Air compressor

[pauloc]

Hey Guys,

 

Had planned to convert the Mrs' wheelset to tubeless this weekend so went down to Makro and bought an entry level Autoquip air compressor (27 litres / min output) to help with seating the tyres. Wanted to get a compressor that I can also cart around with me and use when camping / 4x4'ing, so one of those big jobbies is out of the question.

 

Problem is when it came to inflating the tyres, there just wasn't enough pressure to get the bead to seat properly. Eventually had to use a C02 cartridge to get it right.

 

So, my question is will one of these compressor's actually work for seating tubeless tyres, and if so, what's the minimum spec required?

 

Cheers,

Paulo

[Mojoman]

Is that just a pump, or a pump with an air tank?

[pauloc]

Is that just a pump, or a pump with an air tank?

Just a pump.

[Just Keep Pedaling]

"Eventually had to use a C02 cartridge to get it right."

 

C02 will cause the liquid latex to dry up (the carbonic acid neutralises the amonia which keeps the latex liquid).

 

Use a garage pump to seat the tyres(the Sasol ones work best for me) - press the 'flat' button first.

 

Only use C02 bombs on the trail.

[Mojoman]

I have not tried tubeless but I think you would need a certain sudden volume of air to inflate the tyre, hence the air tank on larger compressors and your use of a CO2 bomb.

With regards to the 4x4'ing aspect, on a quiet day at home deflate your 4x4's tyres and see how long it takes to re-inflate them to your preferred volume, some of the cheaper pumps run very slowly and overheat quickly.

[dirtrider]

If you gonna buy a compressor just to seat the tyres on ur wife’s bike then don't bother . But if you also plan to spray your neighbours wives car , clean your bikes air cleaner , use your collection of air tools you got 5 years ago and over inflate the tyres on your 4x4 then buy a decent , then look at something a bit bigger .

[AndreZA]

Just a pump.

 

What is the 27l for if it is "Just a pump"? Those little diaphragm compressors are useless.

[Just Keep Pedaling]

"spray your neighbours wives car"

 

Interesting. Would you ask her permission 1st?

[pauloc]

Use a garage pump to seat the tyres(the Sasol ones work best for me) - press the 'flat' button first.

 

 

If you gonna buy a compressor just to seat the tyres on ur wife’s bike then don't bother . But if you also plan to spray your neighbours wives car , clean your bikes air cleaner , use your collection of air tools you got 5 years ago and over inflate the tyres on your 4x4 then buy a decent , then look at something a bit bigger .

 

I plan to use the compressor mainly for tubeless setup purposes and don't want to have to take my wheels to the garage every time I need to re-seat the tyres

[pauloc]

What is the 27l for if it is "Just a pump"? Those little diaphragm compressors are useless.

Apparently that's the output / flow rate. 27 litres of air per minute???

 

I was reading somewhere yesterday that C02 bombs output at 30 litres per minute, but don't know if that's the only aspect that I need to focus on when looking into these dinky compressors?

[dirtrider]

Depends on the type of relationship you got going but that is something not to be discussed on a cycle web site .

[amasendeinja]

(very) Soapy water liberally applied all around the rim and bead, once the tyre is on the rim, with a soft brush and then inflating with a normal floor pump has never failed me. As soon as you start pumping air normally comes out around the valve area, ensure its at the top and just squash the tyre down on to the rim with your hand. Works every time.

[Grebel]

The cheap compressor will be fine for camping and pumping your tyres occasionally. You however need the volume of air at pressure to seat the beads. Get a small portable one with a receiver. Also check the duty cycle of the compressor. As mentioned before, the cheaper ones overheat if you use them for too long. The more expensive ones have a higher duty cycle meaning that they can run for longer. What about using a dive bottle?

[timM]

(very) Soapy water liberally applied all around the rim and bead, once the tyre is on the rim, with a soft brush and then inflating with a normal floor pump has never failed me. As soon as you start pumping air normally comes out around the valve area, ensure its at the top and just squash the tyre down on to the rim with your hand. Works every time.

I agree - although some floor-pumps are better than others - I use a silverback branded pump and it never fails (also not very expensive at under R200)

[ichnusa]

27 L per minute... hmmm roughly half a liter per second... not enough air volume

 

I've previously seated the both beads of the tubeless tire with a normal tube, then deflated it again and carefully (as to only unseat one bead) removed the tube. Followed by inserting tubeless valve, slime and pump with foot-pump. This way it halves the amount of air escaping and increases your chance of seating it with a footpump. This way is harder with non-tubeless tires or tires that fit loosely or go on easily. They come unseated when removing the tube...

Edited May 16, 2011 by ichnusa

[Mecnic]

I use a stock standard 24l tank compressor which pumps to 8bar in the tank before I release any air.

 

Seating tubeless tires needs a sudden burst of higher volume air, the pump isn't fast enough for instance on my compressor if it runs down to where the pressure switch turns it on again i wait until the tank is full enough again (usually over 6 bar in the tank)