Milwaukee 12V Compact Air Compressor

[RKA]

It's a common upsell at many places.  It costs them pennies, but they will charge anywhere from $20-50 if you want it.  I've even seen it lumped into $500-750 dealer add on packages when you buy a new car.  As GoingMyWay mentioned, Costco just lumps it into their standard installation fees rather than milking you (well, they may have done away with the installation fees now and built everything into the cost per tire). 

 

[Cheese]

Hey [member=21249]RKA[/member] , [member=66216]GoingMyWay[/member] , [member=7493]Sparktrician[/member] that's indeed interesting, rather like an "old dog new trick" moment for me. [big grin]

I think I may have a minor aluminum porosity issue. It was back in May when I filled up all 4 tires to 35 psi. Just last week I noticed that they were now at the 27--29--31--31 psi levels. Outdoor temperature levels were pretty similar between then & now.

 

[Sparktrician]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member], you might want to consider getting your tires nitrogen-filled.  They won't vary pressure from season to season.  My truck came that way.  Every time I go in to the dealer, they recheck, but seldom have to add more nitrogen.  I'm thinking that I need to do this with my car, too.  [smile]

Hey Sparky that's interesting, I never heard of that before. Is this common at a tire changing business (say Tires Plus) or is it more of a dealership thing?

[member=44099]Cheese[/member], around here it's both a dealer thing as well as a tire shop thing.  When I bought my truck, it had Goodyear boots (with nitrogen fill) on it, and I detested them.  I bought a good set of Michelins from Tire Rack and had a local tire shop mount and balance them, and do the nitrogen fill thing on them.  That said, every time I go back to the dealer, they check the pressure and add nitrogen as necessary.  I'm thinking I may look into the possibility of getting a small nitrogen tank with a regulator and fill valve so I can do my other vehicles as well.  That option may not be cost-effective, though. 

Edit: Here's a good read on the nitrogen issue.  Having just read this, it looks like nitrogen fill is yet another dealer scheme to part you from your cash, with little real tangible value. 

 

[GoingMyWay]

I have no idea what's in my tires - I assumed just regular air.  I occasionally have had to use my little air pump to add more air to my tires when the car warns me about low tire pressure.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't sort of "topping" off a nitrogen filled tire with a few pounds of regular air negate the benefits of the overall nitrogen fill?  I'm pretty sure I have seen little cans of nitrogen being sold just to top off tires.  It must have been at an auto parts store (I rarely if ever have a need to go to one).  Or maybe I am making that up and misremembering.

 

[RKA]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] That's not bad over 5 months.  Some of my cars lose less than 0.5 psi/month and one car loses just over 1 psi/month (on summer and winter sets).  The nitrogen fill isn't going to help with that obviously.  But in the fall as the temps drop, I'm checking and adjusting pressures with each 20F drop in overnight lows.  The nitrogen will help there.

One more thing, adjust the pressures when the car is parked in the shade or garage.  I used to make a habit of adjusting them when the tires are cold, but found even if I drove the car 15 miles home, it really didn't increase the pressure more than 1-2 psi.  but if one side was exposed to the sun, the pressures on that side would increase up to 4 psi vs. the side in the shade.  If you set them all equal, that side will end up low when the tire temperatures normalize.

 

[DynaGlide]

I guess riding a motorcycle has made me less concerned about the tires on my car... There's 4 of them vs the only 2 get on my bike. As long as the TPMS isn't going off on the car I don't give out a second thought.

 

[jeh]

Not to hijack the thread, but Dewalt has a similar model due out soon. They also have another inflator/battery jumper that is significantly more money. The only reason I am adding this is for those using the Dewalt battery system.

 

[Cheese]

I guess riding a motorcycle has made me less concerned about the tires on my car... There's 4 of them vs the only 2 get on my bike. As long as the TPMS isn't going off on the car I don't give out a second thought.

Being a motorcycle guy myself, I’m with you.  [big grin]

The only reason I got involved is because my wife locks-up when the TPMS light starts to flash. I just ignore it.

If you ignore it then after a couple of days a DANGER message appears on the monitor and also on the speedometer. She thinks the car is going to implode or something, she’s afraid to drive it.  [eek]

So this battery powered pump was my solution to regain some of my sanity.

 

[PeterJJames13]

Great timing of this thread. I was at the Tool Nut yesterday afternoon picking up some Woodpeckers, and there it was on the counter. They were telling me how great it was. As luck would have it, my rear passenger tire was a *cough" *cough* "little" low on pressure. With a nearly dead battery, it filled up the tire no problem, shutting off at the entered PSI.

My wife, like most of yours I'm sure, also flips out when the TPMS light goes on in her car. Almost to the point where she wants to trade it in (until I tell her all cars have the light now). This would definitely restore some sanity and seems well worth the money.

I don't have any Milwaukee cordless, but their 12 volt system just keeps expanding and getting better. This is a real winner in my book.

