Quality of Air Compressor in the truck bed?

[jebinc]

Hello everyone. Is the air compressor in the bed a type more like those cheap high RPM noisy low air volume ones you find at Harbor Freight for under $20, or a real one that outputs high volume air like a normal portable tank or pancake air compressor? What are the specs for it? What CFM at what PSI (normally measured at 90 psi).

From pictures, it looks like one of those $10 low volume models that would take an eternity to fill up an air mattress, etc.

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[PoorDick]

Used mine for the first time yesterday to pump up all four tires on my wife's Volvo C40 Recharge. It was quiet, fast, and amazingly easy to use. I was curious about how much battery it might use, and was surprised to see no change when I was done. Each tire went from about 35psi to 45 psi in about 30 seconds. Didn't seem the least bit "cheap" to me.

 

[zipzag]

If it's quiet its not cheap. Many of us have collections of noisy cheap air compressors.

 

[Dark-Fx]

There are two compressors. One seems to be a private label ARB, which is what does the accessory filling. The other looks like a standard OEM air compressor that handles all the suspension duties. Both are pretty quiet and seem to be high enough quality.

I haven't tried to run air tools off the accessory compressor but it seems its not really designed to be used that way unfortunately.

 

[jebinc]

There are two compressors. One seems to be a private label ARB, which is what does the accessory filling. The other looks like a standard OEM air compressor that handles all the suspension duties. Both are pretty quiet and seem to be high enough quality.

I haven't tried to run air tools off the accessory compressor but it seems its not really designed to be used that way unfortunately.

Where can we find the specs on the accessory compressor in the truck bed?

 

[NmbrsNvrLie]

Was filling up our other car's tires this weekend. Set it to 37 PSI but for some reason it filled 2 of 4 up to like 50 PSI. Had to let air out to bring them back into range. Was confused on why that happened or if it was reading properly.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Where can we find the specs on the accessory compressor in the truck bed?

It seems like a modified version of the ARB CKMA12.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Was filling up our other car's tires this weekend. Set it to 37 PSI but for some reason it filled 2 of 4 up to like 50 PSI. Had to let air out to bring them back into range. Was confused on why that happened or if it was reading properly.

It might be a firmware bug in their compressor control system, but I've been careful to check that it's going to run off the setpoint after every individual use. Otherwise it seems like sometimes it forgets it has a setpoint and just goes wide open.

 

[Rally1]

The OP mentioned air mattresses fill speeds, a compressor designed for airing up tires or running tools is not always the best for inflating pool toys or mattresses. They tend to prioritize higher pressure over shear volume. Lets say its the ARB one mentioned above, thats about 3cfm, vs. 20+cfm for a basic inflator. Of course those inflators top out at about 20psi vs 100psi for the ARB.

 

[Dark-Fx]

The OP mentioned air mattresses fill speeds, a compressor designed for airing up tires or running tools is not always the best for inflating pool toys or mattresses. They tend to prioritize higher pressure over shear volume. Lets say its the ARB one mentioned above, thats about 3cfm, vs. 20+cfm for a basic inflater. Of course those inflaters top out at about 20psi vs 100psi for the ARB.

I used the onboard accessory compressor to inflate a kayak, which is "no more than one psi". It took a while and you have to constantly test feel how much air is in it, but I was able to make it work.

 

[Zoidz]

There was extensive discussion about this a number of months ago. It's not a compressor. It's an inflator. Rivian should not be calling it a compressor - it has no storage tank and it not useful for reliably powering air powered tools.

 

[Arky]

The OP mentioned air mattresses fill speeds, a compressor designed for airing up tires or running tools is not always the best for inflating pool toys or mattresses. They tend to prioritize higher pressure over shear volume. Lets say its the ARB one mentioned above, thats about 3cfm, vs. 20+cfm for a basic inflator. Of course those inflators top out at about 20psi vs 100psi for the ARB.

Yeah you want a high volume air pump for stuff like inflatable boats, air mattresses, etc.

An air compressor is usually a reciprocating piston pump which is great for forcing a small volume of air into a pressurized vessel. A high volume pump is more like a high static-pressure fan which can't drive much pressure at all (maybe 1-2 PSI at most) but gives a much larger continuous flow of air, even a cheap battery powered one can put out double the volume of a 1500W air compressor.

Inflating these things with your bed air compressor won't hurt it (it barely has to work if it's not building any pressure) - but it will be a ton slower and you won't be able to count on the auto shut off since it's minimum trigger is probably above where your air mattress would explode.

 

[the long way downunder]

Munro shows the two compressors in their R1T tear down.

 

[jebinc]

There was extensive discussion about this a number of months ago. It's not a compressor. It's an inflator. Rivian should not be calling it a compressor - it has no storage tank and it not useful for reliably powering air powered tools.

So junk then, for real usage beyond a tire pressure topping off. Got it.

 

[emoore]

So junk then, for real usage beyond a tire pressure topping off. Got it.

Doesn't mean it's junk, just not designed for that application.

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