Yes this is not necessarily tech related but it is life related and every once in a while one has to return to reality and get down and dirty. Let’s jump in to reality together!
The tire inflator I keep in my Honda Civic Si to pump up its never ending flat tire has recently started showing signs of failing. Not starting when I press the power button mainly. It has been a good tire inflator all said and has saved me hundreds of dollars in using inflators at gas stations here in Canada.
So I started looking for a new inflator that would not only replace the one I had but also build on how good it was. These criteria included, faster pump, quieter, and retain the digital gauge that would auto fill to a set pressure without monitoring.
That landed me on the GSPSCN Portable Digital Car Tire Inflator on Amazon. There is no part number for this thing and it looks like many other tire inflators on Amazon. It was one of the first to show in my search however.
I chose this because it was one of the few heavy duty/speed inflators that had a digital gauge on it. That was really a big deal. GSPSCN also claims that it can inflate a tire from zero to thirty-five PSI in 90 seconds. They also claimed that it had a 11.5 foot power cable and an 11.5 foot air hose.
After testing I can’t necessarily agree on the zero to 35 PSI in 90 seconds. My Civic Si’s 17 inch tires require 32 PSI and it was able to inflate from about 15 PSI to 32 PSI in about a minute. That’s still pretty fast compared to my old inflator. The GSPSCN is able to accomplish this by have a more powerful motor and dual compression pistons.
What is remarkable is that even with much more performance and two pistons this compressor is incredibly quiet compared to my old inflator. Like, you can have a normal volume level conversation right beside the inflator while it’s doing it’s job.
The digital aspect of the inflator also works well and like my old one it will slightly over inflate to make up for lost pressure when removing the air hose. The controls are easy. You set the desired level of pressure in PSI or BAR or KPA or KG/CM squared. It is by default set to PSI which works fine for me. Then all you have to do is hit the power switch on the side.
I’ll be honest and say I didn’t measure the air hose or the power lead but together they give at least three times the length of the power lead included with my old tire inflator which will make it much easier to inflate the tires on my truck. My old inflator barely reached the rear tires.
The inflator hose that comes directly off the compressor is made of a nicely flexible rubber hose that has a fitting to screw on to the longer coiled plastic air hose. The connector on the end of both are screw on affairs instead of the quick attach and release jobs you often see. This is ok though I definitely prefer the quick attachment.
Other accessories include a bag to store the compressor, extra nozzles to inflate balls and bike tires and a 12V accessory plug to 12V car battery clamp.
The 12V battery clamp adapter is a smart addon as some vehicles can’t provide enough power to run this inflator from a 12V accessory socket. Hooking it directly up to the battery is a great way to get around that issue and possibly provide even more performance. The disadvantage with that is the battery is usually located under the hood so it requires much more hose and cable to get to the tires you want to inflate. In my case, this isn’t an issue.
There is also an LED light on the inflator that has a separate switch which is handy if you have to inflate a tire a night.
I am really impressed with this tire inflator. It is not cheap but at $94.99 CAD I think it is worth every penny. Especially since it will only take 50 times using it to pay for it still (assuming two dollars to use a compressor at a gas station). I highly recommend this inflator and I will revisit this in time to give a long-term update.
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