Originally Posted By: chaosmagnet
With that said my garage sale find has to be at least thirty years old and still works.

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How long does it take to get enough pressure in a car tire?

Haha, don't misunderstand me, I think that's awesome! There is no reason a 12V compressor cannot be made to last and be reliable. It's just that the ones I see now are not trustworthy, and that's a sad commentary.

The hand pump I'm talking about is a bicycle floor pump, so it moves a lot of air. In a 16" car tire, I go from low to full in a maybe 3-4 minutes. Dead flat would be a lot longer of course, and I'd be tempted to jack the vehicle slightly to try to preserve the bead seal regardless of the air source.