 

[peter halle]

Great timing of this thread. I was at the Tool Nut yesterday afternoon picking up some Woodpeckers, and there it was on the counter. They were telling me how great it was. As luck would have it, my rear passenger tire was a *cough" *cough* "little" low on pressure. With a nearly dead battery, it filled up the tire no problem, shutting off at the entered PSI.

My wife, like most of yours I'm sure, also flips out when the TPMS light goes on in her car. Almost to the point where she wants to trade it in (until I tell her all cars have the light now). This would definitely restore some sanity and seems well worth the money.

I don't have any Milwaukee cordless, but their 12 volt system just keeps expanding and getting better. This is a real winner in my book.

Toolnut still has a store?  I thought that they went to all internet sales.  [member=48572]Shane Holland[/member] ?

Peter

 

[Shane Holland]

Toolnut still has a store?  I thought that they went to all internet sales.  [member=48572]Shane Holland[/member] ?

[member=1674]Peter Halle[/member], yes, we still have a store that serves walk-in customers.  [wink]

And, we've sold a lot of these inflators. Dewalt has one now too.

 

[Z48LT1]

My $.02US: the problem with ignoring the first TPMS warning is that the next thing that may happen is the rim ruining the tire when the tire actually loses all its pressure which can happen before you know it.  So I'm with Peter_C in reply 5 about having a 12V air compressor in each car to determine whether the TPMS warning is real or not immediately.  My choice is this $35 gem from Amazon:https://tinyurl.com/y8lztqod.  It has the Milwaukee compressor's feature of shutting off when the digitally set pressure limit is reached.  It is powered by a standard 12V cigar lighter type plug.  It does have a screw-on tire valve attachment but releases only a very brief "pffft" when unscrewed.  It's quiet and remarkably quick in topping off standard car tires; I haven't tried to inflate fully deflated tires or used it to top off truck tires.  Comes in a tidy zip-up vinyl bag with simple instructions and inflator adapters for the usual non tire inflatables.

 

[Peter_C]

Not long after this thread was started I bought a small Viair compressor for our little car. Also picked up a plug kit, and one of those small lunch boxes from Costco. The lunch box is pretty small and padded, so it holds the compressor, the plug kit tools needed, a few pairs of latex gloves, and two pairs of pliers, dikes and a pair of pliers to pull the screws/nails. Very compact, and because it uses the cars battery I never have to worry about swapping batteries, as it could be years before I use it. Compressor doesn't do any good if you don't have a battery with enough charge to fill a completely deflated tire.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ASY23I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Plug patches installed from the inside are a requirement in most states for tire shops, with plugs not being allowed. In all my years of experience with plugs I have seen them fail due to improper installation, causing a slow leak. Of course I have seen interior patches leak too. Flats tend to not happen very often with good quality tires and I am okay with plugging them myself and not driving on a mini spare.

FWIW always put a mini spare on the rear of the vehicle, and move the rear tire forward if need be. Has to do with braking and steering. How many people routinely check their mini spares to make sure they are at the recommend 60 psi?? Yeah some vehicles still come with full spares, but they are far and few between.

 

[RKA]

On a related note, if you want a good plug kit to pair with your inflator, this is the ticket!  Between my neighbor and I, we have used 6-7 in the last 2 years.  Not a single leaky plug!  In his case, he usually tries with his auto store kit and one of two things happen.  The tool bends or the plug leaks before he gets the wheel back on the car.  If either of those happens, he calls me, I bring over the safety seal kit and in 10 minutes it’s all done, no leaks.  The plugs are better, the tools are better and the lube does help. 

https://www.amazon.com/Safety-Seal-KAP30-String-Storage/dp/B001DIECCK/ref=sr_1_4?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1538018776&sr=1-4&keywords=Safety+seal

The only negative is the reamer is on the large side, so you’ll need the wheel off the car to put your weight into it.  Forget about laying on your side and trying to plug a tire still on the car.

 

[GoingMyWay]

My wife recently had a screw in one of her tires.  Luckily it was a slow leak so she was able to just keep putting air in it until she could take it to the gas station down the street to be fixed.  The shop just used one of those plugs to fix the hole rather than a patch from the inside.  I guess I could have just bought a plug kit and essentially have done the same thing (though I've never done it before, but it seems pretty straight forward).  Obviously the plug is a lot easier and faster considering you often probably don't even have to take the wheel off of the car.

Are plugs really that dangerous?  It seems like plugs have been used for a long long time and only more recently (maybe past 15 -20years?) have I started hearing about these vulcanized patches that are applied from the inside.  Patches also seem like another upsell that a shop or store will force you to buy along with a nitrogen fill.

