FORMULAVEE.ORG

So I'm sitting here at work dreaming about racing next season. And like any adult male I start thinking about gadgets and toys. Not in any particular priority I'm thinking about a generator and an air compessor. What do most people use at the track?

I'm in no rush to run out and buy stuff, just following the season and putting together my wish list.

Our first few years of racing we used a Honda 1KW gen. They were light, cheap, quiet, easy on fuel and had a battery charger output. That will run plenty of lighting, electric tools, fans.

Whatever you do get one that is QUIET, like the Honda., The guys in the paddock next to you will apreciate it.

For a air compressor we used one of those cheap 12V ones. They were slow but fine for toppping off a tire. To fill an empty tire took several minutes, but it worked. If you want to go with a bigger compressor (1/2 to 1 HP) you are going to be putting a 1KW gen to it's limits.

Now we have a 7.5KW Diesel and a 5HP compressor. Don't worry you will get there too.

I sure hope not! haha..

I also use a 12v compressor, one of the cheap ones I bought at Canadian Tire. Surprisingly, the digital pressure gauge is spot on, matches my big bucks tire pressure gauge to a tee.

I have a Honda 2000i generator and a small pancake air compressor. It's a really handy setup for filling or checking tires. I use the generator to charge the battery between sessions or to fill the compressor tank back up, but that usually lasts all weekend.

Some autocross clubs have gas-powered compressors available for everyone's use. With the building/construction industry being in the crapper in many parts of the country, it may pay off to keep an eye on Craigslist or eBay to see if one pops up at a bargain price.....

I'd consider a generator to run the battery charger but it would really have to be quite quiet. I borrowed one at the last race of the season and did not make any friends in a 3 car radius of my paddock spot

I have a small cheap generator, don't use it much, for air, I bring a scuba tank with me. 80 cubic feet at 3,000 psi, I have never run out of air, will run air tools too.
THOR

I like the scuba tank idea.....but just where do you get it filled to 3,000 PSI?

Looks like scuba shops fill them up for $2-5.. Will they still do it after the fittings have obviously been modified?

Also just read somewhere that some fire stations will refill them as well..?

tiagosantos wrote:Also just read somewhere that some fire stations will refill them as well..?

I've been a firefighter for over 10 years, never heard of someone getting a scuba tank filled..

Maybe he's talking about a scuba-sized tank. I have a nitrogen tank about that size (about 40 cu-ft and 24 inches tall; an 80 cu-ft tank is about 35 inches), but welding gas companies won't refill or recertify any tank that has ever had an active gas in it with an inert gas and vice versa. I have a couple of nitrous oxide bottles I'd like to convert to nitrogen, but my local gas company said No Way! A small nitrogen tank is great for filling tires and will run air tools much better than compressed air.

Hey don't shoot the messenger I found a thread on some 4x4 website about using scuba tanks as air supply for tools/tires and the same question about refilling popped up. Someone mentioned refilling the tanks at his local fire station in Alberta, so who knows. Might not be as common place as he tried to make it out to be! I assumed fire stations would have fill stations for their own breathing apparatus thingies.. I wouldn't have guessed they'd let you fill up, but hey..

He sure does use a scuba tank. I topped up my tires with it at Roebling last Spring. As far as pressure and filling sites other than a dive shop, I know very little. I carry a small (2 gal) 12v compressor designed for a nail gun. Doesn't last real long, but the generator on the RV allows me to top it up every AM. I do not recommend buying one that small...it is adequate to add a few pounds in 4 tires, but a fill from zero will empty its tank.

i use similar to this. it'll last a weekend after we fill it up with the compressor we have at home
http://www.amazon.com/Wilmar-W10011-Gal ... B000FW4MZM

tiagosantos wrote:Hey don't shoot the messenger

Don't worry we won't shoot you... but either way it doesn't matter for me since I have even less access to a scuba tank. I think a air compressor would be much more feasible for me, just trying to figure out the proper size, etc... that's right for me without stretching the already stretched wallet any more then it needs to be. Same goes for the generator. But all the quiet ones everyone talks about (i.e. the Honda) are super expensive.

