HYCHIKA IF1812A Air Compressor review

REVIEW – I’ve always been fascinated with air compressors but never owned one I recently purchased one that was integrated with a car battery jump starter. While that’s a convenient tool to have on trips I wanted something to be able to blow up air mattresses, balls, and other inflatable items in addition to tires. I was excited to get the opportunity to review the HYCHIKA IF1812A Air Compressor.

The HYCHIKA IF1812A Air Compressor is a portable, battery or vehicle auxiliary outlet powered air compressor, useful for inflating car or bike tires, air mattresses, balls, inflatable boats, and many other items.

The design of the HYCHIKA IF1812A Air Compressor is reminiscent of many of the portable battery power stations that have become popular over the last few years. It’s a compact and lightweight device, weighing in at about 6 lb, significantly less than most portable power stations. Across the top there are two toggle switches, three buttons, and a backlit LCD for showing air pressure in PSI, BAR, and kPa units. The left toggle switch selects between high pressure and low pressure output; the right switch turns the LED flashlight on and off. The three round buttons are + and – to increase or decrease air pressure and the center button which turns the unit on and off and also switches between PSI, BAR and kPa readouts on the display.

There are two ways to power the air compressor – battery and a car’s auxiliary power port. The unit comes with a battery charger which works like many other power tools. The auxiliary power cable is permanently attached and there is a compartment at the bottom of the unit to store the cable while not in use. The battery has 3 LEDs to indicate charge level when the button on the battery is pressed.

Two air hoses are included with the HYCHIKA IF1812A Air Compressor – a low-pressure hose and a high-pressure hose. The high-pressure hose is permanently attached and gets stored in a slot in the back of the device. The low-pressure hose gets stored at the top of the unit, held in by two U-shaped cutouts in the body of the compressor. The three included nozzle adapters are also stored in the back of the unit. Also on the back is the attachment point for the black plastic low-pressure hose. The low-pressure hose has a removable cap that allows it to fit into different sized openings.

On the left side of the body of the HYCHIKA IF1812A Air Compressor is an opening for air intake. Since the compressor can be used for inflation and deflation the air intake can also pull the air out of an item when the black plastic hose is attached here. On the right side there is a flashlight with 3 white LEDs. This isn’t the brightest flashlight available but it will certainly help if you ever need to use this in the dark.

The body of the air compressor is basically an upside down U shape. In the bottom center is a slot to hold the rechargeable battery. On the inside of the left “foot” is the storage slot for the auxiliary power cable; the right side is open as well but there’s nothing to store in there. The bottom also has rubber feet to keep the compressor from slipping around. The top of the body has an integrated, rounded handle.

Setup was easy. The only thing to do is to unpack the air compressor and accessories and charge the battery. My battery came with 1 bar of power; it charged up to full in about an hour, which I felt was an acceptable charging speed. Once you’ve inserted the battery, or plugged it into your car’s auxiliary power port, it’s ready to use.

There isn’t much to using the HYCHIKA IF1812A Air Compressor, which I consider a positive thing. Once the battery is charged or the compressor is plugged into power, press the center button to turn it on. Once you choose which hose you’re going to use and plug it into the tire or inflatable, the display will show you its current PSI. Then you just need to use the +/- buttons to set the desired PSI for the item you’re inflating, and flip the left toggle switch to either high- or low-pressure inflation mode. My car and bike tires and the exercise ball all inflated quickly. It probably took about 2 minutes to add 7-8 PSI for my car tires. The bike tires went more quickly since they don’t take as much air. The exercise ball probably only took about 30 seconds because it was almost full to begin with.

One feature I was very happy to see was that it remembers the desired PSI level as long as it’s left on. In other words, you don’t have to set the desired PSI again for each tire. It’s not hard to set the level but it would be frustrating to have to do it every time. I noticed that the air compressor tended to fill the tires about 1.5 PSI over the set level. I’m not sure if this is to compensate for the inevitable loss of air when the hose is detached, but I wouldn’t think that would be that much. It hasn’t been a problem for me since I assume there’s always a little bit of margin in the maximum PSI ratings but if you’re concerned about this you could always set your desired PSI 1.5 lower than maximum.

The HYCHIKA IF1812A Air Compressor has a maximum PSI rating is 160. I don’t have anything that comes anywhere near that level but it’s nice to know this can go that high for situations that might need it. The 10 foot auxiliary power cord and 2.5 foot integrated hose means I can plug this into my car and reach any of the four tires without any problem. I do have to switch sides to get to the tires on either side (it doesn’t wrap all the way around the car) but that’s totally acceptable for me.

Having deflation built-in is a handy feature. For larger items that take more time to deflate it’s nice to be able to assist in that process to speed up tearing down a campsite or something.

The HYCHIKA IF1812A Air Compressor’s integrated flashlight is a handy feature. It’s not going to win any awards for brightness or long throw capability but it’s there in a pinch. It’s certainly better than pulling out your phone and using that as a flashlight.

I have two complaints with this device, neither of which are major problems. First, the black plastic hose is pretty short. Since this can be battery powered and the power cord is pretty long if you do need to plug in, this most likely won’t be an issue, but it just seems pretty short for some scenarios. The second complaint has to do with the fact that there is no way to plug this into AC power and run it directly. I’d love to be able to use this in the garage or outside without having to plug into the car’s power or make sure the battery is always charged.

Thankfully the noise from the compressor isn’t super loud. You’ll notice it but it’s not anywhere near as loud as larger compressors you’d see in a garage. Also with the plastic construction of the device, I wouldn’t plan to be throwing it into the back of a truck or tossing it across the garage. Even though it’s lightweight and you could probably throw it pretty far I don’t think it would last very long if you treat it that way.

HYCHIKA warns not to get this air compressor wet so be careful if you have to use it in the rain.

The HYCHIKA IF1812A Air Compressor is a handy portable air compressor that feels well built even though it’s pretty lightweight. For the price, this is an easy purchase to have in the garage, around the house, or on the go.

Price: Amazon – $54.01, HYCHIKA – $65.19Where to buy: Amazon or hychika.comSource: The sample for this review was provided by HYCHIKA. For more information visit their site.