[sushanthys]

Hi guys.

This is a post about my first time use of a tyre inflator. My wife owns a BYD Atto 3. Now, Atto 3 is part of an increasingly new brigade of cars which do not come with a spare tyre. The merits & demerits of not having a spare tyre is open to debate. I am simply describing an interesting experience which happened today.

So, I had got into the car today morning to drop my daughter to school, which is 10 km away. On starting the car, the TPMS alarm came on. The rear left tyre was showing a pressure of 17 psi. Got down & checked and sure enough, the tyre was showing signs of deflation. Didn’t want to take a risk, so we travelled to the school in my MG ZS EV.

On returning home, I checked the Atto 3 again. It was a sure-shot puncture. I could even see the culprit – a large nail embedded between the treads.

It was 7.30 in the morning. The puncture repair shops will not open before 9 AM. Since my wife had alternate means of transport for the day, decided to tackle the problem later. I came back from work around 3.30 PM. I checked the Atto 3’s tyre again. The wheel was totally deflated now. The nearest puncture repair shop was around 1.5 km away. There was no away I could drive it there in the present condition without damaging the alloy wheel. Calling a mobile puncture repair guy was an option.

The Atto 3 comes with a puncture repair kit. Since I was at home and I only needed to inflate the tyre to an acceptable level, I thought I would give it a try. Also, was curious as to whether it would work. I would also gain some valuable experience for any usage in future.

Opened the boot and took the tyre inflator out. There was also a sealer compound available but that was not needed in the present scenario. The tyre inflator has a connector (orange coloured) which plugs into the 12V socket. It is powered by the car. The connecting wire is long enough to access the rear wheels.

The steps involved were as follows.
- Start the car (Make sure to leave the car key inside)
- Connect the tyre inflator to the 12 V socket
- Switch on the tyre inflator (The switch is on the side)
- Connect the inflator to the tyre valve (The inflator should be screwed on to the valve tightly)
- Wait for the tyre to inflate (Watch the pressure gauge; the initial pressure should be zero)

It was the final step which gave me trouble. Since the tyre was completely deflated, it takes time to start showing signs of air entry (around 1-2 mins). Remember that the air compressor is not that strong. Initially, I thought I was doing it wrong. Kept fiddling with controls and the tyre valve. Checked that there was adequate air flow. When I realized that the compressor was working, the air flow was OK and there was no leak, just waited. After 2 minutes, the tyre started filling up. It took almost 7-8 minutes for the tyre to reach a pressure of 30 Psi. The compressor became very hot by then. The sound was also not very pleasant. Hence, disconnected the inflator.

Drove to the puncture repair shop immediately and they fixed the tyre. They charged Rs.200.

Fun fact – The Atto 3 wheel bolts are protected by plastic lug nut covers. You need a special instrument to remove them. It is provided in the car’s tyre repair kit. The shop also had it.

Things which I learned today

-A tyre inflator is a nifty thing to have in your car. Good quality ones are available in Amazon for around Rs.2000. I think I will get one for my MG ZS EV as well, although it comes with a spare tyre.
- Even if you have a spare tyre in your car, how many of us are skilled enough to change the tyres in a big SUV? It is not easy and can be down right dangerous if not done correctly. Changing tyres in a Maruti 800 is not a problem. Not so for the bigger cars. Plus it is not easy on your back. For urban usage, a spare tyre is not a necessity. There is easy access to tyre repair shops. A tyre inflator will help you get to one in case of an emergency.
- However, for long trips, a spare tyre is a must. No tyre inflator or sealing compound can help you in case of a side wall tear.
- Invest in a Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), if your car does not already have one. Can avoid nasty surprises.

Hope this post is useful.

Cheers!

[abhinavj01]

A quicker and easier way to inflate the tyre, without having the inflator heat up, is to use the jack and lift the wheel.

[Geo_Ipe]

Originally Posted by abhinavj01

A quicker and easier way to inflate the tyre, without having the inflator heat up, is to use the jack and lift the wheel.

True, as the inflator doesn't have to lift the whole weight of the tyre. However, the problem is that the jack also disappeared from the boot with the spare tyre!! So in cars like BYD, one has to solely depend on the inflator.

I've actually been having an inflator in the boot of my car for the past 6-7 years, but never had the misfortune to use it. I don't even know if it works any more! Better might be a mechanical foot pump, which of course takes effort, but may be less prone to failure with prolonged periods of disuse.

[RedRaider]

I have a TUSA tyre inflator which I have been using regularly for the last few years. In fact, instead of using the services of a petrol pump, I use it for regular top ups of air to get the tyres to the correct air pressure.

By doing this, I don't have to deal with the vagaries of the pressure gauges at the pumps.

The inflator has also helped me reach puncture repair shops a few times when I was confronted with a puncture.

[Bane214]

Nicely articulated experience. Totally agree that a good tyre inflator is a must, whether spare tyre available or not. It is definitely a must have accessory and rightly one of the most recommended in teambhp thread on 'must have accessories'. I inflate my car, my bike, 2 cycles, my football, all of these using the same tyre inflator.
I also want to highlight the importance of 'knowing how to replace a tyre'. One should know how to change a tyre if one knows how to drive (different opinions welcome). I remember my dad teaching me how to change a tyre before he taught me driving. Even if you are not able to manage the tyre lift load or unable to put that much force to unscrew the wheel nuts due to any issue, medical or otherwise, you are very likely to find someone who is ready to help. So the least one can do is know how to do it. And as you rightly pointed out, changing tyre is the only way out if you have a side wall tear.

[arjab]

Originally Posted by sushanthys

The compressor became very hot by then. The sound was also not very pleasant. Hence, disconnected the inflator.

Whatever portable air compressor you use and whatever its manufacturers may say, do not use them for more than 5 minutes at a stretch. Give a break to cool it down and then restart.
The reasons for this are two:
1. You put less strain on the portable air compressor motor.
And
2. The 12 volt accessory socket also cools down. There is a lot of heat build-up on the tip of the 12volt accessory socket plug. If you run it for too long, the potential risk of the 12volt socket melting is always there.

Also: Set the portable air compressor to inflate to 0.5psi above the air pressure you want to fill to. Why? Because of the "P-s-s-h-h-h / P-s-s-h-h-h" when you unscrew the compressor from the valve stem! You lose 0.5 psi there!

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by sushanthys

Even if you have a spare tyre in your car, how many of us are skilled enough to change the tyres in a big SUV? It is not easy and can be down right dangerous if not done correctly. Changing tyres in a Maruti 800 is not a problem. Not so for the bigger cars. Plus it is not easy on your back.

Indeed, lifting the spare wheel of an SUV out of its wheel well can be a good test of back strength and overall fitness! However, this aside, I think the skills required to change a tyre are quite minimal and everyone who can learn to operate a vehicle should also be able to figure it out (especially with YouTube available on your phone).

[aashishnb]

Originally Posted by arjab

Whatever portable air compressor you use and whatever its manufacturers may say, do not use them for more than 5 minutes at a stretch. Give a break to cool it down and then restart.

+1. Highly recommended.

All these portable tyre inflators are good only to top up or fill air if it is low.
They are not at all recommended for inflating a flat or near flat tyre. For such activity, the industrial size 'compressor with a tank' system used by tyre repair shops are recommended.

The compressor on the portable types will heat up quite a lot real fast. This also means that the air going in the tyre also is quite hot, and one may have to compensate by inflating more than the recommended 'cold pressure'.

[NomadSK]

Air compressor draws a lot of power and cigarette lighter port are not designed to put out that much power for that long. (At-least in my old car, don't know if modern cars are designed for that load) Tiny wiring/plastic assembly holding it just melts. I have learned it the hard way, when I used to inflate my tire after a desert trip and it just melted the whole 12V assembly with obnoxious smoke fumes in the car. Result, 12V assembly wasn't working anymore, but compressor survived.

Always hook up portable compressor directly to battery, with jumper type cable attachments/connectors, I have done a DIY for this purpose specifically, because we go regularly to deserts, which requires deflation and inflation cycle regularly.

I'm not sure, but as you go up with the PSI range the compressor would need more amperage to pump that much air into the tire due to the back pressure, hence more load on the wiring and assembly.

[Bimmerhead557]

I believe a rechargeable air compressor is way better than the ones that connect to the 12v socket of your car. I have used two of them so far and they are designed to do the job. Another option is using a foot pump like the ones sold by Michelin that come with built-in pressure gauge in both analogue and digital options. I own an analogue one with single barrel/piston from Michelin. They have a two barrel version too. But the rechargeable air compressor are faster and way more convenient if you want to carry it in the car. I owned one from Xiaomi in the past. When faced some issues with its battery, I got another from Thomson. This one comes with type c charging port and built-in flashlight. It can be used as a power bank for your mobile phones as well. All of them come with digital display to show the pressure and various modes.

[sunilarkt]

I'm using this Tusa wireless inflator and it works quite well, Can be used as torch and powerbank and I have filled the tyre of my seltos without any issue so far. I have to see how long the battery holds up.

[Jeroen]

Its quite normal, for those little compressors to get hot and very noisy. Don't worry about it.

Even if you have a spare tyre in your car, how many of us are skilled enough to change the tyres in a big SUV? It is not easy and can be down right dangerous if not done correctly

Not sure what you mean? Why would it be more difficult to change the tyre on a big car compared to a small car. The process itself is identical, the torque for the nuts/bolts are about the same. Jacking it up is the same. Other than the tyre/wheel assembly being a little heavier Imdont see the difference?

Interestingly enough many small cars have steel wheel bolts. Usually 3/4. Many more upmarket cars have aluminium rims and 4/5 nuts or bolts. You might find that the correct torque on those little cars is often higher than on those big powerful cars.

E.g. Our little Ford Fiesta with all but 65HP requires 120Nm torque on puny little bolts. My Jaguar with 400HP requires 102Nm.

Jeroen

[rajeevsulu]

I use this device to top up and a regular compressor device to fill air that plugs into the 12 v socket. It sure makes the job easier to get to the puncture shop.

My drives are a Thar and a Hyundai Accent which have spare tyres but the value of these devices are huge.

I also use it to top up my Interceptor tyres which are pretty sensitive in handling even if there is a drop of 2 psi.

Cheers

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by arjab

Whatever portable air compressor you use and whatever its manufacturers may say, do not use them for more than 5 minutes at a stretch...

That's where having more than one 12V port comes handy too.

While my inflator has enough cable to reach all 4 corners while plugged into the front socket, I use the port in the Jimny's boot for the rear two tires (plus the occasional top-up for the spare). Helps to not put all the load through the front port, and the switchover gives the inflator some cool-off time too.

[kedar_GT]

I have been using a corded tire inflator (a Coido one) for the last 8 yrs. I recently also purchased a portable one (Lyrovo) for my primary car and relegated the Coido to my city car. This was also because the corded one did not reach 1 of the 4 tires of the XUV700.

My observation is that in the case of an ICE car, keep the engine running and do not run the inflator on ACC power. This will result in the air getting filled faster and hence lesser heating. Now this is the case for the corded one.

For the cordless one too, you can run with the 12V socket for the tires which are closer and for the others, use the cordless more. In my case, I always use the portable mode and just use the USB C for charging the inflator when it is not in use. This arrangement works well!