Powertank vs Viair Question

M

Mtn.Rush

New member
I just spent 45 min reading various "old" posts and couldnt find any reviews on the powertanks. A couple of people on here have them but they never said if they liked them, how many fill-up can you get out of a tank ect. and the threads just died. Since spring/summer is upon us ill be hitting the outer beach soon and im sick of sitting on the air-up lines waiting for these morons to figure out how to do it. So my question(s) are:
1. how many tire fill-ups can you get out of a 10LB powertank if im only filling up from 15-18 to 32-34 psi? I think it would be a PITA to only get a few refills out of it.
2. Im also looking at the Viair 400p VIAIR Corporation - 400P-Automatic Part No. 40045. For my application im guessing this would be good enough but a bit slower (I believe 1-2 min per tire but still much better then waiting for the imbeciles at the beach)
Any And ALL reviews are welcome and I will be purchasing one of these as soon as I can make up my mind. Thanks gents
 
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I have a 10lbs PowerTank. It takes about 45 sec to fill my 33s from 14-15 psi, up to 36psi. And I usually get about 6-7 sets of 4 tires filled from one tank. And it usually costs about $18-19 to get the tank filled. One advantage (besides the speed) of the CO2 tanks vs. just a compressor, is that you can run air tools from it. But you have to make sure that you oil the tools after you're done, because CO2 tends to leave behind moisture. A disadvantage (besides the cost of getting the tank filled) is that CO2 seems to leak from the tires. So after say a few weeks of driving, my tires will go down to about 34 psi. but they don't seem to go much lower than that. This seems to be the only real complaint I've seen about CO2, but PowerTank claims this doesn't happen.
 
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10lb. Powertank

I love my powertank, get the same amount of fill-ups as Jon but I don't notice any leaking....I also don't check them randomly. Costs me about $15 to fill it up.
 
I AM SAM said:
.. but I don't notice any leaking....I also don't check them randomly.
Click to expand...
Again, the leaking is very slight.. for all I know it could even just be temp change or because I've come down in altitude after airing up. I never noticed it until I read another thread where there were a few complaints about that.
 
I have the Viair 400 Portable as well. Used it numerous times, does take a little time. I'm usually going from 25psi to 40psi on each tire. I was thinking of going the CO2 route but decided against it since the inside of my 4runner out in the desert here can get quite hot!
 
I'm out I the desert also as well, mojave, Anza-borrego, death valley, and have never had a problem with the CO2 tank. And I wheel with several others that run CO2 as well, again no issues even in the desert.
 
Thanks fellas so far good info but I'm still not sure. I need more gear head off roaders to chime in here. All you wheelers let's go speak up.
 
You might want to check some other forums, like this thread at 120 and there are a zillion threads at Expedition Portal.

I'm going with a larger compressor and air tank permanently installed, and a smaller, portable compressor as a backup. My problem with CO2 tanks is the space they take up and the refilling required, not to mention the price of the CO2 every few runs.

I hope something in those links helps you out.
 
Ah, the good old CO2 or compressor discussion.

What size tires are you running and from what to what PSI do you want to go?

From personal experience I tested our HD compressors on my 315/75/16 (lots of volume) at 300ft and 80F to air up from 15 to 35 in about 2 1/2 minutes. Whereas with CO2 I can do a tire in about a minute for the same. So I normally use CO2 with the HD compressor as a backup, and if I'm in no rush I just use the compressor to air up.

I have also tested the the compact compressor to air up a 265/70/17 tire from similar pressures in about 2min.

Keep in mind that in very hot conditions or high altitude the compressors air up slower where CO2 doesn't really slow down.

I think for the small volume tire 32" or less on a 17 or 16" wheel the volume will be fine with a good compressor, as you only save a few minutes with CO2.


CO2s biggest advantage is the speed, and it really depends if a few minutes is that important you (really big tires this changes though as the time difference can be substantial) and convenience ( no hook up to battery, etc). CO2 can also be used to run air tools (if applicable). However the downside of CO2 is that you have a limited supply per cylinder fill, cost money to run (fill ups and also cylinder checkups every 5 years IIRC), you have to weight the cylinder to see how much you have left (or be stranded with no CO2 left), space of cylinder and in my experience tires filled with CO2 loose their pressure much quicker over time than when filled with air.

Also note any good compressor will hook up to the battery directly, and for best performance the engine needs to be running (higher voltage to run the compressor motor a bit faster).

For reference here are the compressors with the times I described before:
HD Unit
Heavy Duty Air Compressor Kit
Compact unit
Basic Air Compressor Kit

Other compressors with similar ratings will produce similar results.

Good luck and have fun on the beach :D
 
Great info thanks for the links. After all the reading, I just purchased the Viair 400p from amazon. For my 20" stock tires and the fact that my off roading will really only be the beach I think this will be my best bet. Our beaches have airup stations so if the lines are short I will still use them and If they are long I'll just hook up the Viair. The power tank is big, not cheap and the constant fill-ups is a turnoff. Thanks again for the help.
 
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