719
I purchased a sears two stage 175psi rollaround compressor to maintain the pressure on my coach and it works great, it is 110 not 220 but while it is a mobile unit on wheels it has a 20 gal tank and I would not classify it as portable. I keep it in my rv garage . It cost about $400.

Re: Air compressor

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 729
Hi Linda, I don't think you will find a small compressor that can put out that much pressure. I use a big one but it is too big to take in the coach. Although I haven't used it yet, I had a mechanic cut a quick disconnect into the air line of the coach and should be able to fill my tires using the coach compressor.

Love that sign

John & Dot Panzenhagen

Re: Air compressor

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 732
Linda,

You might check your owner's manuals, then look around in the undercoach compartments, engine, etc. Your coach might have been equiped with a quick disconnect. My Beaver has one in the rear service bay.

Glen

glen@...

Re: Air compressor

Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 733
Hi, I has a small compresser and it would only get up to 70-80 lbs in a pinch. I added a air hose connect to one of the bleed valve connectors in the front right part of my coach. We have a 32 foot Allure but do not know were the blead is on other coaches. It works fine. I picked up the connectors at NAPA along with a good tire gage.

Do not need to carry the little low pressure pump now.

AL

Air compressor

Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 52415
On the bottom of the bowl that is on the bottom of the air compressor there is a automatic valvue that is hot. I think the purpose of this valvue is to dry out the moisture in the air. Is this valvue hot all the time or do I have a problem.

Sam Butler
08 Inspire

Air Compressor

Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 725
Hi Linda. You do not mention what year country coach you have. I know the 01 Intrigues have three air tank/compressor outlet valves in the front compartment under the drivers side that one can add a hose outlet to with the pressure going to 120 pounds. I have a large 1/2 horse compressor (never used) that I carried for two years in my Sportscoach without need, and would love to get rid of it as now have an 50 'air hose with air up to 120 pounds available on my new coach. We live in San Diego and will be returning home the end of this month. Let me know if you want to know any more info re the compressor or getting access to the coach compressor

regards ron

Air Compressor

Reply #14 –
Yahoo Message Number: 726
Hi Linda. You do not mention what year country coach you have. I know the 01 Intrigues have three air tank/compressor outlet valves in the front compartment under the drivers side that one can add a hose outlet to with the pressure going to 120 pounds. I have a large 1/2 horse compressor (never used) that I carried for two years in my Sportscoach without need, and would love to get rid of it as now have an 50 'air hose with air up to 120 pounds available on my new coach. We live in San Diego and will be returning home the end of this month. Let me know if you want to know any more info re the compressor or getting access to the coach compressor

regards ron

Air Compressor

Reply #15 –
Yahoo Message Number: 12615
Just purchased a 2005 Inspire Genoa and really like it. Would like to be able to add air to tires (120#) without having to go to a truck stop. Does anyone recommend a good small air compressor that will inflate a tie to 120# without taking forever.

Air Compressor

Reply #16 –
Yahoo Message Number: 34222
Which air compressor has enough power to fill the tires to 115 and is small enough to carry with us. I know it has been talked about but I am unable to find the posts.

Thanks

Frank Allure 31425

Re: Air Compressor

Reply #17 –
Yahoo Message Number: 34224
I bought a 120V air compressor from Sears that easily gets the front tires on my Inspire up to 116 pounds. The compressor is in the automotive department and is relatively light and compact - only about 16" high and less than 20 pounds (don't look in the hardware department because the compressors there are the big, heavy kind with external air tanks). The only problem with the compressor I got is that the valve connector is fixed so you need to have valve extenders on the inside rear wheels. I've also seen a brand that I think is called Task Force at Lowes which has a relatively small and portable 120V compressor. The good thing about the Task Force compressor is that you can attach different types of valve connectors on the end of the hose.

Vince

Re: Air Compressor

Reply #18 –
Yahoo Message Number: 34228
I went to home depot and bought a 'pancake' compressor that goes to 150#
A 'pancake' is shaped like a pancake or donut, not real big, it fits nice in the compartment under the driver. I did have to relocate the washer bottle, but wasn't difficult.



ddtuttle

(aka Billy Byte, trusty hound)
2000 Allure #30443

Re: Air Compressor

Reply #19 –
Yahoo Message Number: 34230
Frank,

Costco and Harbor Freight both sell a 12volt pump that will do 120 psi ( and maybe more, I can not remember the exact specifications). The one that Harbor Freight sells, I saw being marketed to 4-wheelers and offroaders for over 200 dollars in a pretty little bag and you can buy it at Harbor

Freight for less than $100. With costco, you know everything comes in limited quantities, so you may or may not find it. I saw it at my local costco in Memphis a couple of weeks ago. Again, it was less than $100.

I think some one on the forum bought one of these pumps maybe they could tell us if it works well or not.

