Very reasonable price range IMHO. $59.99 for a "full loaded and well equipped" tire inflator would be well worth it, IMHO.

 

^ Good to know. Even the $49.99 one is going to be incredible IMO.

 

I'm pretty excited to see this. I'm assuming you're an engineer of some sort?

What kind of timeline do you think you're looking at?

 

Ours already does that.

 

This is interesting. Can't wait to see the final product!

The portable I have takes FOREVER to add 5psi, which is why I only use it if no other option. What is the approx time for your unit to add 5psi?

 

I'm not an engineer. I'm a product designer. Well, at least I think that's what my new title is. I went to school for graphic design and was doing that for 10 years (5 years at my current job) until the new CEO decided to move me into product development. Right now we're aiming for early January to have prototypes (non-functional) and if all goes well have functional products by early February. It's a crazy timeline but we're giving it our all.

All our inflators should be able to fill an entire tire in 3-5 minutes. That's our goal at least.

 

That's cool. It takes 5-10 min for mine to add 5 psi.

 

Hi Todd

Do you what I would like to see in a portable inflator? Quality. Most seem to be built very poorly. Instead of a bunch of gimmicks, give me a decent quality air hose of appropriate length. An adequate length of electrical cord from the accessory outlet as well. Personally, I don't like things like flashlights and built in pressure indicators as they never work well, but instead would like to see an attractive soft case with provisions for a pair of gloves and a proper tire gauge.

Just me . Good luck with the project.



Terry

 

I keep a straw in my glovebox and blow more air in when I need to.

 

Great input, Terry. I agree, quality is the #1 issue amoung most reviews I've read. I've noticed on one of our current inflators that the built in dial gauge is about 10 ft lbs off. I always use my tire gauge to ensure I'm reading the actual pressure, but for someone that doesn't know it's not accurate, it could really cause some serious issues, not to mention eat up tires if they're either under or over inflated. The reason why so many inflators are of poor quality is because it's much much cheaper for a company to shop factories in China and settle on less quality for better pricing. Add in the fact that there's a real science that goes into making a quality inflator and you have factories making 10, 20, 100 different products and tire inflators are just one tiny portion of their products. There's not a lot of R&D that goes into them. That's why we're working with THE BEST inflator factory and they only make inflators. They patent all their stuff so other factories can no longer knock their stuff off and create a price war. It's actually very refreshing to know we're doing the research, the design, the QC to ensure these will blow our competitor's inflators out of the water. And like I said, on top of it, they'll have actual functional features, not just crappy add ons like a lot of them have.

 

Good to hear. As mentioned, I use my shop/garage air compressors to air my tires, but have seen a few of the portables in action. Lots of features like cheesy dials, flashlights, and useless stuff, but they seem to spend the majority of their time making a lot of noise while bouncing around on the pavement. And of course by this time the air chuck has fallen off.

Sounds like you're working on a proper solution.


Terry

 

They are so lite!.,..and there is no provision made to keep them in one place... the only advantage to the one I got my wife is that it is heavy and wont run off...

I am really hoping to see a quality one that is small enough to fit in the area where mine stores in the trunk of my Merc... since the hardtop stores in part of the truck there is really only ONE place you can put the pump... and that's rite on top of the inflatable spare in a small holder with a velco strap...

Any plans for a small one Todd?
You can send me a prototype and I can then brag to all on my peeps on the Two Mercedes forums where I am a member...

just kidding! You know me... But let me know... I would love to see a really good one in my trunk!

 

I use my mom's portable inflator that we keep in the back of her car. Been using it for years, made by CH. No real gripes about it other then power cord storage needs to be a little neater. Runs great, fills fast and the air hose is holding strong (one of the problems I have with manual pumps). It even has an analog auto-off at a user set PSI, I don't use the flashlight much though.

One thing I complain about is removing the air hose from the tire. I hate when you let off 3 pounds of air when you take the hose off. Anything you guys are working on in that area Todd?

 

I check it about once a month and use a bike pump to adjust accordingly.

The only thing that I would like in addition to a bike pump or an air compressor is one of those valve set ups that equalizes pressures, so that the pressure in a pair or set of tires is the same (essentially you fill up two or four tires at once and the valve(s) balances the pressure). I know they sell them, but they are usually too expensive to justify buying one.

 

What type of nozzle does your tire inflator have? Is it the traditional type with a lever that you have to flip to lock onto the valve? Or is a screw on type? To answer your question, yes, even the nozzle is being redesigned.

