tire air compressor for garage

I ordered the reel and digital inflator from Griot's also after seeing your note. The reel is really nice. I was concerned about the PVC hose, because a lot of PVC hoses are junk, but this is very pliable. I haven't been able to mount or use the reel yet, but it looks like it's high quality.

The digital inflator is nice, but the valve connector doesn't work well at all. I tried it on 3 different tires on two different cars. All three of them showed the digital pressure, but one wouldn't pump air at all when the lever was pushed and the other 2 pumped air so slowly that I gave up. Griot's is great a great company, so I'm sure they will take it back or fix it. Too bad, I was really looking forward to having a digital inftlator. This one would be nice if the connector worked.

 

Disregard the above, I was WRONG. I was getting ready to contact Griot's and then remembered the last thing I used on the compressor was an airbrush. I had left the pressure limiter valve on the compressor at 30psi -- which worked well for an airbrush but not so much for filling tires. This was operator error on my part and the digital inflator is GREAT.

The old "filling station" style inflator I had before was built like a brick, but the sliding gauge was too coarse and difficult to read, so I had to use a separate gauge and it took a while. The digital inflator is so much faster and easier that I will (almost) look forward to, instead of dreading, checking the tires.

 

The Griot's air hose discussed earlier in this thread is 50% off today only. I thought it was a pretty good value at original price, this price is amazing IMO:

Auto Retracting Air Hose Reel - Air Tools - Tools - Griot's Garage

 

Went to Lowe's and bought a portable compressor. It is about the size of a lunch box. You can plug it into your 12 V cigarette lighter outlet or into 110 V wall outlet. Has different nozzles for filling up pool toys and balls etc.

It will tell you your tire pressure and you can set the desired pressure. It will automatically shut off when the desired pressure is reached. This way you don't have to overfill and then let air out to get the pressure right. I keep it in the car.

Cost is $39.95

 

Totally what I needed
and looksgood too!..................and the compressor is not bad either!!!!
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Here is an option if you're building a new garage or redoing an old one. I keep my compressor outside the garage in another room and pipe in the air to outlet points in the garage. I have a water filter where the compressor air enters the piping system and similar filters at each outlet.
The filters trap dust and water and keep water from accumulating in tires or entering air tools.

I have a Griot's reel like the one mentioned in earlier threads in the workshop area. It has worked well so far. In the parking area where air isn't used as much, I simply plug in a hose to the nearest filter. The outlets and hoses have quick release fittings.

I have a nice, large Longacre tire pressure gauge that plugs into an air hose; it is very accurate and handy, as you can pump in or release air as needed. As with air tools, the gauge has a quick-release fitting too.

Regards to all,

Andres
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Nice setup. How do those filters work -- do you need to clean and/or empty them occasionally? Also is there a particular brand/model that you prefer? I have an inline filter currently and I've yet to see any water gather in it, so I'd like to replace it with a wall-mount separator. It seems like a lot of the separators have built-in regulators, which I don't want because the compressor already has a regulator built in.

 

Hello, Peter. I have no preferences as to bands for the filters/separators. I've relied on the industrial hardwares where I bought the air tools and compressor. They seem very much the same, differing in size.

Yes, I do have to unscrew the glass bottles to empty them and tap the mesh filters clean. But when humidity is low, I see no water accumulate.

 

Since my only 'air' needs are for topping off tire pressures, I went for the UNDER-kill approach. Mountain bike pump designed for low pressure high volume tires. Saves space, easy to store, no hoses to trip over, etc. I use it for cars, motorcycles, and bikes too. ...oh and the gauge is scary accurate.
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That will work, Tom! And you'II be healthier, too!

Andres

 

Looks expensive. Titanium?