Black & Decker ASI500 12-Volt Cordless Air Station Inflator

by Black & Decker

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Thanks to its range of innovative features, the Black & Decker ASI500 High-Performance Cordless Inflator makes it easy to get the air pressure you need, whether you're at home or on the road. This powerful inflator that combines the versatility of two pressure settings and the freedom of cordless power to inflate or deflate a variety of items including: sports balls, rafts, air mattresses, car and truck tires, bike tires, etc. You can even measure pressure with the inflator's handy digital gauge.

High-Performance Cordless Inflator At a Glace: Inflates car and bike tires, rafts, mattresses, beach balls, and more Long-lasting cordless power for portable versatility Both high and low pressure settings Digital pressure gauge and auto shut-off Quick-connect hose and on-board accessory storage The High-Performance Cordless Inflator features onboard storage for needles and accessories.

The inflator can be operated from you vehicle's 12-volt DC power outlet. View larger.

With 2 pressure settings, this cordless inflator will handle everything from car tires to sports balls.

Works Anywhere Under Pressure
Black & Decker ASI500 High-Performance Cordless Inflator is an air station that offers incredible convenience. Featuring long-lasting cordless power, this inflator will give you the versatility you need, when and where you need it, whether you're at home or on the road.

The ASI500 inflator can be operated from you vehicle's 12-volt DC power outlet, or it can be powered by its own internal 12-volt battery for cordless convenience. Be sure to charge the inflator from a wall/120-volt AC outlet for four to five hours, and it will be ready to handle a variety of common objects.

Two Inflation Settings for Any Job
Featuring two pressure settings, the ASI500 can handle just about anything you throw at it. The low-pressure setting is ideal for rafts or mattresses, and the high-pressure setting is perfect for bike and car tires.

In fact, when with the high-pressure setting, you can inflate a completely flat full-sized tire on just a single charge.

Built-In Gauge with Auto Shut-Off for Accuracy
To ensure optimum accuracy, an auto shut-off feature allows you to get within +/- 1 PSI of your required inflation pressure. To avoid over/under inflation or blowouts, just set your desired PSI on the ASI500's digital gauge and then inflate--the air station will shut off at your preset PSI. You can also periodically check your item's pressure via the gauge, which is backlit for easy reading.

Easy to Transport and Store
With a small profile and weighing just 5.2 pounds, the ASI500 is portable and easy to store. Take it with you to your child's soccer game, the beach, or on camping trips, and store it in your trunk or garage between uses.

For added convenience, this air station also features a quick-connect hose and on-board accessory storage, so you can keep track of the included cords, needles, and hoses.

The ASI500 is backed by a one-year warranty.

What's in the Box
ASI500 Cordless Inflator; inflator hose; air pump hose; three accessories; and charger.

From the Manufacturer

With the ability to inflate everything from car and bike tires to rafts, mattresses, and beach balls, the Black & Decker ASI500 12-Volt Cordless Air Station Inflator is the most versatile inflator on the market. A digital pre-set pressure gauge with an auto shut off feature and backlighting allows you to get within +/- 1 PSI of your required inflation pressure to avoid over/under inflation or blowouts. The ASI500 also features a quick connect hose and on-board accessory storage so that you can easily keep track of all of your cords needles and hoses. Most impressive, though, is the convenience that the ASI500 provides. Once fully charged, the ASI500 becomes completely cordless and can be taken virtually anywhere - the soccer field, beach, camping – it goes where you go! Taking road trip? The ASI500 can even charge from your vehicle’s DC accessory outlet! The Black & Decker ASI500 – quite possibly the best thing to happen to portable inflation since air itself.

Product Details

• Item Weight: 8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002MUAUJM
• Item model number: ASI500
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,970 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)
  • #6 in Automotive > Tools & Equipment > Tire Air Compressors & Inflators
  • #23 in Automotive > Wheels & Tires > Accessories

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

152 of 155 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great air station, but keep the manual, November 29, 2009

By 

Noname - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Black & Decker ASI500 12-Volt Cordless Air Station Inflator (Tools & Home Improvement)

(What's this?)

This compressor/inflator is very attractive. It is also lightweight and all the accessories with the exception of the charger store right on the unit.

