Seeking advice on car tyre inflator for home use.

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Seeking advice on car tyre inflator for home use.

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#3503098 15-Jun-2026 11:51

richms:

Yes, but the temu one I got cant do 473ml redbull cans - just wont quite fit in them. 500ml rockstar cans will but its not a straight drop in like the smaller ones.

That's OK. I can't drink caffeine. I'm pretty sure RedBull would kill me 🤣.

Mike

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#3503103 15-Jun-2026 12:04

So, another thing I didn’t know we needed. Criteria will be a trigger that is easy to squeeze and being able to set it so don’t need to squeeze constantly. With the power washer I tie the trigger squeeze bit so it stays spraying without my assistance.

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#3503106 15-Jun-2026 12:11

Eva888:

So, another thing I didn’t know we needed. Criteria will be a trigger that is easy to squeeze and being able to set it so don’t need to squeeze constantly. With the power washer I tie the trigger squeeze bit so it stays spraying without my assistance.

the ryobi one discussed is just a switch. Set the desired psi and turn it on.

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tweake

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#3503331 15-Jun-2026 17:48

MikeAqua:

One advantage of a little compressor is that the air-line will terminate on some sort of standard fitting. You can buy an accurate tyre-inflator gun, and just plug it in.

not quite.

this is where a lot of the small 12v compressors are a pain. because they have no pressure cut off switch, like a normal compressor, there is no valve on the air hose. you can't go fitting a standard tyre inflator on them. the fittings are often done back to front to try and stop people doing that. eg hose has female air fitting instead of a male fitting. finding replacement air hoses for those compressors can be difficult (i had to do that last year).

you need to buy a separate tyre pressure gauge.

Handle9

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#3503339 15-Jun-2026 18:01

MikeAqua:

What sort of vehicle do you have? The pump you posted looks like it will be fine for a small to medium vehicle. It's a little hard tot well, without specs. If you have a large SUV or something else with large tyres, it may struggle. By which I mean, it will take long time to inflate a tyre, get quite hot doing it, and have a shortened life. That may not matter at all if you are only using it three for four times a year.

The ryobi battery inflator works fine on my Pajero. I use it when reinflating from 12psi to 35-40psi on all 4 tyres pretty comfortably. It replaced a twin piston 12 compressor which was certainly faster but far less convenient.

panther2

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#3503346 15-Jun-2026 18:34

Senecio:

I can save you half that cost, and probably less than half the size. I have the Xiaomi Pump and its awesome. Small enough to keep in the glove box or in the boot with the spare tyre. USB-C rechargable, and doubles as a power bank to charge a phone if you need it. From fully charged you'll easily top up the air pressure on 5+ cars before recharging and it comes with Shrader, Presta valve adapter for bicycles and a ball needle for sports balls.

also have one of these, use it more than the plugin pump I have. only problem is the default pressures are a pain

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alasta

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#3503439 16-Jun-2026 08:35

I see that the Ryobi ones at Bunnings are supplied without a battery. Looking at the battery options, I can see that 2Ah and 4Ah batteries are available with the price difference being reasonably significant.

Is the 2Ah sufficient to comfortably top up four normal car tyres, or am I realistically better off with the 4Ah?

eracode

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#3503442 16-Jun-2026 08:52

alasta:

I see that the Ryobi ones at Bunnings are supplied without a battery. Looking at the battery options, I can see that 2Ah and 4Ah batteries are available with the price difference being reasonably significant.

Is the 2Ah sufficient to comfortably top up four normal car tyres, or am I realistically better off with the 4Ah?

Sorry, can't answer your specific question but did you know there is a $149 kit that includes a 2Ah battery and charger.

The inflator skin only is $109 and if you buy the battery and charger separately they are $89.

My guess is that 2Ah would be fine - when you compare it to smaller units that operate off 12V or that have a small battery and charge via USB.

