Viair 450p

[JWalker]

Santa was good to me this year and dropped off a VIAIR 450P portable compressor. I was toying around with getting a permanent system for the truck but liked the idea of the portability of the compressor and using it in other locations. I thought I read somewhere on the forum of someone running 12 Volt connections to the rear of the truck. I'm interested in doing something similar. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[danemayer]

Buy the connector from a trailer shop. You'll need some heavy solid wire and a couple of large bolts to use as terminals. Pick up the 12V and ground from the connector and wrap around the bolts.

 

[Bones]

Santa was good to me this year and dropped off a VIAIR 450P portable compressor. I was toying around with getting a permanent system for the truck but liked the idea of the portability of the compressor and using it in other locations. I thought I read somewhere on the forum of someone running 12 Volt connections to the rear of the truck. I'm interested in doing something similar. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

Santa has been real nice to you. Even in the summer time too.

 

[Bohemian]

Buy the connector from a trailer shop. You'll need some heavy solid wire and a couple of large bolts to use as terminals. Pick up the 12V and ground from the connector and wrap around the bolts.

Does this pump plug into a trailer connector rather than a standard 12v connector?

 

[danemayer]

Does this pump plug into a trailer connector rather than a standard 12v connector?

The pump has spring loaded clamps that are designed to clamp on battery terminals. Cigarette lighter style 12V plugs are usually pretty low amperage. The pump is not low amperage.

 

[Lou_and_Bette]

I followed Dan's suggestion when I got mine last year and it works like a charm. I did panic one time when I plugged in to fill Bette's bike tire with others waiting for her so was rushing. No power to the pump. Plugged and unplugged with no success. Finally, realized Ford truck needed to be on for plug to be energized and all was well.

 

[JWalker]

I think the compressor pulls 23 Amps. No problem with the factory wiring running that much through it?

 

[jnbhobe]

I hard wired mine from the battery to a soloniod and back to the compressor with 6/3 SO.

 

[danemayer]

I haven't had any problems. If I recall correctly, I think the truck has a 30 or 40 amp fuse for that connector.

 

[Lou_and_Bette]

Have used mine several times and a couple of times for fairly extended periods of time without any problems

 

[murry135]

Santa was good to me this year and dropped off a VIAIR 450P portable compressor. I was toying around with getting a permanent system for the truck but liked the idea of the portability of the compressor and using it in other locations. I thought I read somewhere on the forum of someone running 12 Volt connections to the rear of the truck. I'm interested in doing something similar. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

Santa dropped the same at my house too and I was thinking the same thing of how to quick connect to the rear of my TV. I did some research about Anderson SB connectors and #6 wire. The wire is very expensive so I was thinking of making the connection point the front grill. I am waiting for PORTHOLE to weigh in here on his opinion since he has the rear bumper connection point.

Jim

 

[danemayer]

I did some research about Anderson SB connectors and #6 wire. The wire is very expensive

The spec on the 450p is max current consumption of 20 Amps. #6 is way more wire than you need. And btw, if you're making a connector, you only need about a 6" length of each wire.

 

[murry135]

The spec on the 450p is max current consumption of 20 Amps. #6 is way more wire than you need. And btw, if you're making a connector, you only need about a 6" length of each wire.

The expense was calculated on running the battery cable from the two TV batteries to rear bumper. I wanted to use battery cable to prevent any load issues damaging installed wire, Viair and TV system. I am not sure the factory installed trailer connector wire is up to handling the amperage load. Does anyone know the wire size that is factory installed on Ford's and is it rated to handle 40AMPS?

 

[JWalker]

I definitely want to run it from the rear of the truck. It would eliminate the need for buying an extension air hose. If I back near the front of the fifth wheel, the 30 foot extension should work just fine.

Jim, were you planning on tying both batteries together and running it to the rear or just running it from one single battery up front to the back?

 

[danemayer]

Does anyone know the wire size that is factory installed on Ford's and is it rated to handle 40AMPS?

The indirect way of answering this is to find the fuse used by Ford to protect the circuit. They wouldn't use a fuse that allows more current than the rating of the wire.

 

[murry135]

I definitely want to run it from the rear of the truck. It would eliminate the need for buying an extension air hose. If I back near the front of the fifth wheel, the 30 foot extension should work just fine.

Jim, were you planning on tying both batteries together and running it to the rear or just running it from one single battery up front to the back?

At first I was planning on both batteries to be wired but then I realized the Viair directions just recommend the truck to be running when using compressor so I am now thinking only one. My hesitation is what is the AMP/volt drop over the 10 foot run from front to rear and will this damage compressor.

- - - Updated - - -

The indirect way of answering this is to find the fuse used by Ford to protect the circuit. They wouldn't use a fuse that allows more current than the rating of the wire.

I believe this is a 10AMP fuse but will confirm it later by physically checking.

 

[jnbhobe]

If your using it as a portable compressor why not just hook up to the trailer battery for trailer tires and truck battery for truck tires.

 

[murry135]

If your using it as a portable compressor why not just hook up to the trailer battery for trailer tires and truck battery for truck tires.

Jon,

I believe Jamie and I are trying to do the same thing by avoiding having to open truck hood to hook Viair to battery since they need a direct connect to battery terminals and/or having to expose our trailer batteries which have battery boxes covering them. We are looking for alternatives to the proceeding connections options for a quick connect/disconnect option.

Jim

 

[jnbhobe]

Then if the wires to the rear plug will handle the load Dan's idea will work.

 

[murry135]

Then if the wires to the rear plug will handle the load Dan's idea will work.

I like Dan's idea and it is much cheaper to put together, however I am not sure the OEM trailer wire harness can handle to extra amps drawn when compressors works long and hard. ie: potential refill of flat tire to 110 or tires bigger then 110lbs. Not sure if I am worrying about something I don't need to be concern with cause really this is a top off item not a refill from zero in the case of a total flat which needs repair at a facility.