Speedway’s are well enough. Cost a buck, may not be perfect, but are good enough to convince my tire sensors that the pressure is OK and the dashboard light goes out. As opposed to switching out the hose with a pressure gauge five or six times, I can live with it.
Timely thread. I noticed a couple of my tires were a little low this afternoon and tried to inflate them before heading to work. I had to hit FOUR gas stations to find one that worked and was accessible. First two were out of order, third had three people waiting to use it and I was in a rush.
I thought it was just one of those one time, ridiculous, cosmic let’s-screw-with-the-guy-getting-close-to-being-late-for-work moments. But apparently something far more sinister may be at work 
.
I keep one of those rechargeable battery jump start/air compressor combos* in the truck - very handy, except when someone (my husband) uses it and forgets to recharge! (Also handy in case of a power outage, and I can plug in a lamp or the coffee pot or my phone charger.) Otherwise, I just use the air compressor at home, because it’s less annoying than trying to find one in working order out in the wild.
*These are also my go-to gift for high school graduates, because they’re so handy, and safer than hooking up battery cables between two cars. I had a neighbor once who bore a lot of facial scars from a battery explosion, so I’m paranoid!
I’ve got a cheap little Slime compressor that works ok, but it’s pretty slow. This thread got me to looking at a replacement, and I’m thinking of this one, just going by the high number of 5 star reviews. Shux, it’s only $50. Nice built in gauge and case.
I don’t think you’re going to have a lot of luck using that for automobile tires (maybe good for emergencies where time isn’t a factor). The company is calling it an “All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Snow Tires Inflator Kit.” That would be a PSI of about 5 or less. Click on the 1 star reviews.
9 bad reviews out of 228 on Amazon isn’t really that bad. Sounds like a handful of people got bum units. One of them apparently didn’t realize that yes, air compressors do get hot.
ETA: erp, I didn’t see the part about how a lot of the 5 star reviewers also gave glowing reviews to other Kensun products. My mistake.
I should be receiving my Vlair tomorrow.
I’ve been using a very slow, very noisy Black and Decker portable for years.
I’ve got a very old, small 120 volt, AC compressor that works great. I use it frequently on cars, riding mower, bikes, wheel barrow, etc… Way better than those weenie 12 volt deals. I’ve also got a regular compressor with a 2 gallon tank and I very rarely use it.
Home Depot is showing a nice, small 120 volt compressor very much like mine for $25. I’d go that route way before 12 volt.
In fact, a portable compressor that is not equipped with a tank will put more moisture into your tire than a compressor that stores air in a tank. The latter lets the just-compressed air cool down a bit, allowing some condensation to form and settle out of the compressed air before it leaves the tank and goes to your tire; the former takes all of the moisture that comes in with the air and stuffs all of it into your tire.
I remember the era of pink air (though I never understood what it was supposed to be).
Re the charging for air: in CA if you purchase gas they must provide free air, state law I think. Regardless, even when not buying gasoline I have never been turned down when asking them to turn on the pay part for free.
In this part of the country QuickTrip gas station/convenience stores are pretty ubiquitous and offer free air. I also have a portable compressor with a 5 gallon tank at home. It comes in handy for tire maintenance and so many other things that it is a ‘must have’ tool as far as I’m concerned.
I bought one of these portable jump starter/compressor in case of a dead battery or low tire. I bought it just a few weeks before totaling my old car and buying a newer one that I hope won’t have any use for this thing for years to come.