Car tire inflators usually use pneumatic cylinders, but they work with electrical energy. They are similar to air compressors, but the primary difference is their size. Car tire inflators are smaller in size, and they convert electrical energy into potential energy, which is then stored as pressurized air.
These automatic tire inflators have removed the need for manual car tire pumpers. Nowadays, different types of car tire inflators have different cylinder diameters.
This article will describe how the difference in cylinder diameter in car tire inflators impacts their functionality.
The Difference In Cylinder Diameter In Car Tire Inflators
When you are buying a tire inflator, there are many things that you have to consider. Like the amount of required power, the options available with the power input, the cylinder diameter, and the inflation speed.
Things To Look In Car Tire Inflators
The difference in Input Power
A 12V DC supply helps connect to the car’s charging port. Similarly, some tire inflators work directly on 110V AC plugs in the garage socket mains.
In addition, there are also some variants of tire inflators that are cordless and run on batteries. Finally, hybrid models with multiple power input options are also available.
The Difference In Cylinder Diameter
Apart from the input power options, the second and most important aspect is the diameter of the cylinder of the car tire inflator.
The diameter of the car cylinder and the airflow rate is directly proportional to each other. Furthermore, if the cylinder is of a larger diameter, then less time is required to fill the air in the tire.
Inflation Speed
Another important aspect is considering the inflation speed of car tire inflators. The higher the inflation speed, the lesser the time requires inflating the tire.
For instance, some tire inflators come with a speed of 150 PSI which is quite higher. Some tire inflators also come with PSI of 80 or 100, which are slower and take more time to fill the car tires with air.
Duty Cycle
Another important factor considered while buying a car tire inflator is the duty cycle. The duty cycle means the effective period of the car tire inflator in which it can work without shutting down.
Due to extended usage, the car tire inflators need to cool down after some hours of use. For Example, if a tire inflator has a duty cycle of 50%, it can work for 30 minutes continuously, and then it needs a rest time of 30 minutes so that it may cool down. On the other hand, some car tire inflators are more robust, and they can continuously work for an hour as their duty cycle is 100%.
Pressure Gauge
A pressure gauge is usually provided with every type of car tire inflator to check how much air is filling in the car’s tires. These tire inflators also help us know when to stop the air filling. Nowadays, two types of gauges are available: analog and the other is digital. Digital meters are not very precisely accurate, but they are very easy in readability.
How Does The Diameter Of The Car Tire Inflator Cylinder Impact The Air Flow Rate?
There exist a close relationship between the air flow rate and the cylindrical diameter. The scientific laws and Bernoulli’s Principle prove this more intimate relationship. This law states that if air flows through a tube with a smaller diameter, the air velocity increases, the pressure lowers, and the flow remains constant as long as the air density remains constant.
The flow rate will decrease when we increase the pipe diameter, and pressure will increase. This phenomenon is very helpful in the case of car tire inflators. We need high-pressure in-car tire inflators to fill the tire in the minimum possible time. So this high pressure is achieved by varying the cylinder size in various models of the car tire inflator.
Examples of Various Cylinder Diameters alongside the Flow Rate and Time
| CYLINDER DIAMETER (mm) | AIRFLOW RATE (L/M) |
| 15 | 13 |
| 17 | 15 |
| 19 | 20 |
| 22 | 25 |
| 30 | 30 |
| CYLINDER DIAMETER (mm) | INFLATION TIME (Minutes) |
| 15 | 11-13 |
| 17 | 09-10 |
| 19 | 06-07 |
| 22 | 04-05 |
| 30 | 03-04 |
By looking at the above table, it is clear that the airflow rate is also growing by increasing the cylinder diameter. Likewise, the inflation time becomes shorter due to the increment in the cylinder diameter.
This phenomenon tells us the larger the size of the cylinder of the car tire inflator, the more pressure it can generate in filling the tire with air. Similarly, less time is required to load the car tires.
Moreover, it is also established that the higher airflow-rated vehicles are to be inflated with heavier car inflators to make the job easy and quick. At the same time, the cars, like normal cars and motorbikes, smaller car inflators with lesser diameters on their cylinders fill their tires.
Basic Rules of Standard Air Flow
- Overextended distances, compressed air becomes constrained.
- The airflow rate decreases as the distance from the compressor increases.
- The bigger the piping diameter, the further the system’s pipes must extend.
- Larger-diameter pipe improves airflow while also increasing system costs.
It’s important to remember that airflow instruments and measurements are not the same as water flow measurements. The main distinction is that air is compressible, whereas water is not.
Conclusion
Consequent to the discussion, it is now clear that car tire inflators come in varieties with flexible choices in their features. You can select many features as per your liking and demand, but some of the important aspects like Input Power, Inflation Speed, Cylindrical Diameter, Duty Cycle, and Auto Pressure Gauge are the most important ones. These describe how you are going to use them.
If you want a portable car tire inflator, you may follow the input section. If you are filling the air in a larger vehicle, you may opt for a larger cylindrical diameter car tire inflator to quickly end up the task.
Furthermore, the duty cycle is another decisive factor aiding you if you constantly use your car tire inflator. Suppose the duration of constant usage is larger than you may go for a car tire inflator with a large duty cycle.
