When Warn Industries introduced the PowerPlant Dual Force winch/air compressor combo a couple years ago, contractors and anyone else who had need for reliable on-board air power instantly loved it. Now they have expanded the 12-volt air offerings with a stand-alone air-compressor called the Warn Air-Power VTC (V-twin configuration.)
The Warn Air-Power VTC, part of their new Air-Power line of compressors, is a dual-cylinder compressor with a 1-gallon air tank. The whole unit is about the size, weight and frame configuration of many of the small compressors used by trim carpenters on construction jobsites. The difference being that the Air-Power
VTC gets its power from your pickup’s 12-volt battery while the typical jobsite compressor is 120-volt.
This on-board air system can be either mounted to the vehicle or used as a portable unit.
The compressor has no gauges but, according to the owner’s manual, it pressures up to and shuts off at 100 psi and the motor kicks on when the pressure drops down to 70 psi. Airflow is 20 cfm at 0 psi and 8 cfm at 90 psi, which is enough to power an air wrench and similar air tools for short bursts.
We had the opportunity to try it out and it didn’t disappoint. The VTC took just 10.9 seconds to fill its empty tank to 100 psi and only 5.6 seconds to recycle back up to full pressure after the compressor motor had kicked on.
Then we dropped one of our F-250’s 35-inch tires down to 20 psi and used the VTC to air it up to 58 psi just to test its tire-inflation prowess. The Warn Air-Power VTC took 1 minute, 45 seconds, while the same task took our six-gallon, 120-volt shop compressor 1 minute, 26 seconds. This shows the high efficiency of the new Warn unit.
Our short take is the Warn Air-Power VTC has the air muscle to fill the bill for most jobs when you are on an off-the-grid jobsite – or on a weekend outing away from work.
