TomZweifel Posted April 27, 2019 Report Share Posted April 27, 2019 For years, even when I was driving vehicles that do have spare tires, I would always carry a kit I put together with mushroom plugs and a Viair 88P compressor. If I had a flat tire, even at night on the side of the road I could always plug my full-size tire and re-inflate it myself in about 10 minutes. The compressor has alligator clamps to connect right to the battery terminals to provide up to 20A of current, and it typically takes about 2 minutes at 15-20amps to pump a tire back up. I'm wondering now on the C-Max how I'm going to connect the compressor should I ever need it. Can the positive jumper terminal under the hood supply sufficient current? Any preferences regarding a ground connection? Should I remove the plastic in the trunk and hook up directly to the 12v battery instead? Should I invest in a 300vdc compressor instead? (j/k on the last one, but it would be cool....). I'm actually pretty hesitant to even try using this compressor in this vehicle considering it doesn't have a traditional 12vdc alternator. I understand the dc-dc converter is fairly stout, maybe as strong as a conventional alternator, but I'm willing to bet nowhere near as forgiving. Thanks in advance.... https://www.viaircorp.com/portables/88p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomZweifel Posted August 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2019 Update: I had an unfortunate incident this morning with one tire, and it turns out the underhood terminals can drive this compressor just fine. At least I didn't have a problem with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-MaxA2 Posted August 27, 2019 Report Share Posted August 27, 2019 I have a full size spare tire (mounted on a wheel). I also have a 20 year old hand pump that I can get out and going in about 250seconds. Never fails, requires no power. Simple, fast. I've used it a fair amount on the highway and at motels to top off my tires and when someone finds their tire flat (I can usually get it inflated enough for someone to drive to a repair place). It amazes me how people react to my hand pump and how fast it works. I use a lot of hand tools around my house (yard and home repair) and most of them are 40+ years old and work perfectly and frequently faster than some electric tool. I keep one of my four snow tires in the 'space saver' space in rear of our 2004 Ford Focus wagon for the same reason. The ridiculous 'toy spare' took up the SAME space and was an utter joke (and displayed 'tire rot' in about 10 years). In the winter I put one of the summer tires in the same place. I usually only carry the spare tire on long trips - 100+ miles and out of the country (we live near Canada) where our cell phones don't work. We took a trip a few years ago to Georgia (from Michigan) for a wedding and it was sobering how a stretch of broken up highway (Kentucky I think) destroyed so many car tires. We saw at least 5 cars off the road with 1-2 tires destroyed and we thought what a headache they faced getting new tires in a rural area on a Sunday... The KISS principle in action (Keep It Simple Stupid) - it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomZweifel Posted August 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2019 (edited) . Edited August 27, 2019 by TomZweifel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-N Posted August 29, 2019 Report Share Posted August 29, 2019 FYI, there's also a ground connection under the hood. I believe someone posted a picture on the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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