Help me Buy My Dream CarHistory Help Me Buy My Hummer is a website that was thought up by 29 year old Graphic Designer Sasha Vatoff from Sydney, Australia...
Maybe the one you used was just shot, or perhaps a really cheap one. The few I've encountered, mostly in the $12-14 US range, work fine if you expectations are properly calibrated. Expecting them to work rapidly, or to fully inflate four very soft tires one right after the other without over-temping, or stand up to commercial levels and frequencies of use in the long run is a bit much.
They're great for topping off your tires at home, or (if you take your time) readying a vehicle for highway use after "airing down" in soft off-road conditions, or rescuing flat-tired bicycles, filling up air mattresses and sports balls, or whatnot -- especially in areas where the gas stations want 25 or 50 cents to use the "real" air pump, if there is one at all, buttuming somebody hasn't vandalized the thing or stolen the air chuck. They're basically not going to bring up a very soft car tire in just several seconds like the big boys.
Caveat: they *do* come in a range of qualities, and if you see one for $4.95 at a store specializing in low-end items, you might or might not have found a diamond in the rough...
If you decide you want a "real" compressor, most hardware and home-improvement stores and some auto-parts stores sell them for use with air tools, paint sprayers, etc. Prices will be in the few to several hundred dollars US range, depending a lot on the size of the storage tank (not of issue for filling tires, but important for other uses). If you enjoy garage sales and flea markets, often you can stumble across a used one much cheaper that is good enough for tires.
--Joe
