When it comes to portable air compressors, there are plenty on the market to choose from. While MORRFlate has historically only offered multi-tire inflation/deflation kits to pair with them, they more recently launched a new completely updated line of compressors. The newest entrants in their lineup are the PSI Pro.
These aren’t your average portable air compressors either; they are designed by and for off-road enthusiasts.
Does your current compressor take over 10 minutes to fill 33″ tires? How about 35s, or even 40s? You could probably have an entire meal before a generic air compressor from Amazon could finish airing your tires back up after a long day on the trail. MORRFlate’s air compressors, on the other hand, are made to take on this task without breaking a sweat.
Table Of Contents
PSI Pro Technology
I’ll start off by saying that this is not a small air compressor. Although, that’s a good thing when it comes to multi-tire inflation.
Important: It’s worth noting that MORRFlate’s air compressors aren’t intended for single-tire inflation. In fact, doing so will cause excess strain and damage it.
While the smaller FiveSix (Standard and PSI Pro) are capable of single-tire inflation, they’re really designed to be used with at least a 2-tire hose kit with the massive amount of air they pump out. Also, these are total overkill for smaller passenger tires. MORRFlate’s line is intended to be paired with either the 2-tire kit or the 4-tire kit. Together, you’ll be aired up back to street pressure before you know it.
The PSI Pro Difference
What the PSI Pro line adds over the standard air compressors are digital PSI gauges and automatic shut-off. At first, I thought this was an unnecessary luxury but now, I can see what all of the hype is about. Hook up your air hoses, set your desired PSI, and the FiveSix PSI Pro does the rest. This way, you get consistent results, every time.
The PSI Pro technology really frees up your time and hands to do other post-trail inspections such as nut and bolt checks, stowing away recovery gear, or even just cracking open a cold one with your buddies.
At the top of the unit, you’ll find button controls, the digital PSI gauge, and a pressure relief valve to be used before disconnecting your air hose after use.
Comparison Note
It’s important to know – while this is a direct comparison, the added technology in the PSI Pro model puts it in a different class of compressor. However, these two are not too far off in price, and the VIAIR being a popular compressor, we found that doing a comparison of the two was valid overall. But technically, not a true “apples to apples” comparison. The PSI Pro can be said to be unique in this sense.
Specs
- 5.6 CFM
- 10-120 PSI (Auto Mode)
- 1-150 PSI (Manual Mode)
- 50% Duty Cycle (15 Min On, 15 Min Off)
- Thermal Cut-Off Switch
- Pressure Relief Valve
- 12V, 70 Amps Peak, ~45 Amps Running
- ~75 dB From 1ft Away
- Dimensions: 13″ L x 9″ H x 6″W
- USA Standard Color Matched Air Fitting – Universal Coupler (Works w/ Industrial Or Auto Fittings 1/4″ Plugs)
- 6ft Hose Off Of The Compressor
- 6ft Electrical Cord, Terminates In High Amperage Alligator Clips
A carrying bag and gloves are also included!
As for the accuracy of the integrated gauge, I found it to be 1 PSI higher than the gauge on my hose kit and 1 PSI lower than the TPMS readings on my 4Runner. Your results may differ from mine, but it’s something to keep in mind.
FiveSix PSI Pro Vs. Viair 400P Automatic
Viair is a big name in the air compressor space and offers excellent value and performance. Before getting the FiveSix, I paired my MORRFlate 4-tire kit with the Viair 400P Automatic using the adapter found here. While they’re not an apples-to-apples comparison, it’s worth taking a look at as many people may be considering upgrading to an automatic compressor.
Here are the specs for the 400P:
- Permanent Magnetic Motor
- Duty Cycle: 33% @ 100 PSI
- Max. Working Pressure: 150 PSI
- Max. Amp Draw: 30-Amps
- Ingress Protection Rating: IP54
- Max Ambient Temp Operation: +158°F
- Min Ambient Temp Opertaion: -4°F
- Dimensions: 10.87″L x 5.83″W x 7.48″H
- Weight: 10.70 lbs.
- Power Cord Length: 8 ft.
- Air Hose Length: 30 ft.
I also noticed that MORRFlate’s alligator clips were a bit better designed than the Viair’s with the metal contacts being completely covered in a plastic/silicone casing. They are also seemingly larger.
While I have no complaints about the Viair’s performance, I can’t ignore the fact that it and the FiveSix PSI Pro are at almost identical price points. So, I decided to perform a comparison test.
The control variables for my test were as follows:
- Inflate From 15 PSI To 35 PSI
- 70 Degrees Fahrenheit Ambient Temperature
- 285/75R17 (34″) Tires
- Using MORRFlate’s 4-Tire Inflation Kit
Air Up Time
This is the result that you’re probably most interested in. At first glance, you’ll notice that the FiveSix is noticeably larger than the 400P. I’m not sure if that directly correlates to more robust internals, but here are the times it took to inflate my 34″ tires from 15 PSI to 35 PSI.
Note: The biggest benefit of the FiveSix PSI Pro is the ability to step away from other tasks while it does all of the work. With my Viair, I have to constantly monitor my tire inflation progress.
Results:
- MORRFlate: 6 min 41 sec
- Viair: 10 min 29 sec
It would seem that the added size and heft of the MORRFlate is well worth it if you value speed.
Operating Temperature
Not that I advise touching any part of your air compressor other than the handle during or after use, but the unit temperature does play a factor in how long it takes everything to cool off to put away. I decided to measure one of the hottest spots on both for consistency, where the built-in heatsinks were.
