The tire inflator is a kind of air compressor that allows you to inflate your vehicle’s tires and can also be used to inflate other inflatables as well. It steadily maintains a positive pressure. The reason why we use tire inflators instead of air pump is because the pressure in the gas get rid of the effort required in pumping and can also fill your vehicle’s tire to the appropriate pressure.
There are bunch of tire inflators in the market, ranging from small ones that you can easily store in your vehicle’s boot to big ones that you might won’t be able to carry it in your vehicle but offers great speed and accuracy.
What is Air Compressor and How Does it Work?
Air Compressor is a type of mechanism that transforms into potential energy and stores it in the form of pressurized gas. The compressor gets the electricity from your vehicle’s battery or engine.
When you use the pressurized gas then it transforms from potential to kinetic energy and that energy is why we are able to fill up our tires or gas cylinders. This same concept can also be found on various tools like jackhammers. There are many people out there that confuse air compressors with air pump but both are very different from each other. The air pump generates pressure less air by moving it up and down that is ideal for things like inflatable mattresses but not for tires.
The process by which air compressors operate is known as positive displacement. Bunch of pistons are used to compress the air and reduce its volume, which is risen by using air pressure. The piston is used to compress all the air that flows into the compressor. Then, the piston applies pressure by moving down and forms a vaccum, which lets additional air to flow into the compressor.
Checkout: Best Tire Inflators
After that, the piston slowly goes up forming compressed air. That creates pressurized air and stops the outside air flow. A valve opens and it moves all the compressed pressurized air to the tank that can later be used to inflate tires.
Types of Tire Inflators
There are various types of tire inflators out there and each one of these have their own advantages and disadvantages. In order to find out which one should you get then checkout the list below:
Electric Tire Inflators
This is the type of tire inflator that is often used by mechanics. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. These type of Electric Tire Inflators can be easily plugged into the sockets. They are very powerful and can fill up your tires in no time and that’s the reason why you see these in the hands of mechanics because of its lightning fast speed and power.
Cordless Tire Inflators
Cordless Tire Inflators are also known as portable tire inflators. They are very easy to use and convenient. They also offer rechargeable batteries that can be filled back up in your car or at home.
12V Tire Inflator
This is the type of tire inflator that can be powered by using the 12V outlet or cigarette lighter socket in your vehicle. They are very portable and easy to use while offering good power to inflate your vehicle’s tire. They are very popular and affordable compared to the heavy and bulky tire inflators discussed above.