Kevin

05 Intrigue
11886

Re: Air Compressor

Reply #20 –
Yahoo Message Number: 34232
I have a DeVilbiss 1 1/2 HP 2 gallon compressor that I use with my air tools. The compressor shuts off at 120 psi and turns back on at around 100 psi. I carry 105# in the rear and 115# in the front.
Needless to say this is a problem since airflow is a function of differential pressure between the compressor and the tire. The low turn on is lower than either of my tire pressure requirements.
There is an adjustment on the regulator that allows you to change the pressure; the hysteresis stays about the same. I drilled a hole in the plastic regulator cover so I can change it back when I'm using my air tools. I set it for 150# turn off and around 130# turn on. This works fine. When I've completed filling the tires, I pull the air release and empty the tank so as not to keep that much pressure in an "under rated" tank. Been doing this for years with no problems.

Joe and Judy Adams
98 Intrigue 10578

Re: Air Compressor

Reply #21 –
Yahoo Message Number: 34233

Frank,

I went to Sears and purchased on sale ($139) a 150 psi pancake compressor. It is not heavy and has a handle built in so it is easy to handle. It stores easily in the bay and my tires require 120psi so it does the job very well. I also use it to blow off parking pads, awnings, and the roof. I really like it. The 120 psi compressors are so near their limit that they take forever to fill a tire. This compressor was recommended to me at the Charleston Rally last year by the person parked next to me. Great advice!!

Hope this helps.

Shaun Shattuck
'04 Intrigue 11713

Re: Air Compressor

Reply #23 –
Yahoo Message Number: 34242
If I may, I'd like to interject something that was immensely helpful to us that I read on another forum.

We, too, had difficulties getting our tires inflated to proper pressure (in our case 110psi) using the onboard chuck and the coach's air compressor. Being full-timers, however, we are also tight on storage space, so trying to find a small enough portable compressor that was ALSO able to inflate RV tires (they take a LOT of air) to a high enough pressure was a challenge. We tried the ultra-portable, 150psi unit from Costco (I believe it was a PowerMaxx brand/model, but don't hold me to that), but even though it was marketed as being able to handle very large tires, it tended to overheat while attempting to add air to a single tire. Then, we read a solution that, once we implemented it, has worked like a charm.

The problem with using the onboard compressor to inflate the tires (at least for us) was the fact that, most of the time, it seemed the tire would end up LOSING pressure since it was pushing air back into the air tank on the coach. Even pumping the brakes to drop the pressure to ensure that the compressor would kick on was a hit-or-miss proposition.
Inflating the tires became a royal pain-in-the-you-know-where. That is, until we read and implemented the following solution.
We bought an inline pressure gauge and added it to our 50' air hose (this will require some additional parts, but they are easily purchased at Home Depot or Lowes in the same place that air compressors and accessories are located) so that it is at the end where the air-chuck is. When we need to add air to the tires, here's what we do (it's a two person operation, but one person has it easy and is inside behind the wheel):
(1) Measure the current air pressure in the tire (we use a separate, digital gauge)
(2) With the engine on, the person inside the coach pumps the brakes a few times to drop the pressure in the air system and ensure the air compressor kicks in (you'll hear it)
(3) Activate the engine high-idle (on our coach this is accomplished by activating the cruise control... I assume this is probably the same for all coaches) so the air compressor has enough OOOMPH

(4) The person outside at the tire watches the gauge attached to the air line. At the point that the gauge reaches the same pressure as the low tire, attach the air chuck to the valve stem. Now, the tire is connected to the air system when everything is at the same pressure, so no air is lost from the tire. The compressor is now "inflating" the entire system, tire and all, and you can watch the inline gauge to watch the pressure build.
(5) Wait for the air compressor to kick off (again, you'll hear the familiar of the system). The inline gauge should now read around 120psi (each coach/compressor is a little bit different). You now know that the system is at a higher pressure than the tire, and it is this differential that is continuing to inflate it.
(6) Watch the gauge on the air line as it slowly drops (air is still being pushed from the coach's air tanks into the tire). When the pressure reaches the target tire pressure, remove the chuck. Your tire should now be at, or above, the desired PSI and can be bled down, if necessary. In an instance where you need to bring the tire pressure up a significant amount (say 8-10 psi), you may need to repeat the procedure for this tire. But, 95% of the time, once is enough.

(7) Repeat for each low tire.

This may not work for those who need to inflate their tires to 120 psi in order to carry your coach's load IF (and only if) your air system kicks out before reaching about 123-125 psi. But, for only about $15, you can get the necessary parts at Lowes/Home Depot to attach an inline pressure gauge to your air hose and find out for sure.
It's worth a shot. And well worth it to avoid having yet another piece of (limited-use) equipment onboard... especially if you full-time.

Hope this is helpful (and clear).

- John

'05 Newmar Mountain Aire 43' / Spartan chassis / Cummins ISL 400 '03 Honda CR-V EX manual toad