120v to 12v 50amp Air Compressor

Hello everyone,,

I just utilized a 10 year old Sears gift card to pick up the venerable Puma PD1006 12v 3/4HP air compressor. There have been a few situations where I've wanted air or air tools while out in the backcountry, and this seemed like a cheap way of running them.  Also nice when I need to air down going up to sandy beachs and deserts surrounding Lake Powell. 

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Anyway, I'd like to occasionally run this off house power - 120v. 

The Compressor requires a max amperage of 50 amps on 12v. 

Is it just a matter of finding some sort of 12v transformer that will push 50amps? 

Remember it's 12 volts DC, and power in your house is 120 volts AC.  A 50 amp DC power supply is probably going to be expensive - the simplest thing would be to just get a spare car battery and run it off that.

Agreed.  It will likely be expensive and very large.  I'm looking at my laptop charger which is about the size of an external HDD, and it is only capable of 10A.

Granted, it will only take about 5-6A from the wall to make 50A at 12v, but getting there will mean a pretty large and heavy transformer.

I think your best solution would be to first test the actual operating amperage draw.  If it's 50 peak when it starts, it may be 30A when it's running.  If that is the case, you might be able to use one of those big battery chargers on wheels.  They aren't designed for high amperage for long periods, but they are physically capable of making high amperage for short bursts as a jump starter.  They can sustain 10-15A continuously, but the higher amp "jump start" feature says right on the machine to only use for a few seconds max.

I reckon the compressor pulls a full 50 amps during a restart as it cycles to maintain pressure.  Running amps are probably lower.

Anyway a PD9160 converter will supply a clean 60 amps for about $200.00.  Modern DC power supplies no longer use transformers, they are called switching power supplies. 

Doc Brown said:

I reckon the compressor pulls a full 50 amps during a restart as it cycles to maintain pressure.  Running amps are probably lower.

Anyway a PD9160 converter will supply a clean 60 amps for about $200.00.  Modern DC power supplies no longer use transformers, they are called switching power supplies. 

I'd run it off of a $80 Group 75 or 78 battery from Rural King or similar, and keep a battery charger in parallel.  The battery charger will keep the battery topped up when the compressor isn't running.

If you already have a battery and a battery charger kicking around, then you already have everything.

If you have $200, you can just buy a dedicated 120v compressor and leave the 12v compressor in the truck.