VIAIR 450P Automatic Function Portable Compressor

The Viair 450P Portable Compressor is an easy to use, light and dependable piece of equipment that should help you do your job in no time whatsoever. I bought this compressor because I own an off road mountain trail that’s used mainly by ATV, Buggy and 4x4 enthusiasts, and I needed a compressor to meet all the mentioned vehicle needs.

I used to own a permanent compressor but it broke. I chose a portable one this time because mounting a permanent compressor is tedious work and a portable one also offers more flexibility and maneuverability. If you’re buying your first compressor, the 450P portable is the best choice for you, because you can skip the mounting part, with all its screws and taking parts out and putting them back in.

I chose this piece of equipment because I regularly deal with a lot of different types of wheels, usually from 16x7x7 to 35x12.5x15, and it was advertised to handle even 37x12.5, so I figured it would be a good fit for me.

The first impression I had was a good one, because it was delivered quickly and it was packed up really well.

Here’s what I think about this compressor, after working with it for a while.

Assembling and making it work

The assembling part is pretty much standard. You put the battery clamps to your battery, hook up the 25 feet air hose to the back of the compressor, turn the switch on and then just connect the pressure gauge and the fill to your tire. The pressure gauge will indicate your current air pressure. Turn on the compressor and start filling. Easy and straightforward

Duty cycle

Duty cycle is something you need to know about if you’re interested in purchasing an air compressor. Basically, the duty cycle means the amount of time the compressor can run before you need to stop it, to cool it down. The 450P comes with 100% duty cycle, which means you can run it for an hour at 72 degrees ambient temperature before you need to stop it and let it rest for 30 minutes. This is an outstanding feature for a portable compressor.

The Viair 450P also comes with an automatic shutoff function, so you don’t have to turn it on and off when you go from tire to tire, which means you can actually work with it for more than one hour, because it won’t get overheated.

Filling time

The filling times the 450P is capable of are really impressive. It can air up a 31x10.5” tire from 0 to 30 psi in about 2.5 minutes, so you can air up from the 20 – 28 you used on the off road track to the 50 you need on the highway in under 4 minutes. A great time for a portable device, if you ask me.

I actually used it to fill up a set of 35x12.5R17 from 6 to 30 psi and got the job done in only 5 minutes and 17 seconds. Pretty fast, right?

As for deflating, what can I say, deflating was never this easy. I connect the hose and the finger depressor and I switch to another tire to manually deflect it. The gauge announces me when the pressure reaches the value I want and I stop it.

Battery clamps over cigarette lighter adapter

A great feature for me was the fact that it came equipped with a set of heavy duty battery clamps. I know some other models out there come with an adapter for the cigarette lighter, but the clamps are more dependable and the wire allows you to move more around the battery, so you don’t need to stay only in one place. Also, when you hook up a 12V system to a cigarette lighter, the lighter tends to heat up, and it drains the juice from your battery really fast, so you could actually harm your battery.

Accessories

An aspect that I kind of disliked, but can understand the idea behind it, is the silly bag it comes with. So, I understand the fact that, being a portable compressor, you need to be able to carry it, and that you need something to carry it in. But why would you pick that bag over, I don’t know, something resembling a tool box? The compressor is not that heavy, it weights around 10 pounds, so it’s not as if you can’t carry it in your hand and you have to carry it over your shoulder. The bag has all kinds of side pockets and compartments to help you store all the accessories, but so does a tool box, and it doesn’t look this silly. It’s a matter of taste, I suppose, but it didn’t grow on me since I got it.

Besides the bag, it also comes with gas station-style tire gun with 200 PSI Gauge, which is very handy, air filters, a book on inflation tips, and the extension hose.

Why you should pick the 450P

The Viair 450P is a must have for everyone that has to fill and deflate a lot of tires, as I do, and for people that own trucks, trailers, RVs and other big wheeled vehicles as well. The 100% duty cycle and the automatic on/off features allow you to fill up all your tires without taking a break to let it cool down. The filling time is short, the noise is low. You can hook it up quickly, the large PSI gauge is easy to read, the tire gun is easy to use, so I would definitely recommend this equipment to people that never used an air compressor before, or noobies, as you could call them.