Ring Automotive RAC630 Mini Review
Overview
I was looking for a tyre pump and decided to go for a Ring Automotive product based on other people’s reviews.
RAC610
I originally bought the RAC610 which was half the price. Physically it looked the same but the main draw back was that it was an analogue gauge. This meant there was no auto cut off once it reached pressure. The lights were just a bonus. A week or so later the RAC630 dropped in price (by approximately £5) so I decided to send the Ring Automotive RAC610 back and got the 630.
Defective Unit
The first 630 I got was not working properly. The light worked on the first switch but the red and SOS modes did not. Also changing the modes or anything related to the display did not work. The digital gauge always read 0 bar/psi but the compressor itself was fine.
After getting the first unit replaced everything worked.
Design
The unit is fairly big but everything is nicely designed to hold everything. There’s a section for the air hose and a circular groves to wind the electrical cable around. Different air compressor adapters are clipped in to the same underside as the power cable. The adapters are held in by tension arms which feel a bit lose and can easily fall out but it does include ends for pumping up footballs.
The power cable comes with a Velcro strip for securing the power lead once it has been wound round the pump. This is an extra step which I thought wasn’t necessary or could be designed better to keep the wires secure without the velcro. Also there are specific cut outs to place the cigarette plug into the bottom of the unit after it has been wound around the cable holder. More times than not the cable would stop where the cut outs were not so you have to unwind a bit to get the cable to feed through the cut outs and into the cigarette plug in, leaving excess cables.
The unit only comes with a car 12v cigarette power plug. I think it should have came with a wall socket to allow non 12v socket as a source of power. For example using it with a generator.
Usability
All the controls on the unit are labelled and fairly simple to use. I wish some of the buttons were bigger but they are far apart enough not to double press them if gloves were used.
The unit can be preset to a specific bar or psi so that it can automatically stop when it reaches the correct pressure. This feature is useful but not obvious in how to set it up and use it. Plugging in the device shows the current tyre pressure. To set a target pressure you have to press and hold the + or – button to increase or decrease the pressure. The screen will flash with the target pressure once you have held it long enough. I’m not sure if there’s a way to cancel and go back to display what the actual pressure is without disconnecting it from the tyre.
A nice to have is if it remembers the last pressure when the unit is switched off but the unit always defaults to PSI (rather than bar or kg/cm2).
The unit is quite loud when the pump is in use so I would not recommend using it when everyone is sleeping at night. The unit also vibrates a lot when the pump is on as well so keep an eye on it or it will vibrate itself under the car for example.
Summary
The unit is fairly good and well built. It has extra features like the torch and emergency light but the core features just work.
