Astro Pneumatic Tool 3018 Digital Tire Pressure Gauge and Inflator with Stainless Steel Braided Hose

I've used the Milton 500 series for years in our shops. I can't even tell you how many I've rebuilt. With the advent of Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) and our nitrogen filling services we felt the need for more precision regarding tire pressure.....Especially now that the customer sees the pressure on the dash....I like them all to read exactly the same - it looks more professional. This is a high quality inflator. I love the way the trigger allows both inflation and deflation so that a very precise pressure can be attained. So far this device has proven dead accurate and reads down to tenths of a psi. The large readout and backlight make me wish this product had been available LONG ago. We now own 3 of these and they have all operated flawlessly.....and that is under constant heavy shop use. Shop employees are notoriously tough on equipment and so far this is the toughest inflator I've used. Unless something drastically changes I will never buy another Milton, the moving parts will eventually wear out, which is why they sell rebuild kits. The Milton is only a few dollars less anyway. If you own a shop this is a must buy in my opinion. If a customer is standing there as you use it they perceive that you are a professional and using a very high quality, state of the art tool. Their pressures will quickly be set precisely and they can even read the gauge from a distance. Unlike many tools in the past, my employees take good care of this tool because it makes their job much easier and efficient. They recognized right away what a huge asset this could be. I'm in charge of purchasing and buying this made me look VERY good to the owners.....they love it. My advice to shop owners: Step into the 21st century and enjoy the benefits of this very rugged and precise tool.

Now I have this reviewed this unit in the past as I owned the Matco DT4 but since my original review, my Matco unit has developed a few issues that were not worth fixing considering how much use my inflator sees in an average day and I ended purchasing the updated Astro model from Amazon this time. Unlike my old Matco, the battery changes on this version are much simpler and it now runs on 2 AAA batteries, meaning you could run rechargeable batteries if you wanted. In the roughly 6 months though that I have owned the updated unit, I have yet to need to change the batteries it shipped with so battery life has improved as well. The new stainless steel braided hose with strain relief these units ship with is also a welcome addition as it should keep my new unit leak free for awhile yet. Most importantly though, the features I loved about my original unit are still here. It's still dead accurate, agreeing with known good stick gauges and car TPMS systems, inflates with a full press of the trigger and deflates with a partial press, turns off by itself after a period of inactivity, has the built in back light and ability to change units of measurement when needed. In short, I loved my original unit enough to buy a second one and this one has proven even better than the original unit. For anyone looking for a well built digital tire inflator at a decent price, look no further than the Astro 3018 as it's simply unmatched at it's price point.

Haven't used this item enough to make a full review. but very happy so far.

Don't forget to remove the plastic battery tab

This is the best inflator available on the market for heavy usage such as mechanics or tire installers. I have used this device in the past at dealerships as a mechanic and every single mechanic regards these as the best on the market. The quality is excellent and they do not break unless run over or dropped extremely hard on concrete. In the dealership, every mechanic has either this or the rebranded version of this that is Matco. The matco one costs twice as much as this for the same product, its all about brand name. The device is accurate and durable and the only time anyone has replaced one is when it was run over or dropped by careless apprentices many times. Usually they last around 5 years before either needing a recalibration or a replacement though. Overall its a great tire pressure gauge that is worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY.