Will this AC/DC converter adapter work?

Question

I am interested in purchasing an air compressor to inflate my tires, such as this one:

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They all seem to come equipped with one of those 12 V car cigarette lighter plugs, instead of a regular electric plug. I would rather use a wall socket though, so I am wondering if I can use a car plug-to- wall socket adapter, such as this one:

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It converts 12 V DC to 110 V AC, which is what I want. But it also says that the output is 500 mAh. Would that be enough for an air compressor?

Jon Slaughter · Accepted Answer

Depends(it converts 110 to 12 BTW and not the other way a round). The compressor doesn't say how much power or current it consumes but I would bet its more than than 500mA(I assume its mA and not mAh because its not a battery and doesn't run out of charge).

What you need to do is find out how much power the compressor uses and calculate the current from it(I = P/12) or find out how much current it uses. That number should be less than any adapator.

500mA is < 1A and I would imagine the compressor uses at least 1A(probably around 2-3A if not more). You can find other adpators around that supply that much but chances are it doesn't have the "car lighter" type of connector. So you might have to do some wire splicing yourself to get it to work(make sure you get the polarity right).

Stephen J. Rush · Answer

All of the 12V air compressors I've seen draw several amperes. To drive one from the AC line, you'd need something like a 10-amp battery charger. Black & Decker makes an inexpensive compressor with an AC motor.

ehsjr · Answer

Not likely. Not even close for the 220 psi compressorI have, which draws way over 500 mA.Ed

Will this AC/DC converter adapter work?

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