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tdgeek

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#3503444 16-Jun-2026 08:57

alasta:

I see that the Ryobi ones at Bunnings are supplied without a battery. Looking at the battery options, I can see that 2Ah and 4Ah batteries are available with the price difference being reasonably significant.

Is the 2Ah sufficient to comfortably top up four normal car tyres, or am I realistically better off with the 4Ah?

As replied to already, you can buy these Ryobi tools as tool only or in kits

Bargains to be had too. When I decided to invest in the Ryobi ecosystem, I bought a hammer drill kit which was with a 4ah battery and charger, $99. I could have bought it tool only for $89. While Ryobi made a loss on that deal, they got payback (plenty) as I bought more tools.

MadEngineer

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#3503445 16-Jun-2026 09:06

I had to buy the same tool recently after giving up waiting for the local petrol stations to sort themselves out. Just a shambles all round at each store, one stopped replacing their hose at it kept being stolen, others are always faulty or even removed and not replaced.

I went with the larger ryobi model already linked here.

To answer the question, IMHO best option is to find a brand of 18v tool you like from your preferred hardware store and buy that. You’ll quickly start to add other tools of the same brand to your kit at which point it will become obvious what you require in terms of batteries. Start with the included one if required but certainly upgrade with larger packs.

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MikeAqua

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#3503510 16-Jun-2026 12:30

tweake:

MikeAqua:

One advantage of a little compressor [Like the ozito mains compressor I linked too] is that the air-line will terminate on some sort of standard fitting. You can buy an accurate tyre-inflator gun, and just plug it in.

not quite.

this is where a lot of the small 12v compressors are a pain. because they have no pressure cut off switch, like a normal compressor, there is no valve on the air hose. you can't go fitting a standard tyre inflator on them. the fittings are often done back to front to try and stop people doing that. eg hose has female air fitting instead of a male fitting. finding replacement air hoses for those compressors can be difficult (i had to do that last year).

you need to buy a separate tyre pressure gauge.

My statement, that you quoted, was supposed to refer to a small, mains powered air compressor, like the Ozito one I linked to. Reading my post, I can see I wasn't at all clear about that. Too late to edit unfortunately.

A proper little compressor will do >100psi, and >50L/minute (at typical tyre pressures). With one of them, and a decent inflator, you can rely on the inflator's inbuilt gauge.

I personally have this one set up beside the garage door, with an airhose reel. However, it's outside the OP's budget. That's why is suggested the 1.5HP, 6L mains compressor.

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gzt

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#3503570 16-Jun-2026 15:58

Warehouse has $36 2Ah with USB output. It's probably all I need to check a little more regularly.

https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/p/autoworx-portable-tyre-pump/R3041869.html

richms

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#3503592 16-Jun-2026 17:26

gzt: Warehouse has $36 2Ah with USB output. It's probably all I need to check a little more regularly.

https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/p/autoworx-portable-tyre-pump/R3041869.html

Says 2x 2000mAh cells, so its 40% of a 2Ah 18v powertool pack for capacity.

At least you can easily charge it in the car if needed and it runs out. No PD or quick charge listed so you will be in for a long wait tho.

At least with power tool packs you can get more powerful car chargers, and for the ryobi the symik USB converter which is IMO the best of anything for powertool batteries.

Richard rich.ms

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#3503631 17-Jun-2026 01:59

I got the battery Ozito high pressure inflator last year, very similar to the Ryobi but a decent amount cheaper at the time, has worked great no issues.

nitro

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#3503635 17-Jun-2026 07:59

eracode:

I have seen this Ozito mains unit on the Bunnings website. I would prefer to not spend more than this. Has anyone had experience with this machine?

Keen to receive advice and comments. TIA.

i considered that one, but thought i'd like the freedom of not having to plug-in. the ozito pxhdis weighed in, but i ended up with a ozito pxhpcs. been serving me well the last couple of years. granted it has been used mostly for topping up, but i've had it inflate from just about empty once after a puncture that i didn't find out until a couple of days later.

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