Customer Reviews

Campbell Hausfeld RP4100 120-Volt Inflator

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

My main use has been for maintaining air pressure in vehicle tires (fairly light duty inflating). I have not yet used this product on other inflatables.

Electrical cord is a decent length and wraps around the base of the unit for storage (not shown in picture).

Filling hose is also of decent length and stores in a compartment - additional hose fittings are included. Altogether the unit is very compact and stores easily.

The air pressure gauge is some what accurate but I would only use it as an estimate - it is not detailed enough to determine the difference between say 42 and 44 psi. Obviously a quality tire gauge should be used.

Considering you're compressing air the unit is loud be not overly so. As can be expected it is not as fast as an air compressor found at gas stations.

Great value for the convenience - I can foresee it not being the choice for heavy duty inflation needs, however.

This is a good product, has a good price, and provides good value. I use this inflator for maintaining adequate tire pressure in my cars and it does a great job of that. With 120V power, it has enough power to put air in your tires in a decent amount of time. You don't have to wait too long. For example, if the air pressure is 20 psig, then it takes about 1 minute to pump enough air to get the pressure to 31 psig, or where it needs to be. That's not bad in my opinion. There are compressors that can do it a lot quicker, but they cost a lot more.

My only word of caution on this product is that there is no auto safety shutoff. If you forget and leave the unit running (i.e walk away, "multi-task"), you could burn up the unit, as I did on my previous version of this product. I should mention that I was charging a tank that in turn I used to charge my tires. An auto-off feature when the on-board pressure gauge reads above a certain amount would be nice. However, there is a simple "human factors" based solution to this problem. Simply do not leave the product running and unattended.

If you can do that, you'll have a great product that can help keep your tires properly inflated in a convenient fashion without having to drive to local gas station or service company. You'll be improving your car's fuel economy, which is good for the environment and your wallet :)

The unit I previously owned, before I burned it up, lasted a long time. Therefore, I expect this one to last a while as well.

I bought the RP4100 to top off my motorcycle tires without having to crank my shop compressor and needlessly charge it's big tank. At the pressures I require-- 35 to 45 psi-- the unit works well. In the higher pressure range it takes a little time to reach the target setting, but it's FASTER than I thought it would be at its fair and reasonable price.
I am experiencing only one complication with the unit. Rather than a threaded, screw-on connector, it uses the more common (and cheaper)clamp-on, lever-operated device to attach to the valve stem.
Access to motorcycle valve stems is difficult enough without this added contorionist's task, but eventually you get the thing connected. The problem arises in DISconnecting. The valve attachment is a very tight one, and by the time you flip the lever and pry the connector OFF the stem, you've lost considerable pressure. I've had to learn to OVERinflate the tires and then hope I can get the connector off before I lose air to below my desired setting.
If you're NOT a motorcyclist, this would be MUCH less of a problem in other applications, such as car or bicycle tires, athletic equipment, etc.
As I say, the RP4100 works pretty hard to get to 40 psi. It doesn't strain or complain, but I'm waiting to see just how durable the unit is. I'm writing this review at the end of November, 2010. If the unit fails, I'll add an update. You can judge by the date on which you read this as to how long I've enjoyed a successful relationship with the unit.

UPDATE: April, 2012 and still going strong. -pr

I ordered this pump based on the positive reviews, but it turned out to be a real disappointment. The pump's "universal" inflator fitting was very tight on the valve stem threads and therefore very difficult to get all the way on; once on it released air while I struggled to push the locking lever in place. Once I had it locked on and turned the pump on, the pump would not inflate the tire more than about 32psi. While the pump was running the inflation gauge on the pump stopped at 30psi and wouldn't budge. When I unlocked the inflator fitting it again released air while I struggled to pull it off the valve stem. This air release would be OK if I could use the pump to run the pressure up a couple of pounds over what I wanted so there'd be enough over-pressure to cover the air being released, but since it seemed to stick around 30-32psi I didn't have that option. Also, the rubber seal inside the pump's inflator fitting was already starting to get chewed up from this single use on one tire. Apparently this pump works fine for some people, and the positive reviews were why I bought it, but having tried the pump I have to agree with the negative review that I ignored when buying the pump.

Works great.

Pros
-Runs off of outlet
-Built in handle
-Has a removable fuse
-Has 2 compartments to hold the nozzle attachments and air hose

Cons
-Doesn't run off of car batteries or cigarette lighter
-Gauge is inaccurate compared to my two analog gauges. Also comes in 10 psi increments, making it hard to read.
-Tire chuck locking mechanism takes a little longer to put on than a clip on tire chuck
-The rubber inside the tire chuck is starting to fall apart a bit

Issues:
Some people have been complaining about the tire chuck being too tight or small for your tire valves. This doesn't seem to be the case with my unit. It fits the valves fine. The only problem I've run into with the tire chuck is that it takes about 1 or 2 seconds longer to lock the chuck into the valve. There is a switch that you can flip down that locks the chuck. You flip it up again to unlock it. When you put the chuck onto your valves, you need to lock it as quickly as possible to reduce air leaking out of your tires. The same applied when you are taking it off. Compared to a clip on chuck, this locking mechanism allows more air to leak out of your tires due to the extra time it takes to lock/unlock the chuck.

However, this isn't really a big issue for me, since I also bought an Accugage Ez Air tire gauge. The gauge on most air compressors aren't really that accurate so it's always a good idea to buy a separate gauge. The great thing about the Ez Air tire gauge is that you can hook one end to your tire and at the same time hook the other end to your air compressor. Then, you can pump up your tires while measuring your pressure at the same time. The Ez Air tire gauge has a clip on chuck, so it is a lot easier and quicker to connect and disconnect the chuck from your tire valves. You can hook up the air compressor to the tire gauge first and then hook up the gauge to your tires. That way you won't be messing around with the locking chuck on your tires and leaking out air.

Another issue is that little bits of the rubber material inside the tire chuck is starting to fall out. At this time it doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. I'll keep on eye on it to see if it will get worse and if it will affect the unit's performance in the long run.

I bought one and tried to fill a tire on my SUV. Couldn't get it past 30psi though the gage reads up to 120 psi.

This seems to do more or less what it is supposed to do, but it is very slow and noisy. Using it to add air to an automobile tire takes much longer than would seem reasonable. The pressure gauge is not very accurate (ok) and the attachment to the valve stem is somewhat difficult to remove allowing air to escape during removal.

Filled up the tires on a couple of vehicles and this compressor did the job fairly quickly. I know it's a compact unit, but the designer could have done a better job with the cables. It takes a minute or two to prepare the unit prior to usage. Still, it appears to be an inflator that meets my needs.

Air compressor is very loud. But it does the job of filling air for my compact car tires. Easy to operate.

I have to air down and air up my tires frequently when driving on the beach. I use a portable air tank for the tires and this compresser to recharge the tank when I get home. It easily charges the tank up to 125 psi with no problems. It is very nicely designed with built in compartments for everything. It is a little on the noisy side and there is no auto shut-off feature.