I have owned compressors and I have owned high volume inflators. However, I have not owned a unit that includes both functions, and none of my units have ever been cordless.

Mounted on the front of the unit are three connectors for inflatables and balls. The high volume hose has a large connector and there is also a high volume adapter for pushing in the internal flap of some inflatables. On the front is an LED light for working in the dark.

The digital dial is bright and easy to read both in daylight and at night, and it has a sleep mode to save battery life.

Right out of the box, I see nothing but perks.

THE OPERATION

Operating the pump was not intuitive. First, I hooked up the pump to the tire and pushed the power button. That is the logical thing to do, and all my previous compressors have worked that way. Nothing happened.

I read the manual and it said first, I need to press the button to choose the compressor function or high volume function. Then, I need to press the "+" or "-" button until the pressure reading flashed "0," and then press the "+" or "-" button until the pressure reading was what I want.

It was a task to have to keep pushing the "+" button down repeatedly, especially when I need to go from "0" to "80." There was no way to advance the reading by using continuous pressure. It was just push-push-push. Then and only then do I push the power button to start the inflation. Once the desired pressure is reached, the power turns off automatically.

The operation is not difficult once I learned the steps, but it is not intuitive. I recommend storing the manual and the compressor together for others to reference, just in case.

BATTERY LIFE AND CAR ADAPTER

For the first run, I charged the battery as instructed for five hours. With that charge, I was able to inflate 1 truck tire, 4 minivan tires, and 4 children's bike tires over the course of three days before the battery died. (Note that none of these were inflated from a fully deflated state.)

Afterwards, I tried using the car adapter. The cord is conveniently wrapped to the bottom of the unit. It was long enough to reach to the back tires of my minivan.

I tried running the unit of off the charger plugged into the outlet, but the unit would not run. If I am not near my car and the unit is out of batteries, I am out of luck.

HIGH PRESSURE

The manual states that for pressures above 100 PSI, the compressor must not be operated for longer than 10 minutes at a time and with 20 minute breaks between usage. I did not find the maximum capacity listed in the manual or on the box.

I did test the unit up to 84 PSI and it functions well. The only problem is it's difficult sometimes to unhook the nozzle from the valve, so I have air escaping. So much air escapes that when I inflate to 84 PSI, by the time the nozzle is unhooked, there is only about 78 PSI left in the tires. To get 36 PSI in my minivan tires, I need to inflate to 38 PSI. The workaround is to over inflate the tires.

The compressor can be used as a pressure gauge. Just hook up the nozzle and the pressure reads on the digital dial.


HIGH VOLUME

I inflated some of my children's inflatables and found high volume inflation to be quick. The inflator also will deflate the toys.

One thing to note is the auto-off feature will not work with the high volume inflation. There is no pressure gauge function when high volume inflation is selected.

LED LIGHT

This is a simple yet useful feature. It is bright enough to help when working in the dark. Its operation, like other functions of this compressor/inflator, is not intuitive. There is no on/off button. I must first select the compressor or high volume mode and then press the power button and then the "+" or "-" button twice.

PROS:
+ convenience of compressor and high volume inflator in one unit
+ cordless
+ has a car adapter with a long cord
+ auto shut-off compressor
+ 4 nozzle adapters included
+ will deflate inflatables
+ LED light
+ easy to read dial
+ unit has a sleep mode
+ can be used as a pressure gauge

CONS:
- unintuitive operation
- will not operate off of wall outlet
- automatic shut-off does not function with high volume setting
- short battery life
- must overinflate due to loss of pressure when disconnecting nozzle from tire

SUMMARY

This is a great unit. It looks beautiful and performs well. I did not find it any louder than the other compressors I have owned. The only problem is the (lack of) ease of use. The elderly may be easily confused by it -- or any young person without a manual for that matter. If you don't mind reading manuals, this unit is wonderful.

UPDATE: Due to a comment on my review, I went back to retry the air station pressure setting. I was incorrect in one of my initial observations. The pressure settings can indeed be set by pressing and holding the "+" or "-" buttons and I do not need to press-press-press my way up to 36 pounds.

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Died after one year, February 18, 2010

By 

Personal Robot (Always here, sometimes there) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Black & Decker ASI500 12-Volt Cordless Air Station Inflator (Tools & Home Improvement)

(What's this?)

UPDATE 3/23/11: Died. Simply won't work anymore. It's been charged, plugged in to the car accessory port, and the thing simply will not turn on. The digital readout just blinks. Very frustrating. So I guess the lesson here is: don't buy! Changed my 3-star review to 1-star to reflect the failure.

Original review 2/2010: For whatever reason, I have amassed several portable air pumps over the years, apparently attempting to get the "best" one. I've decided there simply isn't one. This one is close, but suffers the same problem my other battery-operated pump had: it HAS to be charged for it to work, and for it to be charged, it must be plugged into a wall socket for a number of hours. Adding to this is that the unit comes with a cigarette-adapter plug, which aids in powering the unit while running the unit (the other battery-operated unit need this too.) To fill all four car tires, it's pretty much a necessity to make use of the adapter.

Operation is confused a bit as one must first determine the end pressure, with the unit not connected to whatever you are filling. First you must flip the switch on the right portion of the "U" shape of the unit, push to the right for low pressure items like tires or to the left for high pressure items like soccer balls, etc. Middle is off. Under the digital display in the middle are three buttons, the center one to turn the compressor on, the right one to advance the pressure and the left one to decrease the pressure. I found that once the pressure had been started with either button, holding it down would allow for rapid advancement, making high numbers much faster and easier to reach than pressing the button many times. Once reached, simply let it set a moment, then attach the hose. Only *then* do you hit the power button and it will fill by itself. It seems complicated, but once you've done it a couple times, it's not so bad. (Pro-tip: in dark situations, press one of the pressure buttons and an LED at the front will light up the area a few feet in front of the unit. Handy!)

The unit's biggest downside has been disconnecting the nozzle from tires. I don't know if it's my tires in particular, but the nozzle holds onto the valve stems with a death-grip. It should be simple, just flip the lock up and pull back, but what really happens is you pull the lock up and psssssssshhhhh - you've just lost 2-3 pounds of air while fighting with the nozzle. I physically have to brace myself, preparing to flip the lock and pull with all my might to get it off the stem as quickly as possible. Most of the time I find I have to refill my tires a couple of times before I get it off the stem properly. Frustrating, to the say the least.

The digital readout is excellent. The preset pressure is a great way to ensure you get exactly what you want in whatever you're filling. The battery issue is annoying, but livable - many other units are just like this. The valve stem problem is just that, however, and it might be a deal breaker if I can't get it worked out. It's really too bad because I like the pump in general.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice compact portable inflator, November 24, 2009

By 

Forrest Wildwood "Phil" (The house with the narrow gate) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Black & Decker ASI500 12-Volt Cordless Air Station Inflator (Tools & Home Improvement)

(What's this?)

I have been using Black & Deckers ASI300 Air Station for over a year and can safely say that the ASI500 is a much better product. The one marked area of improvement is that the ASI500 is cordless. No more need to drag an extension cord around the car. After reading through the manual, and using the ASI500's digital pressure gage, I checked the tire pressure on one tire. After some trial and error, I was able to go through setting the recommended shut off pressure on the digital gage and inflated our van's tires. I was able to test the claim Black & Decker make about being able to fill four tires on one charge. Without charging, and using only the out of the box factory charge, this was accomplish leaving very little power to spare. I'm guessing that after a full charge the claim would be easily achieved. The ASI500 air station is very compact and easy to carry around. It has all the accessories for car, truck, bicycle, air mattress and all the sports balls. The unit comes with a charger as well as an attached 10 foot cord with 12 volt plug in adapter. All the accessories are nicely fitted on the unit for ease of use. One very nice feature is the small yet powerful light on the front of the unit that makes for easy night tire checking and inflating. This would make a great gift for anyone to add to the trunk of their car for road side emergencies. There are a few things to keep in mind with the ASI500. The first is that the air hose adapter is made of hard plastic and could break if forced. The second thing is the need to have a separate air pressure gage to check the tire pressure after inflating. I found that the AI500 was around 2 psi over the setting and I needed to release some of the air out of the tires. However these are quite minor issues. It took me around 15 to 20 minutes to fill all four tires to their proper psi. This was a bit faster than my old ASI300. With gas stations charging around a dollar for air, this is highly recommended for the home garage and those camping, biking, or vacation trips.