Slime COMP03 12 Volt Air Compressor with Gauge and Light 300 PSI
12-v air compressor with gauge and light. Features on/off switch and nozzle adapters. 300 psi
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars meh
extremely cheap feeling. the gauge was not accurate and was not fully attached to the inside of the case. its quite loud and vibrates violently. light is not very bright. it does, however, inflate tires. its a little slow, but it works. i used mine for about 2 weeks and returned it. just didnt seem like it was worth the money.
2 Stars Slimey all right.
Had it for about 8 months and I only used it three times. The third time was the charm %&*#@#*&! and it never worked since. Invest your money in a better quality model or another brand.
5 Stars Good value and amperage less than expected
Value is good in my opinion: attractive, self storing, very compact and light weight, illumination and compressor each have their own switch, current draw (amperage) tested quite OK for my 10A cigar lighter, electrical cord is flexible and feels substantial, and the plug that came on my unit appears to be high quality. Inflation performance is slower than I would like but in the end OK due to selecting the Slime unit primarily for emergency road use where the priority is simply having a working compressor, whether it is fast or slow being secondary. Gauge accuracy was comparable to several other tire gauges on hand. Noisy but again OK for the price.
Somewhat concerned about reports of high amperage draw, I rigged up the plug with alligator clips and connected the unit directly to my car battery so I could check the actual amperage draw of my unit with two well calibrated ammeters. Both ammeters tested the Slime unit to draw 6.2 amps when pumping at 42 psi. This is well below the 15A fuse rating that is stamped on the fuse holder that comes integral with the unit’s cigar lighter plug. (The fuse in the holder was in fact a 15 amp fuse.) My car is a 2000 Nissan with 10 amp fused cigar lighter. Using the particular Slime COMPO3 unit I purchased gave me no trouble on this subject and neither the plug nor the cord ever got hot. Keep in mind that a fuse rating does NOT necessarily indicate normal current draw. The fuse is there to keep the unit from catching fire in case of malfunction. Therefore, actual current draw (except for brief transients, say, at a startup) should always be well below what would cause a fire if maintained indefinitely in the subject unit and therefore actual current draw under steady state conditions should in fact normally be well below the fuse rating on any equipment.
I purchased the Slime COMPO3 for road emergency. I would not use the Slime COMPO3 for this routine maintenance unless it was all I had. Routine maintenance of proper tire pressure is something I perform in my garage with a low cost 120 VAC compressor that is satisfyingly fast and far more convenient. It has a small tank, 25 ft coiled hose and quick release air chuck with integral pressure gauge. It is always plugged in and ready to use, reaches everywhere I want without hassle, and then stores immediately by virtue of the coiled hose. Five minutes every other weekend or so is plenty to keep four tires always just about right.
Although the toggle operated tire chuck that comes with the Slime COMPO3 appears more or less similar to what comes on all tire inflators regardless of price, none of the toggle operated chucks are very satisfactory in my opinion: sometimes awkward or actually impossible to operate with a weak hand, or cold and numb fingers, and then difficult to remove without wasting air from the tire anyway. Therefore, like I would do for any tire inflator, I immediately cut off the OEM tire chuck and installed an inexpensive lock-on tire chuck of the quick release variety. This adds three to six dollars for the chuck plus another two dollars for a fitting (1/4 ID hose barb X 1/4 MPT) required to properly adapt the tire chuck to the hose. The quick release tire chuck makes it effortless to connect or disconnect with the tire valve stem while suffering negligible air loss (a very brief “pffft”-sound) even with cold, wet, aching hands and fingers in a January snow storm – the very time the Slime COMPO3 may be needed. If you make this modification, you will want to wrap the hose with electrical tape in the vicinity of the cut when cutting off the old fitting. This will keep the fabric cover from unraveling.
Very satisfied for the money.
4 Stars Good small kit
It is a very nice small air compressor, not just for car. It also works for filling air in balls, with all neccessary little equipments available in package. I am glad with the purchase. But it has a big noise when use it. Amazon delivery is super.
1 Star Be careful!
I inflated four car tires and was happy with the product until I pulled out the connector from the car lighter. I touched it and it was so hot that it burned my hand. I returned it to the store immediately. I’ve used these types of inflators before and never had this problem. Be careful when using the product.