Results
- MORRFlate: 150.4 Degrees Fahrenheit
- Viair: 119.3 Degrees Fahrenheit
While the MORRFlate did inflate my tires significantly faster, it did get much hotter. If you usually just throw your air compressor in the back of your truck after use, that’s probably not a big deal. However, if you usually wait for it to cool off and throw everything back in the storage bag, you may spend some extra time here.
It’s worth noting that although the FiveSix PSI Pro itself gets hotter, MORRFlate attached a 6ft hose to dissipate heat so that you can disconnect the chuck right after operation. Since the adapter and chuck attach directly to the Viair, it gets extremely hot during use and you have to wait for it to cool down before disconnecting your hose.
MORRFlate is aware that with the speed of inflating comes heat. Due to this, they include a pair of their Groovy Gloves with the purchase of a compressor.
Noise Level
I’m not sure how important this metric is, but I ran these tests while my kid was napping and neither compressor woke him up, fortunately. Noise level measurements were taken standing next to the compressors.
Results:
- MORRFlate: 74.9 Decibels
- Viair: 72.3 Decibels
Both air compressors are moderately loud, but not so much that you can’t converse with your buddies while they’re running. There’s a negligible difference between the two, so we’ll call this metric a draw.
Air Hose Kit Compatibility
One feature about the MORRFlate compressors that I really like is the integrate hose and universal fitting. This allows me to connect my hose kit directly to the compressor without needing any adapters, thus also creating fewer points of potential air leakage.
With the Viair, I had to purchase an adapter fitting to use it with my 4-tire hose kit. This wasn’t a huge deal, but it resulted in a less-than-ideal extended connection off of the compressor.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the MORRFlate FiveSix PSI Pro is a solid option and a worthy competitor to the existing brands currently on the market. The ability to get other things done while my tires inflate versus constantly watching my TMPS is a game-changer in terms of time efficiency.
If you don’t need the digital pressure gauge or automatic shutoff feature, the standard FiveSix has the exact same inflation capabilities at a more affordable price point.
This isn’t a budget air compressor by any means, but if you’re in the market for a mid-level model that can easily handle over-sized off-road tires, it’s hard to beat. Being a compressor designed by and for off-roaders, it really does have a niche (albeit, a growing one) user base.
If you’re driving a crossover on stock tires, this likely isn’t for you. I’ll likely keep the Viair for single-tire top-offs or my wife’s Crosstrek, but the MORRFlate set-up is definitely coming with me on every trail ride.
All top offroad https://amzn.to/3MMRORW +30% airflow (7.06CFM) for a cheaper price. Likely made in the same Chinese factory.
>they’re really designed to be used with at least a 2-tire hose kit with the massive amount of air they pump out
This is nothing except a marketing trick so you buy their hose kit too. If it was true, it would mean that a valve bandwidth is lesser than a compressor’s 5CFM. Which is obviously not true.
Hey Viktor! Good catch, except that the compressor you linked on Amazon is a very basic, dumbed down version of the MORRFlate in this article. The one in this article has a digital control board that allows you to set your pressure. Hence the cheaper price on amazon. There is absolutely a restriction in schrader valve stems… with the valve core in place, they are equivalent to a 1/16″ diameter orifice… which equates to about 1.8 to 2 CFM of air flow capacity per valve stem. If you run an in line gauge between your compressor and the tire, and have to turn off the compressor to check your tire pressure becuase the gauge reads high while the compressor is on… that is the back log of pressure being caused by the bottleneck of airflow at the tire’s valve stem. The more you know!
Hey Tyler! Let’s pretend you are right. Following this logic, any 2+ CFM compressor will inflate the same tire with the same speed, right? Because the valve is a 2 CFM limiter. I think you know the answer – the more powerful the compressor, the faster your tire will be inflated. This is obvious.
As the CEO of Morrflate, you should know that things are much more complicated and require more variables. They correlate and are important together. Therefore, it is illiterate to say that a valve is limited to 2 CFM.
The more pressure inside a tire already, the lesser will be CFM. Of course, a valve will add some resistance – it creates a pressure drop. But it’s not a constant limiter.
There is a formula for airflow. You need to know the air temperature, supply pressure, current tire pressure, valve flow coefficient, and only by knowing all these numbers you can calculate the actual valve CFM, and only at this point in time. It is not permanent and can’t be.
The only permanent thing here is a valve flow coefficient. FYI: it’s not CFM if you mix them.
The more you know, the less marketing you believe.
Fair point… we are not taking the calculations down to the umpteenth decimal to give exact accurate CFM capacities. We try to keep things simplified for the average consumer to understand. While 2CFM might be an oversimplification for consumers, you are not magically going to get a 50% increase (or even a 20% increase) or more of air flow through a schrader valve by manipulating the variables you are describing.
But to answer your question, yes, if you take any compressor that does more than 2 CFM, you will fill up a tire at the same rate (within a 10% variation). A smittybuilt at 5.5CFM, a twin ARB at 6.2CFM, and a tensix at 10.6cfm will all air up a single tire within roughly 10% time of each other.
You are talking about number variations as small as half a CFM in the end… which is a negligible number when it comes to the user experience of airing up a tire.
Please do your own testing and/or math and prove us wrong 🙂
FWIW, I just used the FivSix PSI Pro on the trail today and it’s pretty awesome to just set it and forgot it 👌
Valid point about the CFM advisory for single tire use, I won’t pretend to be an expert in that space. Regarding the cheaper compressor on Amazon, MORRFlate’s standard FiveSix is at the same $160 price point (no integrated digital gauge or auto-shutoff).
I already had the multi-tire hose kit and this compressor just works better with it by not needing to use any adapters. Plus, it supports a small U.S. business vs a generic seller on Amazon. To each their own, though!