portable car starter with compressor

[VJ]

Hello,

Probably a silly question, but there are these portable units to jump start a car with a flat battery. Some of those even have a compressor to pump the tires.
Now the question: is a compressor like that powerful enough to drive (simple) pneumatic tools (e.g. to change the weels)?

I have 0 experience with those things, but I can imagine it may not supply enough pressure to drive the tools.


Thanks!

[degrub]

air tools work based on volume at specific inlet pressure - the compressor you are thinking about very likely would not have the volume capacity. A tire is about a 1 cubic feet for a typical 15 inch wheel and yet it takes minutes to pump it up to 35 psig.

some typical tool demands

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/air-consumption-tools-d_847.html

here is a compressor like what you have found ?

http://www.amazon.com/Energizer-84020-Jump-Start-Compressor-Inverter/dp/B0030B2N10

10 minutes to fill about 1 cubic ft tire volume ~ .1CFM

not enough volumetric rate to run the tool. plenty of pressure.

Frank

[Evildead666]

Yeah, I agree with Degrub. None of the tyre compressors are meant for air power tools.
Most of the electric compressors for power tools fill a tank with compressed air to a certain high pressure, and when the pressure drops below a certain value, the compressor comes back on to refill the tank.

[VJ]

Thanks! I assumed it wouldn't work, but could not think of the reason. I completely forgot about the volume.

[VJ]

Forgot to add:
Degrub: yes, it is that sort of device I'm looking at. :-) I thought using an air tool to loosen the wheel nuts would be quite a clever solution, and convenient function of it. But of course there has to be some difference between such things and "real" compressors.

As another question: how good are these boosters?

http://www.blackanddecker.co.uk/automotive/productdetails/catno/BDV030/

I read comments that they are not recommended for cars that have a central computer (which I would think are all cars now), and that they don't work if the battery is completely dead...
So I'm guessing something like what you linked to above (that connects to the battery) would be the better option?

[gt40]

That smaller unit would be questionable for even boosting a slightly drained battery.
Typical car batteries are rated at 75 Ah, the smaller B&D unit is rated at 3Ah - it might be just enough to get a vehicle going if it has no other starting issues. The Energizer unit is rated at 18Ah, although not anywhere near the capacity of a car battery, it would certainly be more effective.
And no, those compressors will NOT run any power tools, even the smallest air tool would require more than ten times the air delivery that the compressor can supply. Even rigging up some sort of tank to it would be useless - it would run for about 10 mins to give the tool about 5 secs of run time.

[VJ]

Yes, I had my doubts about those "boosters" too... and the comments don't seem that positive. Apparently, you connect it and then wait for 10 minutes or so for it to "boost" the battery. Whereas with a normal starter (like the energizer thing), you hook it up and can start straight away. Only drawback is having to open to bonnet.