Can i wire a 120v compressor up to my battery?

Question

i have a small 3 gallon compressor that i want to mount under the bed of my truck so i can use it to air up my tires on my truck. can i just wire that straight up to my battery? or will that mess something up?

and would i be able to wire in a toggle switch? or will i have to crawl under my truck and flip the switch on the compressor to turn it on and off every-time i want to turn it on or off

and would i be able to mount the compressor under there without having to worry about water and such getting i ' nside the motor of it? i have already waterproofed the whole thing and i use it in the snow and rain all the time when I'm out wheelin without any problems.

Answer 1

You will need a power inverter. Most auto parts stores sell them. You will have to check the specs on the compressor to find out the max wattage requirements of the compressor.  

Answer 2

quick answer - N-O. Not possible. You can either buy an inverter, or change the 120VAC motor out for a 12VDC motor that might could do the work ( but not likely ).

What you REALLY need is an air compressor off a truck that you can bolt on, one for air brakes. My wife had a 66 passenger International school bus with one of those compressors on the engine, and they tapped off it to run to an air storage tank and air hose. Worked great!

Or, buy one of those small 12vdc air compressors ( which don't generally last long, anyway ).

Of them all, if you really want a permanent compressor, I'd try to find one that is used for air brakes, and make some brackets to mount it to the motor, IF it will fit under the hood. A bus or big truck, no problem, what you have ????, who knows. But I'd search that route, what you want to do is going to be alot harder to do, converting volts ( but you can build an auxilary system to run it, it's called a "generator"...but then, you wouldn't need to hook it up to your truck, so why bother?)

- The Gremlin Guy -  

Answer 3

michael, the only possible way would be with an inverter and it would be tough on the electrical system. if all you want to do is have an air supply you could plump in a 12 v air compressor into the tank it would be slow but would work or you could mount an A/C  compressor on the engine and plumb it to the tank. by wiring the clutch head to the compressor you could regulate when its on or off.  

Answer 4

Nope!  You could use an inverter that converts 12 VDC to 120 VAC.  But the gallon containment matters little. What matters is the compressor horsepower, and current draw or wattage (power)   Alternators just happen to produce 120VAC  but it takes a wiring kit to do it. And say your alternator produces 65 Amps of 12 VDC, it will produce more like 6.5 Amps at 120 VAC, and that about the same through an inverter. That will be about enough to run a 3/8 inch electric drill, but not a compressor. I will make a wild guess your compressor is 3/4 HP. That should require about 800 watts with the initial start surge. So, in fact you need about 10 amps.  You could do it with a 15 amp inverter. It will cost about $200.

Asking your question, stay away from electric innovations. At 12 Volts you will destroy devices. Playing with 120, you could kill yourself.

Have to add. On the moisture. If it is a pancake tank. About two years use in the snow and rain and it should rust out. And you really don't want the result with 140 PSI in it.  (think shrapnel here)

Answer 5

You can't wire it directly to your compressor, but you can buy a power inverter. They usually cost about $30, depending on the wattage you need to get out of them. They plug into the standard 12V cigarette lighter and have a standard wall outlet to plug into. Make absolutely sure that the power inverter you buy can handle the compressor. As a general rule of thumb, buy a power inverter that's rated for twice the wattage of whatever your going to plug into it.