Product Review - Audew 150 psi Heavy Duty Double Cylinder Air Compressor

Product Review - Audew 150 psi Heavy Duty Double Cylinder Air Compressor

This is a review of a small portable 12 volt air compressor that is unique in that it is configured with a single motor that drives a piston and cylinder located at each end of the motor to where the combined output for the two cylinders is up to 150 psi.  While not directly related to Honda CT90's, a compressor like this is a handy device to have available if you take your CT90 out camping, Hunting, etc. and need to top off your tires with air.

I want to acknowledge upfront that I received this compressor from the manufacture in exchange for doing this review.

I have structured the review of this compressor from Audew into four sections:

1. The basic compressor and what is included
2. How does it perform
3. Summary and recommendation

The Basic Compressor and What is Included
The compressor from Audew retails for $59.99 at the time this review was written and is available from Amazon and can be viewed here at the Audew website that also contains a link to the Amazon page where the compressor is sold.

The compressor comes packaged in the box shown below and is well protected by the Styrofoam blocks within the overall package.

The artwork/pictures on the outside of the box my compressor was delivered in are of a slightly different configuration compressor, but the box does indicate four different part numbers in the lower right hand corner so I assume that this compressor is one of those numbers.  The internet link I provided above is for this specific compressor that I am reviewing.


Within the box the following items are included:

1. The compressor
2. A yellow coiled air hose
3. An electrical adapter that allows you to connect the compressor power cord directly to a car battery
4. Three air hose end adapter that allow you to fill air mattresses and sports balls
5. A baggie that contains basic instructions and a spare fuse and spring
6. A carrying case you can use to store the compressor and included accessories

For this price range, the compressor seems like a well built unit as are the accessories which all are of acceptable quality.

The basic compressor is approximately 10" long, 6" tall, and 4" wide and weighs 5.5 lbs with all of the accessories that are included.

The compressor is actually an integral assembly that has the following features:

1. Basic compressor unit
2. An integral pressure gage that goes up to 150 psi
3. An 12" air hose with a rotating collar at the end which contains a female thread 0.305" x 32 TPI (typical Schrader valve thread specifications)
4. A 9.5' long power cord that has a plug on the end that can be inserted into a typical cigarette lighter
5. A rocker style switch on the left side of the compressor housing as you are looking at the integral LED light that is the on/off switch for the compressor
6. A five element LED light at one end of the compressor housing that has an on/off switch located on the right side of the compressor housing
7. A folding carving handle on the top of the assembly
8. Four rubber feet on the bottom of the compressor assembly

The following is a picture of the pressure gage that goes up to 150 psi (lb/in^2), but is also scaled in kg/cm^2 and  kPA (BAR) for those of you who like to read pressure in scales other then psi.

The connector at end of the power cord is of a typical design that can plug into a cigarette lighter (which very few cars come with now days...).

And the fuse for the compressor is actually contained within this plug.  The fuse is a 30 amp and a spare fuse and spring that is part of the plug assembly are also included in the accessories that came with the compressor.

As stated earlier, the air hose that is permanently attached to the compressor has a collar with a female thread that is the same thread pitch as is used on a typical Schrader tire valve stem.  The collar also has internal features like what you would see on a bicycle pump or air hose at a gas station that allow the end of the hose to be attached to a Schrader valve stem and depress the inner plunger and seal the connection so a tire can be inflated.

The end of the yellow coiled air has is also shown in the picture below as it has the same features as the short air hose on the compressor.

The following picture is of the integral LED light.  It should be noted that the LED light is powered by the power coming to the compressor through the power cord, so if the cord is not connected the light cannot be powered.

The last feature is the fold out carrying handle that is simple and functional.

The coiled air hose is a simple configuration where on one end there is a threaded collar like what was described earlier on the short air hose on the compressor and on the other end has a male threaded end that is also the same thread as is used on a Schrader valve.

An electrical adapter is also included that allows the power cord to be attached to a typical car battery.  The battery clamps on the connector are also marked with a positive (+) and negative (-) sign for those who may not know that the red clamp hose to positive and black goes to negative.

Three small adapters that can be threaded into the end of either air hoses are included where the adapter in the middle of the photo below can be used to inflate sports balls and the other two adapters can be used to inflate air mattresses and similar products.

The carrying case included with the compressor is pretty basic and is basically a nylon bag with a single zipper and two webbing handles.  The bag easily holds the compressor and the included accessories so that you can store it in the trunk of your car or behind the seat in your truck.

How Does It Perform
In general, the Audew compressor does what it is intended to do without and major issues.

For my initial testing of the compressor, I used a 15 amp battery charger I have so I could run the compressor on my bench.  The first thing I noticed that is that when running the compressor unloaded without it connected to any item where pressure would build up, the compressor was pulling about 10 amps as indicated by the meter on my battery charger.

When I hooked up the compressor so that it was providing air at a lower pressure around 20 to 30 psi, the current draw went up to around 15 amps.  Given the current draw, which is not unexpected for an electric compressor, was beyond the limits of my battery charger I decided to do any remaining testing with the compressor hooked directly to the battery of a car I had in my garage at the time 

When you do connect the power cord to a power source using the basic connector or the adapter provided, there is a red indicator light on the power cord connector as shown in the picture below that lets you know that there is power going to the compressor.

I used the compressor to fill up a car and then one of the tires on one of my CT90 project bikes and the compressor performed as expected and easily filled the tires in a reasonable period of time.

The only real issue I had is that when using the threaded end of the air hose to attach to the of the valve stem on the tire s that when you go to remove the air hose you end up loosing some air pressure  while you are unscrewing the end of the hose from the valve stem.  On a car tire this isn't and issue, but on my CT90 the pressure in the tire would drop by 5 psi minimum, so when filling a motorcycle tire you would need to overshoot the pressure you wanted to hopefully end up being ok after you removed the air hose.  It would have been nice if Audew could have included a quick disconnect style of attachment for tire valve stems so this would be less of an issue.

The attachments provided to use to fill air mattresses and sports balls, worked as intended and the compressor didn't seem to have any issues running in an unloaded condition due to the low pressures required to fill these sort of items.

The coiled air hose provided worked fine and while it is stated that it is 5 meters in length (and I don't doubt that totaled coiled hose is 5 meters) it really can only be usefully stretched about 6 to 8 feet when using the hose.

The pressure gage on the Audew compressor seemed accurate.  When I would fill a tire using the gage on the compressor and then check the pressure in the tire afterwards with a hand held gage I have the pressure would read the same.

I wanted to test to see if the compressor could actually put out 150 psi, but I really didn't have anything to inflate to that pressure so what I ended up doing is making a plug for the end of the hose and my plan was to then just turn on the compressor and see if the gage on the compressor would reach up to 150 psi.

For a plug, I ended up taking the one adapter for inflating sports balls and filled the center with epoxy as shown in the picture below.

I assembled the plugged adapter into the end of the yellow coiled hose and then connected the coiled hose to the short hose on the compressor.  This way I would be able to test to see if the compressor could reach 150 psi and also if the yellow coiled hose could hold that same pressure.

When I turned on the compressor to do the test, the pressure on the gage increased until it reached 150 psi and then I shut off the compressor.  The compressor didn't have any issue reaching 150 psi and the yellow coiled hose held the pressure without any issues.



I made a short video below showing the test, so you can have an idea of how the compressor sounds while operating both without the plug and with the plug.

Summary and Recommendation
Overall the Audew compressor performs well as do all of the accessories provided with the compressor.  The compressor can truly get to 150 psi which is great if you have an application needing that high of pressure, but you need to be aware that the compressor does draw from 10 to 25 amps depending on the pressure being provided, so it is advisable to keep your car running while the compressor is connected to your battery to prevent it from being drawn down.

The only real improvement that Audew should consider with this compressor is with providing a quick release style fitting/accessory for attaching to Schrader style tire  valve stems so that minimal pressure is lost when disconnecting the hose from the valve stem.

The Audew compressor would be a good choice if you are looking for a small 12 volt compressor to keep in the trunk of your car or in your camp if you need a compressor to top off you CT90 tires while out hunting or trail ridding.

Helpful Links (Shop Manuals, Wire Diagram, Model Information, etc.)

Link to page with listing of CT90 parts available on Amazon