looking for a a/c that will fill my 35's that can run off my honda 2000 generator. thanks for any advice.

 

746 watts = 1 horsepower. Your 2000 W generator puts out about 2.7 horsepower. So any standard home shop air compressor ought to work. Most are 1/2 - 3/4 hp.

There will be a bigger draw as the compressor kicks in, so I wouldn't suggest trying to run a 2.5 hp motor off it. But anything under 1 hp ought to be OK.

 

got it, thanks

 

Startup load is generally 6x the full rated load on motors, so startup will simply stall the generator on compressor startup unless you go pretty conservative on the compressor size. Plus you lose about 20% going mechanical to electric, then 20% going the other way (compounding). The rating on those generators is surge rating, not continuous. I'd get something small, and if yours has the inverter style don't run it on the eco setting. Surge rating is basically inertia stored in the engine flywheel, and they are *small* in those little generators so you have very little wiggle room in that regard.

If I were to *guess*, a 1hp would not stall it, but would just about guarantee anything bigger would. For a while there were chinese mini gas powered compressors on the market (2hp) and I still kick myself for not buying one. If you can find one, it will perform several times better than a generator running an air compressor.

Even with a 2-2.5 hp compressor plugged in the wall 35's take foreeeeeever to fill. Scuba tanks on the other hand are quite impressive for tire fills.

 

Just forget the generator/compressor setup and mount a compressor on your engine. It ain't the cheapest route but you'll never have to worry about stalling it, and it should fill your 35's in minutes.

I'm running a York 210 on mine, but there's guys that use the Sanden SD series, and even the big Chrysler RV2 compressor I think.

I made my own mounting bracket. I wanted to make my own pulley as well, but couldn't have the truck down long enough to do it right, so I just bought the pulley from BroncoAir instead.

BRONCOAIR COMPLETE KIT FOR YORK ON BOARD AIR COMPRESSOR

 

The 20% loss going from mechanical to electric doesn't factor in, because the 2000W rating is generator output, not the (mechanical) power the generators engine needs to provide to make that electrical power. Yes, it takes more than a 2.7 hp engine to make 2000W, but that's something the generator manufacturer already took into consideration.

Also I think Honda generators are rated more conservatively than the cheap ones. I'm pretty sure the 1500W Honda I borrowed from a neighbor last year was rated for 1500W continuous. That is definitely not the case with my cheap Power Horse (or something like that). It's rated for 4000W and probably couldn't keep up with a 3000W Honda.

"Takes foreeeeeever" vs. "fills in minutes" is largely in the eye of the beholder. I use a 3/4 - 1 hp shop compressor to fill up my tires. they are a lot smaller (235/85-16) but bringing them up to 80 psi is close to the total amount of air to inflate 35/12.50-15 to 35 psi. It takes a couple of minutes per tire which can seem like a long time when you are doing all 4. But it is nice not having to go and get scuba tanks (or a PowerTank) refilled.

I haven't tried the York-style compressors that are engine driven. they certainly have promise to give a standard home compressor a run for it's money. But don't think a 12V compressor will give comparable performance. One that plugs into a cigarette lighter draws less than 1/4 hp. The hard-wired ones do maybe double that. At 12V it takes too much current to make much power, so they are slow.

 

i have dual viair 480C compressors in my truck, with 9 gallons of air capacity.
i can fill up a 35 inch tire from flat to 55 lbs in around 4 minutes, the same time it takes my 6 HP 80 gallon tank shop compressor.
and the truck setup will run the 1/2 impact gun taking tires on/off all day long.

 

Yorks (or similar) are really slick. Most are in the realms of 12cfm if based on big rig air brake systems. Very handy. A storage tank dramatically improves performance in real world use of any air system since it's catching up while not flowing air. OBA on air brake trucks works deceptively well because the tanks generally are relatively big.

Don't believe me about the generators? Try it. I spent years keeping local FD stuff running, and every truck in the fleet has a generator. And we used them to run all KINDS of stuff. Startup load brings them to a dead stop, and a "Honda" label on it won't fix that. What will is a larger flywheel- thus small diesel generators work ***very*** well with motors (and welders for that matter) since the flywheel is so much heavier that the inertia carries it though startup load. Honda's are not under rated, they are OVER rated, and they have a pretty short duty cycle to overheat the engine. BTW I also rebuilt literally hundreds of Honda engines working as lead tech for an amusement park that had go-karts and boats. They are great engines, but the label doesn't make them more powerful, just better quality. None are 100% duty cycle. That's why water pumps almost always get about 50% pump head load- so they don't smoke rings from overheating.

Like noted by TJC, some of the newer high dollar 12v pumps are pretty impressive. The alternator doesn't keep up, but that doesn't matter since it will just top the battery back off. Still slow by my definition, but a regulator and storage tank helps a lot.

Scuba isn't usually practical though. I realize that, but some folks have easy access to high pressure air, and if so it becomes a really slick way to fill tires unbelievably fast. Use a regulator or wear a sidewall in your face though.

PS some folks convert their AC compressor for OBA also. They need lubrication to live so an oil trap system is required, but the 12v clutch makes it pretty slick because you can wire a contact regulator inline with a toggle to control it and regulate pressure to a tank. Flip a switch and POOF! Air! Zero parasitic load when off since the clutch disengages all the load.

 

actually, my alternator will keep up with the load, because i have a 230 amp output alternator in it a local shop built for me

 

Here's a 5HP hard-wire compressor. It's actually a York 210 like mine, except these guys replace a few parts and add an electric motor.

 

I didn't see where "here" was, so I can't comment directly. The issue with a 5hp 12V compressor is that it needs to draw 310 amps. Can it be done? Absolutely. But don't expect to pick one up at Autozone for $49.99 either.

 

Oh damn, sorry bout that.

12v and 24v DC Air Compressors - Oasis Manufacturing - Laguna Hills, CA

That's the link above. Yeah they'll definitely pull some current alright. That's why I went engine-driven! Don't care for those little Viair compressors with their whiney electric motors and awful buzzing racket, and don't see the point in running a real compressor off of anything besides a belt to the engine!

 

i have the viair compressors mounted in the bed with the tanks, so i don't hear them.

 

I went with the Viair 88P. I have only used it once but it worked great