The problem with the cheap compressors...for everyone who's had good luck there's someone else who's had bad luck, generally at the worst possible time....
I'd want to see some kind of statistics on that claim, that it's a one-for-one good-luck/bad-luck balance. I don't believe it.
Here's a way to think about it: If you drive in sand a lot, air down a lot, and use a compressor a lot -- just like if you do anything a lot -- there's a greater chance that eventually a low-probability event (like compressor failure) will occur.
But since the OP asked the question "when to air down tires?" it doesn't sound like he's the kind of guy who airs down a lot, otherwise he wouldn't need to ask the question in the first place...so he won't be using a compressor a lot...so an expensive little-used purchase probably wouldn't be money well-spent. It wouldn't be for me, anyway.
The problem with most "better safe than sorry" arguments leading people to take (excessive) measures against perceived risk (like with "packing heat"...) is that they don't properly weight the cost of "safe" against a low-probability "sorry".
But I guess if money isn't a limitation, then the money-cost of "safe" is irrelevant, even if the "sorry" is something that never happens in an average lifetime.
WTW people
who've reported on it here are happy with their MV-50 compressors. Good enough for me...but then, I don't require a risk-free life.