Anyone have any experience with any other generators that are on the quiet side other then Honda?

If you are a newbie and on a budget .... I would save the generator for the future. A properly charged battery in a properly prepped car will easily do a weekend. Have a spare battery. When you have other problems that drain your battery .... find a friend with a generator or take the battery to electrical power. The cost of a generator may be a set of tires or an engine rebuild.

You will need air however. Most use an air pig (small tank) but a cheapie 12V compressor will work. I think you can buy them for under $10 now. For many years, you could buy kits to convert surplus AC tanks to air pigs. Probably illegal now (then too) but I did see the same tank st a party store for filling balloons. Again, these kits were less than $10.
http://www.nationalwholesaletools.com/f ... onkit.aspx

We bought a generator at Northern Tool to supliment the motorhome generator for the runoffs and it is a nockoff of the Honda but way cheaper. It is a 3500 watt type and slightly noiser but still quieter than the others and was only I think $800. I have used an air tank for over thirty years but with the increasing avalabilty of small cheap air compressors I bought one of those pancake ones the other week from Harbor Frieght for $40 and plugged it in and it went right to 100lbs and I unplugged it and over a week latter it still is holding the pressure which is real good.

Ed

A door-slammer IT driver "friend" of mine once suggested that I get a package of straws for blowing up and maintaining tire pressure in my "go-kart" FV.

John
FV42

I picked up my generator on eBay for < $400 - it's a 1KW and is pretty quiet and works well. HOWEVER, most of the tire vendors offer free air fills - you can get a cheap 2 - 5 gal tank at a flea mkt for <$20 generally. Or you can get a cast off grill size propane tank and convert it with a kit that's generally around $15. Fill it at home, the refill if needed at the track -either at the tire companies or find another racer with a bigger budget that has a compressor
Steve, FV80

I can attest to the quality of the Honda 1kw generator. Just remember that the battery charger is not a selectable output amperage, so you may not want to charge your FV battery with it, it may charge at 6 to 8 amps if you do, reducing the life of the battery.

jmattox wrote:A door-slammer IT driver "friend" of mine once suggested that I get a package of straws for blowing up and maintaining tire pressure in my "go-kart" FV.

John
FV42

I'll bet you could use a bicycle pump to fill FV tires to 20psi.

Hhahaah, during my gokart years I used to mount the tires on the rims by hand, and bead them in place with a bicycle pump. You only needed 35-40PSI or so.

Matt King wrote:

jmattox wrote:A door-slammer IT driver "friend" of mine once suggested that I get a package of straws for blowing up and maintaining tire pressure in my "go-kart" FV.

John
FV42

I'll bet you could use a bicycle pump to fill FV tires to 20psi.

I was talking about a real scuba tank, I dive too, I have an extra first stage reg, the part that hooks to the tank, with air hose, and quick disconnect for air tools. I get them filled, (have 2) at my local dive shop, about $5 each. the tanks get used for diving more than racing. the down side is you have to be a certifided diver to get fills. I have heard of fire stations filling tanks, on dive web sites.
THOR
fv70
the Brazos
the first stage reg, limits air pressure to 150 so 3k psi lasts a long time.
did a double with my dad, two vees, guage bearly moved

Matt King wrote: I'll bet you could use a bicycle pump to fill FV tires to 20psi.

I once pumped up a Penske with a bike pump while building it, figured I would just go until I could not. Checked the pressure the next day, 90psi.

-Matt

When I rode my bmx bike a bit more than I do now, I pumped the tires up to 100psi, using a good floor pump it's no big deal. My road bike tires were pumped up to 120psi, that was a bit more work, but still doable More than that and I could see most bicycle pumps just blowing up

Maybe I can rig up a bunch of bike pumps in parallel and pump up a scuba tank to 1200psi...