BELL Automotive 22-1-33000-8 Bellaire 3000 Emergency Tire Inflator

The last two gas stations in my area that offered free air finally switched over to "paid" air, so that settled it for me. I went on the hunt for a nice, portable air pump. I read lots of reviews and finally settled on this little gem, which lives up to all the reviews I read. It's a nice, compact size, comes in zippered thin fabric case, and runs off your car's power system. See that little silver horizontal piece at the bottom of the pump? That's a little, fixed, flex LED light that you can pull out of its holder in the case and turn on via the red rotary switch. The air hose wraps completely around the case in a channel. The fixture that screws onto your valve stem is permanently fixed to the end of the air hose. There is a small, brass bleed valve to get the pressure just right in your tires if you should slightly overfill.So the valve stems in my Volvo have been slowly giving up the ghost and leaking small amounts of air, causing my "Low Tire Pressure" warning light to go on. I have used this little pump a number of times to top off the tires before ultimately replacing the stems. Last night, I had to use it again. My front tire pressure had dropped to 25psi, and I needed to get it up to 40. Since it was raining steadily, I had to wait until the rain stopped since this unit is not waterproof. Following the instructions, I started my car, plugged the jack into my cigarette lighter holder, and then carried the unit to the tire. Since it was night, I pulled out the flex light and started that up as well. The little light doesn't put out a lot of illumination, but it's enough to allow you to see what you're doing, so it definitely serves its purpose. I screwed on the air hose fully, then set the pressure I wanted by turning the red bezel to slightly over 40psi. Then I hit the "ON" rocker switch, and the unit fired up. It took about two minutes for the unit to take the tire pressure from 25psi to 40psi. The unit is not overly loud, but it's not quiet either. Then, when the pressure on the bezel is reached, the needle contacts a brass tab inside the bezel and the unit shuts off. Then you turn off the "ON" switch As I packed up the unit, I noted it was not hot, or even that warm - it's specifically designed to stay cool.So I would say this little unit does everything it's supposed to do. An added advantage are the various fixtures that can be added to the hose to inflate other items such as soccer balls and such. Small enough to toss into the back of your car or keep under your seat, I would recommend this as a "BUY" for anyone looking for a reasonably priced high-pressure time pump. Very satisfied with this purchase. Well done Bell. The only recommendation I could possibly make would be to make the unit weatherproof, but that's only a suggestion.

Update Dec 2024. It is now 10 years and this thing is still working as good as new. Truly beat any expectations I had.Pros: It is light weight, small, and has a very good duty cycle. It is faster and quieter than my old one. It shuts off automatically when it reaches the set pressure.If I can call these cons: It comes with a cheesy zippered bag but I wasn't expecting a bag at all. No backlight on gauge but easy enough to aim the built in light at it. The cord is just barely long enough to reach all 4 tires on the truck(no prob for car) but it is tight. Might have to splice it longer or get an extension.Update: Using this product every 2 weeks for 9 months now. Still works as good as new. I had one tire that was leaking from the bead and had to use this inflator every day for a week to air up that tire. What I am saying is that it has got quite a bit of use and has held up fine. I bought two brand new good quality tire gauges last week and the analog gauge on this device matches the new gauge perfectly on one and .5 psi on the other at 32 psi (what I air my tires to).

I read reviews for a number of tire inflators before settling on this one. I've been very happy with it. I ordered it because I had a tire with a slow leak and I didn't want to have to find a gas station every time plus keep a supply of quarters for the air machine--or worse, risk having it go flat and be stuck. I used this machine several times. Then both tires on the other side of the car got damaged. I was planning to buy new tires soon anyway, but needed to keep going for a few days until I could figure out the best tires to buy and get to the tire store. I had to fill both damaged tires twice a day, before I went to work and before I came home.Time needed to fill seemed decent for a small machine--about 8 minutes from flat to 30 psi on the machine's gauge. I didn't check the pressure with a separate gauge so I don't know if this was accurate. All I can say is the tires looked about right and felt fine driving. The connector screws onto the tire stem. I like that better than ones that snap on--seems more secure. I also like the auto-shutoff. You can read or whatever while the tire's filling and not have to worry about watching the pressure. It was moderately loud but not ear-shattering. I'd avoid running it early Sunday in a quiet neighborhood, but it's not as loud as my electric mower or some vacuum cleaners.The housing is all plastic. It seems like it might be somewhat fragile, but I accidentally dropped it a couple of times and no damage was done. The only small complaint I have is that the switch to control the light didn't work. The light was on all the time. That's not a big deal from my perspective. I didn't have occasion to use the flashing light but I checked and it worked.There are plenty of fancier and faster tire pumps out there, but for the price and features this one seems just fine for occasional and emergency use. It's easy to use and it's done the job I got it for very satisfactorily.