WORX Portable Inflator: Air for Anywhere
I admittedly get excited whenever WORX introduces a new tool, which it does with impressive frequency. But when I saw that its latest tool was an inflator, I was a little deflated (pun intended). I already own a portable air compressor, why would I need an inflator? Well, after an introspective moment, I thought that was a pretty good question, and decided to look into it further. As it turns out, there are many advantages to owning a dedicated inflator, so I purchased the WORX 20-volt Power Share Portable Inflator—and boy, am I glad I did.
This super-compact cordless inflator is powered by a 20V 2.0Ah Max lithium-ion battery, making it extremely portable and easy to use anywhere. There’s no need to plug it into an electrical outlet or your car’s cigarette lighter. And with the battery attached, the go-anywhere WORX Inflator weighs just 2 lbs., 14 oz. and measures about 3½ x 6½ x 9½ in.
However, what I found most impressive was how many features the engineers packed into this Lilliputian powerhouse. First, the inflator has a digital LED gauge that allows you to preset the desired PSI: Start by pressing the power button to turn on the inflator. Then use the arrow buttons to adjust the air pressure—up or down—to the correct setting. It has a maximum pressure rating of 150 PSI. Once you’ve dialed in the desired air pressure, press the start/stop button. The inflator will continue to run until reaching the selected pressure, and then it’ll automatically stop to prevent over-inflation.
To turn the unit off, just press and hold the power button. (If you forget, it’ll turn itself off after a few minutes.) And just to give you an idea of how much air is delivered, the WORX inflator can fill four car tires—from 0-36 PSI—on a single charge; averaging about four minutes per tire. Plus, you’ll no longer have to pay a dollar or more to use the air hose at gas stations.
Here are a few more valuable features:
- Convenient onboard storage for three accessories: sports ball needle for inflating basketballs, soccer balls and the like; tapered nozzle for filling pool toys, balloons, rafts and air mattresses; and a brass adapter for filling bicycles tires that have Presta-style valves. And the WORX Inflator is exponentially quicker and easier than using a hand pump.
- A built-in LED work light with two levels of brightness (100/200 Lumens), and a blinking red emergency light.
- A 28-in.-long high-pressure air hose fitted with a quick-connect air chuck that clamps onto standard-size tire valves, like those found on cars and most bikes.
- Four vibration-absorbing, non-slip rubber feet.
- Hanging loop for conveniently suspending the inflator from a hook or rope.
- Compact, portable nature of the inflator makes it easy to take on the road with you when traveling by car, truck, motorcycle, or RV.
- Ability to choose between four units of measure: PSI, BAR, KPA, and KG/CM².
- The inflator uses the same battery as the 75-plus tools in the WORX Power Share family. That means for tackling larger inflation jobs, you can upgrade to a WORX high-capacity 4.0Ah or 6.0Ah battery, which will dramatically increase the runtime of the inflator.
- Unlike some cordless tools that have large, bulky battery chargers, the WORX Inflator comes with an ultra-compact charger that’s smaller than the 2.0Ah battery.
Within the first two weeks of owning the WORX Inflator, I used it to fill the tires on my SUV, boat trailer, lawn tractor, utility trailer, and wheelbarrow, which always seems to need air. And I discovered that when car tires are properly inflated, the car rides much smoother and you even get better gas mileage. However, to achieve optimum performance, be sure to adjust the tire pressure to the recommended PSI that’s shown on the car’s door jamb or in the owner’s manual, not on the sidewalls of the tires.
Most recently I took the inflator along on our camping trip to a lake; it was used to inflate our pillow, pool float, beach ball, and football. And the fuel gauge on the battery showed that it still had plenty of power, which was comforting to know just in case we needed to fill a tire on the trip home.
The WORX 20V Portable Inflator (WX092L, $120) is available at worx.com and Amazon. A bare tool version, minus the battery and charger (WX092L.9, $70), also is available. For more information, go to worx.com.
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