Unconventional Low Pressure Air Supply

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I have built a small static engine based on Mrpete222's video tutorial but I have no boiler or compressor to run it on. I have had it running at work on compressed air and I've also had it run from a wallpaper steamer but this is far from ideal.
I don't fancy buying a compressor but I have a set of spare car wheels in the shed and that gave me an idea. Has anyone built a low pressure compressor using a car tyre inflator and a tyre (or 2, 3 or 4) as the tank?
I don't need any more than about 20 psi so I reckon if I plumb in a simple tap this may run a small engine for a while.

What do people think, is this feasible?

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I think it would work. But a portable air tank would be so much lighter and handier. By car tire inflater do you mean small compressor? That might run it by itself.
 
For what you are doing an old refridgerator compressor would work nice and quiet.
 
Sounds to me like it would work fine.
 
I made one of the wobbler style engines from Mrpete222 and it should run on just your little compressor. Also, you can use the compressor to fill the tank and then use that to work the engine. Another idea is if you had a pump for a air brush, I have even hooked that to a take and made a small compressor out of it before. Worked great, just low pressure.
 
Thanks for all the replies and advice.
I'd love to have a proper compressor or build a substantial one but unfortunately I don't have the space and it would be excessive for my intended purpose. I'm just thinking in a "make do and mend" kind of way. I think it'll only cost about £10 or so for hoses and fittings so it's worth giving it a go I reckon. I'm reluctant to run the engine straight from the compressor as I would like to be able to run it queitly.
I'll keep an eye out for an old fridge compressor as that would be ideal and if I stumble across an old gas cylinder or something then I may build a proper one at a later date.

Thanks again. I'll post results when I get round to hooking it all up.
 
If you use a refrigeration compressor, you should think of a way to recycle the oil. Lubrication of these compressors rely on recirculation of oil in a closed system. Without the lubrication, the compressor will soon fail. An oil separator on the outlet with a bleed back to the inlet should do it. I have seen some schemes for doing this in the past . BTW, they make fairly decent vacuum pumps as well. Also, consider using a dehumidifier or air conditioning compressor. If you are salvaging one, there is less bulk in the carcass to dispose of.
 
Old VWs used to use the spare tire to pressurize the windshield washer. Also Badger used to have a tire adapter to provide compressed air to their airbrushes. But tires are bulky for the amount of air they hold.

At one time I used an old window air conditioner compressor for air. It was near silent, put out 220 psi (though at low volume) and ran for a couple of years until the oil ran out. Your car inflator (if you're talking about the little 12V ones) can't run long before they overheat; they're fine for topping off a low tire but when I was into the 4WD rock crawling thing some guys burned them up trying to reinflate four big tires they'd aired down for the trail ride.
 
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