 

I'd just like to add, if you fill up at a gas station (or even at home) make sure you purge the air chuck before filling up your tires. Usually when I fill up at gas stations I purge it and I see a good amount of water vapor shooting out. Water in your tires =

 

^ Good point Costco. Gotta watch out for those air/water stations.

 

^^ Very good point. In fact I just added air on all four corners last week at the gas station and the lever was broken so I could not purge it, but I needed air so... Now this week my TPMS indicator is back on. I don't have a nail either. I think it's the moisture.

 

just picked up this one today

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053

 

in the summer, i check my tires once a month but in the winter, i check my tire pressures every 2 weeks with my inflator hooked up to my air compressor at home. also, i always have a portable tire inflator with a gauge in my car. never liked gas stations because most of the times, their gauges are crap and not free!

 

The $25 I spent last year for a cheapo 12V plug in air compressor has been worth it. Fills up my cars tires, & bike tires fine. Has a PSI setting dial. Dial in what I need, hook the valve up, turn on. In a few minutes it stops at the PSI, un-hook & done.
The cord fold up inside the unit. Compact & easy to use.

 

Additionally good point! I wasn't considering TPMS sensors either... they're probably some sensitive mofos. Likely not cheap either. Corrosion of wheels is one thing, electronic sensors is a whole 'nother problem.

I'll preach what has been said in this thread so far, my brother got a $50 compact compressor for his multi-car household and he says it was the best $50 he's spent in a long time. Don't tell him this but he's somewhat of a penny pincher, which makes it even more impressive

 

What brand is it?

 

I think craftsman? I got it from sears. I have to check.

 

Flip to lock.

 

I had to build a fence in my parents backyard 4 years ago, so it was a good excuse to buy an air compressor and pneumatic tools(great for decks too). I added an impact & socket wrench, as well as tire inflate and some other goodies. It is so nice to be able to deal with any air needs, from the wife's exercise ball, to the kids bikes. I highly recommend the purchase!

 

Same here. If I'm out and about, I know of one gas station that has free air, so I'll go there. I refuse to pay for air.

 

We have this one:

http://www.blackanddecker.com/power-tools/ASI300.aspx

Bought from Sears ~3 years ago on sale + gift cards. It's been fine....it's air....there are only so many options one really needs. Had a compressor prior that lasted about 5 years and then died. Only difference with the B&D is that it allows you to set the desired PSI and it will fill until that point and then shut off, if you so desire. Plugs into outlet or car.

 

i had one of those slime ones. It was crap. I think it topped off my bike and car like once. I mostly bought it when I had a bike, since I was more anal about making sure the tire pressure on that was right. Needless to say, I think it was taking forever to add a few psi to my bike tire, then started smoking, then blew the fuse. Replaced the fuse and kept in the back of my car. Maybe something fell on it or something, but it somehow proceeded to disintergrate, and the plug completely cracked, and random metal pieces started falling off. I tried to replace the plug, and I guess it didn't like that and just blew the fuse every time I tried to use it after that.

I did like the backup battery unit I had. One of those units for an emergency jump start, so the compressor was powered off the built in battery. I only used that compressor like once, so I can't really comment on it.

 

That's what I figured. Cheap to manufacture and not very effective IMO. We're only using brass screw on type nozzles. Much better connection and last longer, plus let less air out.

The thing is you're not paying for the air with a tire inflator, you're paying for convenience and safety, and knowing your filling your tire with only air (no chance of moisture/water) and you're filling them at a cold PSI reading, the ability to fill your tires on your car in your garage or driveway at home whenever you want to, or if you have an emergency on the side of the road and need to put air in your tire, you can with an inflator sitting in your trunk.

I have to admit the Black & Decker units appear to be very well made. I can't say anything bad about a company that makes them durable and reliable. We are in a different price point than B&D. Like I mentioned, we're at Wal-Mart, Target, the auto chains, etc, so we're at lower MSRPs than what B&D can be at. But I'm glad to hear you have had good luck with yours and it's served you well. I might have to go buy a B&D unit to see what the gutts look like.

I like the idea of the back up battery. Interesting. I've seen the emergency jump start thingamajigs in Target. They sell for like $30 alone. To incorporate one of those into the inflator might put our MSRP too high, but it's a neat idea. And yeah, Slime compressors are typically off the shelf factory pieces rebranded with the Slime logo, as I'll admit some of our units have been in the past, but we're changing that in a big way with this project.

Thanks again for everyone's input. It's definitely been helpful!