Sometimes tyre inflators are just a little too big to lug around with you, which means you end up leaving them at home where they don’t do much good if you get a puncture while out and about.
The Michelin Compact Top Up Digital Tyre Inflator aims to fix that problem; it’s genuinely diddy in size.
What is it?
It’s your average tyre inflator, but way smaller. Measuring in at 13.5cm high, 11cm wide and 4cm deep.
How?
To keep the dimensions small, the digital micro inflator has just a 14cm hose; usually, this would be double the length on most other inflators.
It also doesn’t store the 12v adapter and cable in the body of the inflator. Instead, it’s separate and plugs into the side of the unit.
There’s also a USB socket built into it, which is a bit of an oddity, but it would enable you to charge your phone or power another device if your car doesn’t have a built-in USB socket and you’re running low on charge.
It’s one of those things that will come in incredibly handy for one or two people if they remember they have it.
As you’d expect, there’s PSI, BAR and kPa that lights up on the LCD display. There’s no auto cut off when it hits the desired pressure; you press the tactile On/Off switch to stop it inflating.
What’s it like?
Being so small, we wondered whether it would struggle and take an age to inflate a tyre, but the dinky little compressor is deceivingly powerful. It put between 2/3 PSI into each tyre in the same amount of time as our larger RING tyre inflator did.
Having such a short air hose means the inflator sort of has to rest against the tyre if your valve is near the floor; if it’s at the top of the tyre, then you’ll be left holding it. This isn’t a big deal as you have to switch it off manually, so you need to be watching it anyway.
The michelin compact top up digital tyre inflator will go all the way up to 50 PSI and is mainly designed for topping up tyres rather than inflating them fully.
The instructions advise not to run the inflator for more than 8 minutes without letting it cool down, and even though it states it’s not meant to inflate a tyre from flat, pumping up from halfway in the event of a puncture would probably be fine.
Overall it’s the perfect tyre inflator for on the go; while it may not have the heft of a larger device, it will get you out of a sticky situation or allow you to top up your tyre pressures on the fly without having to go to a forecourt.
The only downside is that it should ideally come with a little pouch to protect it while it’s rolling around in the boot…and stop you from losing the power cable!
Where can I get one?
Halfords are your best bet if you want to pick one up straight away, but Amazon also have some excellent deals on the compact tyre inflator now and again.