Does anyone have any recommendations for an inexpensive tire pressure gauge?  My wife wants one for her car after her recent leaking tire problem.  I have this Michelin:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00139YMUQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1 and it works fine.  I don't use or have a need for the programmable target pressure, but I know it works well just a little more expensive than others.  Anyone have any experience with either of these cheaper gauges:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07255XLG5/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?smid=A3COC6SF6EGCHZ&psc=1https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J8DLGU2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A2NOFZGOKNP3PJ&psc=1

It doesn't look like the cheaper units specify their accuracy.  The Michelin says it's accuracy is "+/- 1% plus 0.5 PSI" - maybe it's really not that serious and does not even need to be that accurate as a few other posters have mentioned they're not overly concerned about tire pressures on a car.  I used to use those cheap stick gauges for the longest time and that seemed to be good enough also.

 

[pixelated]

I've been anxiously awaiting the DeWalt unit to become available, I have 4 battery systems already  [scared], and I don't need a 5th. Plus the DeWalt adds some versatility in that it can be powered from a tool battery or wall plug, or a vehicle battery.

 

[RKA]

[member=66216]GoingMyWay[/member] The patches are unlikely to leak since they are applied from the inside of the tire and the pressure of the air is effectively pushing it into the hole.  All other things equal, that would be my first preference.  But...

With the plug, you usually get a fixed size plug and have to ream the hole in the tire first, often expanding the hole (so the plug will fit) and abrading the inside of the hole to provide a little tooth for the plug to grab.  It can take a bit of force to jam the tool in there and ream it enough so the plug and other tool will fit.  I've had problems with cheaper plugs and tools and this method does run the risk of doing damage to the internal construction of the tire, though I've yet to see it myself. 

With quality plugs and tools, I can deal with it at home in 30 minutes and it never leaks again.  It costs me nothing over the initial investment in the plugs and tools.  With a patch, I have to take it to a shop, I'm at the mercy of their workload, at a minimum they have to take the tire off the wheel (or at least break the bead), reinstall and rebalance the tire (most shops will rebalance unless you ask them to mark the tire and wheel and reinstall in the same location).  Around me, low profile tires can run up to $30 or more for a mount and balance.  The cost is fine, but losing 90 minutes watching an 18 year old kid learning to use the tire machine and scratching my wheels isn't fun.  So, for convenience, I'll just plug it myself and move on. 

 

[Cheese]

The cost is fine, but losing 90 minutes watching an 18 year old kid learning to use the tire machine and scratching my wheels isn't fun.

That’s funny...just had that experience myself last week.

 

[RustE]

[member=66216]GoingMyWay[/member], I give people Milton S-921 or S-925 pencil gauges as gifts.  My next choices are the S-923 straight pencil gauge or the S-931 dial gauge.

I've owned some dial gauges in the past that were difficult to use because of their shallow head.  Basically you couldn't get the gauge aligned well before pushing it on the valve stem and frequently had leaks.  The S-923 straight pencil gauge is probably the easiest to align and use on automotive tires.

[member=21249]RKA[/member] and [member=44099]Cheese[/member], had a young guy at a tire shop install the wrong shape of wheel weights.  The wheel weights were not sitting flush on the rim and probably would have flung off at some point.  Went back to get the problem fixed but they tried to tell me it was not a big deal.  After a conversation with the manager I got the correct wheel weights installed and a refund.

 

[leakyroof]

On a related note, if you want a good plug kit to pair with your inflator, this is the ticket!  Between my neighbor and I, we have used 6-7 in the last 2 years.  Not a single leaky plug!  In his case, he usually tries with his auto store kit and one of two things happen.  The tool bends or the plug leaks before he gets the wheel back on the car.  If either of those happens, he calls me, I bring over the safety seal kit and in 10 minutes it’s all done, no leaks.  The plugs are better, the tools are better and the lube does help. 

https://www.amazon.com/Safety-Seal-KAP30-String-Storage/dp/B001DIECCK/ref=sr_1_4?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1538018776&sr=1-4&keywords=Safety+seal

The only negative is the reamer is on the large side, so you’ll need the wheel off the car to put your weight into it.  Forget about laying on your side and trying to plug a tire still on the car.

  These ARE nice, we used to use them all the time at work, but then were required to switch to the Combo Patch/Plug repair pieces. I still have them, and generally I've never had one leak on me once installed, but a patch on the inside is preferred or even required now in many places.
I save mine for when I'm on the road and getting to a shop or my work is not an option at the time.
NAPA also sells a much better quality all metal reamer and install tool set than the small, plastic tools that commonly come with the inexpensive plug kits.
You get a much more comfortable handle style to work with and more leverage.

One bad caveat to installing Patches over a plug is the new style' Quiet Tires' that are around now. Basically a 1/4" to 3/16" thick layer of foam is installed on the inner tread/carcass side of the tire, glued with what appears to be a butyl rubber adhesive to the tire. Trying to hack through that and get a smooth, non-glued surface to apply a patch can be very time consuming. I know Continental Tires uses this as a option[ Conti Silent Tire ] and I suspect other tire makers could move to it if it catches on.