We just purchased a portable air compressor at Sam's Club for $30. It plugs into the cigarette lighter socket and can be used to inflate tires and other objects (basketballs, air matresses etc.). This device is made by or for Bon-aire Industries of Boise, ID. Included in the case is a spotlight and apparently a flashing red light (for road emergencies, I reckon). The compressor has an output gauge that reads on two scales. One is labeled 0-300 Lb/in2 (with the 2 in superscript position) -- hooray! no "psi"! -- but definitely with an upppercase L. This (outer) scale has a numerical range of 0 to 300 in steps of 10, so it indicates 0 lb/in2 to 300 lb/in2. The other scale is labeled kg/cm2 (again, the 2 is in superscript position). Apparently this is a mind set thing -- convert pounds to kilograms and square inches to square centimeters. Right? But on the inside of the wrap-around scale, I see "kPax100" and at the end of the inner (i.e., metric) scale I see the word "bar" This inner scale has a numerical range of 0 to 21 in steps of 1, so it indicates from 0 kPa to 2100 kPa. The device is expected to draw a maximum current of 10 A at 12 V (dc) and is fused at 15 A. This 120 W (max) compressor inflated a *very* low Dodge Caravan tire to full rated pressure in just a few minutes. Nice! I can't imagine why the compressor is designed for such a high output pressure, though. Even bicycle tires don't exceed 700 kPa, do they? Sam's had another kit, a larger one with no brand names except "Sam's Club" for the same price. It had a compressor made in China and many other gadgets (lug nut wrench, first aid kit, battery cables, etc.) for the same price as what we bought. But this compressor had no brand name and looked much smaller in size, even though the pressure rating was the same. The gauge in fact was quite similar to the one described above except that inside the dial it read "KpaX100" -- note the uppercase K and lowercase p. Jim -- Metric Methods(SM) "Don't be late to metricate!" James R. Frysinger, CAMS http://www.metricmethods.com/ 10 Captiva Row e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Charleston, SC 29407 phone/FAX: 843.225.6789
