Everyone knows that you need a quality portable air compressor to quickly pump your tyres back up after you’ve been off-road – without one you’re limited to a slow crawl to nearest servo, which isn’t the right thing to do. It’s not safe to drive on severely deflated tyres, it will damage and wear them prematurely and it’s not safe for other road users who are likely confused why you’re driving 40km/h under the speed limit and wobbling around. The Thumper Max twin piston air compressor is capable of up to 300 litres per minute of airflow anyway, which means it’s way faster just to air up and get moving than it is to slowly drive to the servo! Plus, you might turn up and find a line of 4WDs already waiting to air up their own tyres – or (and I’ve had this happen when I got a road-side flat tyre) the compressor isn’t working at the servo and you’re stuck! That being said, there are plenty more use for a Thumper air compressor rather than just airing up after a day on the tracks… read on to learn 5 ways you can use a 12V air compressor that you hadn’t thought of!

Number 1 is to use it to blow up inner tubes or inflatable toys when you’re floating a river, at the beach or just at your mates’ place swimming in the pool. Both the Thumper and Thumper max come with a standard tyre valve fitting, but they also come with 2 air nozzles and an air needle that make inflating pool toys and sports equipment quick and easy – they simply thread into the end of the standard valve inflation tool and provide a good seal to ensure you’re inflating as quick as you can. Following on from inflatable pool toys is inflatable mattresses – whether it’s the old type that you’d have to blow up with your mouth for 40  minutes, or one that would need a thousand pumps with a foot pedal to even provide any cushioning, you can inflate them so much quicker with a 12V air compressor. Finally and it’s an obvious one, but there’s nothing worse than grabbing your bike out to go for a ride and finding your tyres are flat – with a portable compressor you can literally air up in seconds and get riding!

Having pressurised air on hand from a 12V compressor is so useful when you’re dealing with a vehicle – whether you’re on road or off-road! You can use a portable air compressor to clean out a vehicle’s air filter when it’s covered in dust or you need to blow the dust off spare parts before you fit them or during repairs. Another variation of this and one that I’ve used myself is to use a blast of compressed air from your compressor on the seals of your doors when you pull up to camp. This helps to prevent too much dust getting into the vehicle when you open it up after a long drive in dusty or sandy conditions. Using a 3 in 1 air tool with a thumper max makes this easy as you can build up pressure in the line then release it quickly over and over – but even a Thumper with the constant high flow of air is a great way to keep your rig clean and tidy, particularly in those places and locations where water is scarce. Using a 12V compressor running directly from your vehicle is a good way to give your 4WD a bit of a ‘wash’ to get dirt, sand and dust off it when there’s no alternative!

 Having a portable compressor with you can be a huge help for mechanical problems too! Whether it’s using compressed air to blow the water out of a distributor, or out of your spark plug valley or even to unblock hydraulic or fuel lines! I’ve had to personally use my 4WD air compressor when I had to un-block the diesel lines on my old LandCruiser. The in tank filter blocked up and starved the engine of fuel, leaving me stranded. By stuffing the compressor nozzle attachment into the fuel line under the bonnet I was able to blow the blockage back out and into the tank – of course that got me out of trouble and moving again, but I still had to drop the tank and clean it out when I finally got home… still it was better than being stuck with a fuel-starved engine in the middle of no-where! I’ve even used the pressure from a Thumper air compressor to blow grit and rust out of my brake bleed fittings when bleeding brakes and not being able to get any fluid out! They’re so multi-purpose and it’s one bit of gear that you really can use at home in the shed or out on the tracks.

By adding an air tank you can really utilise the full power of a portable air compressor! The Thumper max has a  built in pressure cut off switch which means you can connect it to a reservoir, turn it on when you need it and it will pressurise the tank then turn off when it reaches 125PSI, only turning back on when the reservoir drops below 90PSI. With a bit of handy work and an external regulator this means you can run air tools from your vehicle very easily – and while it might not be suitable for an air tool like an angle grinder that needs constant air, it’ll definitely be enough for an impact driver that’s being used for short bursts. That being said though, with a big enough tank there’s no reason a Thumper Max twin air compressor wouldn’t be able to keep your tools working hard!