JACO FlowPro Digital Tire Inflator Gauge Review

Inflating your tires seems like a task that should be simple enough, right? Not if you’ve got the wrong tools for the job. I recently upgraded to the  JACO FlowPro Digital Tire Inflator Gauge. In short, this thing is awesome.

 

Using a cheap, crappy inflator can make a seemingly simple task frustrating – even more so if you’re installing your own tubes and tires. After using a couple of cheap inflators and an expensive one that ended up not being worth the investment the search was on for something met the following requirements: A digital readout, flexible inflator hose, easy battery replacement, and a separate external deflation button. The Jaco FlowPro checked all of those boxes.

 

What’s in the Box?

Inside the box you get the inflator itself, a quick start guide, a screw-on type air chuck, a QD nipple, and a small roll of teflon tape (which is a nice touch). Once you put some teflon tape on the nipple and screw it into the inflator with a 14mm wrench, you’re ready to connect it to the female fitting on your air compressor hose.

Key Features of the Jaco FlowPro Inflator

Some of the things I like most about the Inflator are the nice backlit display, the overall size of the unit which fits nicely in your hand, simple power and unit buttons on front, and two big things missing from my last inflator: a battery gauge on the front and an easy to access battery door on the rear. The display on the last unit I had would die without warning rendering the unit pretty much useless – unless you wanted to inflate to a random pressure then check it with a different gauge. A giant pain in the ass. What’s worse is that the battery was damn near impossible to replace. Frustrating to say the least.

Tire Inflation – Initial Impressions

I opted to leave on the lock on quick release chuck rather than put on the screw on chuck and put the JACO FlowPro Digital Tire Inflator Gauge through a few tests; the most important of which being inflating motorcycle tires. 

Overall I was very impressed with the operation and the flexibility of the inflator hose. Most of the other units I’ve used have a stiff rubber or plastic hose. This works fine for inflating car tires but when you have to maneuver the air chuck in between some spokes it becomes a pain and can also make removing the air chuck completely in a quick manner more difficult, thus letting out air and reducing your tire pressure. Lame.

To inflate you actuate the lever and release when you want to stop. It’s worth pointing out that the increments are in .5 PSI so if you want something more accurate than that you’ll want to look elsewhere. For tire inflation I think it’s great. I’ll inflate to about a half PSI over my desired pressure and reduce it from there. Which brings us to the next great feature of the Jaco ProFlow – it’s got dual function deflation. To let out a lot of air, you use the main deflation button on the side. To eek out just a little bit of air for smaller adjustments you gently press the inflation actuator to the point right before it starts to inflate. Having both options is pretty awesome.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I am impressed and really like this inflator! I’ve only had it a short time so longevity is still unanswered but it will get regular use and I will post an update if anything changes.

Pros:

• Backlit display with battery indicator
• Simple operation with two buttons on front
• Battery door on the back for easy battery change
• Super flexible hose – great for getting in between spokes

Cons:

• .5 PSI increments (ok for my purposes but you may need something more accurate)
• You have to purge any air out of the unit or disconnect it from your compressor to turn it off manually (this is just something you have to remember but nothing more than a minor inconvenience)

Thoughts, questions, feedback!? Let us know in the comments below!