Schrader air pump

Pumping up flat tyres with a foot pump can be back-breaking work. Schrader Automotive Products Division can take out the effort with their electric air pump, which works off the car battery via the cigarette lighter or, as in the case of the editorial TR6, which lacks such luxury, via the optional crocodile clip-fitted extension to the battery. A neat little, dry-running compressor is driven by a small 12-volt motor and is capable of delivering air at up to 50 lb. p.s.i. The pump is normally sat in the car footwell and individual corners reached by means of the long length of plastic hose, which proved capable of reaching all four almost flat Dunlop RS5s of the Jaguar 3.4 Mk. I I rescued from the Midlands earlier this year. It lacks an isolating switch, so that the plug has to be pulled from the lighter socket to stop it, the screw-on adaptor has to be removed from the valve to enable a pressure gauge to be used, while an alternative touch-contact adaptor is not very efficient and for the odd pound-or-two adjustment a footpump is more convenient. But for very soft tyres it is a boon—it takes several minutes to inflate a tyre from flat, so you can leave it to its job whilst you get on with something else. A variety of adaptors extends its versatility to inflating air-beds, footballs, beach toys or operating small spray guns for touch-up spraying or model making. It costs £25 and should be available from good accessory shops or Schrader at 829, Tyburn Road, Erdington, Birmingham B24 9NZ.—C.R.

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