Thunderbug
Established member
Has anyone done this & felt / seen any difference..?
http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/safety/filling-tyres-with-nitrogen.html
http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/safety/filling-tyres-with-nitrogen.html
Technical Filling Tyres with Nitrogen
- Thread starter Thunderbug
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Technical Filling Tyres with Nitrogen
Hi ,
it's not new.. I've seen it advertised for 10 /15 years,
never owned a car with it in , but I did buy a set of wheels for their tyres ..., and the "Nitrogen Valve" looked different from the regular "Schrader Valve" found on cars , motorcycles etc,
So my concern would be if you came out to set off on holiday and your tyre was ALMOST flat,
you couldn't just limp to the nearest filling station with an air line - you would have to go to a tyre specialist who does Nitrogen.
the costings are supposedly balanced as the @£15 /£20 per tyre could be repaid over it's life time in saved fuel due to no tail-off in tyre pressures.
On an ECO -front .. Nitrogen is a finite resource , like coal and oil,
when the tyre is at the end of it's life,
you'll be getting more shipped-in from Algeria for the next set,
just a consideration..,
I hope that helps,
Charlie
Unless you are a high-speed driver on a circuit, I doubt there is any real benefit. Track cyclists use it because of the rapid heating of their tyres.
Air is already 78% Nitrogen anyway and the extra cost would not, I doubt, be really worth it.
Air is already 78% Nitrogen anyway and the extra cost would not, I doubt, be really worth it.
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It's not a big deal. When they fill your tyres with nitrogen there is still air in them. If the tyre went flat you'd just pump it up with air, not an issue.
Nitrogen is an inert gas and will react less to heat than air, so your tyre pressures will vary less.
Mark got some tyres fitted to my car recently and they put nitrogen in. If I'd been asked I would have said don't bother. Interesting that when I looked the pressures were all over the place anyway so I ended up putting more air in.
Nitrogen is an inert gas and will react less to heat than air, so your tyre pressures will vary less.
Mark got some tyres fitted to my car recently and they put nitrogen in. If I'd been asked I would have said don't bother. Interesting that when I looked the pressures were all over the place anyway so I ended up putting more air in.
Trefor
Member
Waste of money. As has been said, the air is mostly Nitrogen anyway. Also, when they put your tyre on the rim and start to inflat it there is already some air in the tyre, they don't remove that air! Therefore you're only going from 78% nitrogen (the atmosphere we are breathe) to 95% or so anyway.
In addition I doubt a Panda owner would notice the difference. I certainly couldn't on a top of the range sports car.
Gimmicky gimmick.
In addition I doubt a Panda owner would notice the difference. I certainly couldn't on a top of the range sports car.
Gimmicky gimmick.
you would just carry an adapter wouldn't you? same as people with flush valves do
I'm sorry but I've never heard so much crap in my life. Firstly, 78% of the air around us is nitrogen.
Secondly the valves are no different to standard valves either.
Thirdly, you can just put air in, you don't need to put Nitrogen in if it's not available.
Fourthly, more or less everything in your post is wrong.
As a mate of mine who works for a big tyre company as a tyre testing engineer said, if they're doing it for free then go for it, the advantages are well known, but don't pay for it.
Sorry ,
I got my ( commonly liquified) gasses confused
.. I was thinking of Helium from Algeria.( NOT recommendeed for tyres..)the valve I had didn't LOOK like a schrader and appeared to be a sealed item - with no apparrent "dust cap",
the general concensus is I'm wrong....so I'll say no more:worship:.
Sorry ,
I got my ( commonly liquified) gasses confused
the valve I had didn't LOOK like a schrader and appeared to be a sealed item - with no apparrent "dust cap",
the general concensus is I'm wrong....so I'll say no more:worship:.
did they look like this?
A certain North Herts tyre dealer fills tyres with nitrogen 'as standard' and at no extra cost. My Multipla has it... and standard Shraeder valves.
But, is it all a load of rubbish! As others have said, air is already 78% nitrogen. It is suggested that because the inside of the tyre has less oxygen in it, then perishing is reduced. Don't believe this either, as the outside is still exposed to air, and more to the point, to the sun, which is more likely to cause perishing.
As to reducing variability in tyre pressures (TDQ suggets) not sure this is true either -- pressure in a gas varies with temperature (the Universal Gas Law, where pv=nrT -- basically pressure (p) goes up when temperature (T) does), irrespective of the gas.
However, there is a suggestion that nitrogen-filled tyres loose pressure less easily owing to the larger size of nitrogen molecules compared to oxygen. There could be something in this -- its also why helium-filled party balloons go down faster. (see http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/safety/filling-tyres-with-nitrogen.html). That AA page also suggests that it reduces corrosion of the inside of the wheel - again, this makes sense as less oxygen is present.
But, is it all a load of rubbish! As others have said, air is already 78% nitrogen. It is suggested that because the inside of the tyre has less oxygen in it, then perishing is reduced. Don't believe this either, as the outside is still exposed to air, and more to the point, to the sun, which is more likely to cause perishing.
As to reducing variability in tyre pressures (TDQ suggets) not sure this is true either -- pressure in a gas varies with temperature (the Universal Gas Law, where pv=nrT -- basically pressure (p) goes up when temperature (T) does), irrespective of the gas.
However, there is a suggestion that nitrogen-filled tyres loose pressure less easily owing to the larger size of nitrogen molecules compared to oxygen. There could be something in this -- its also why helium-filled party balloons go down faster. (see http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/safety/filling-tyres-with-nitrogen.html). That AA page also suggests that it reduces corrosion of the inside of the wheel - again, this makes sense as less oxygen is present.
It's not a load of crap, but as I said, if it's free then go for it but don't pay.
Most compressed air systems in Industrial garages have an air drier stops water from damaging air tools and powered machines
I had my tyres nitrogen filled when I had new tyres on my mj Panda at the end of March. Since then I've done 14000 miles and the pressureshave been rock steady since, haven't needed any air at all. At a £1 per corner I'm very happy.
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that really is the beauty of nitrogen for the average driver, as the nitrogen molecules are bigger they leak less through the tyre and give these good pressure retaining results
KozmoNaut
Member
Atmospheric air is already more than 78% nitrogen, an unless you completely depressurise your tyres before inflating them with nitrogen, the difference is negligible.
The pressure stability comes from nitrogen being completely dry, an ordinary air pump with a good moisture trap will bestow the same benefit. Unfortunately, most air pumps at filling stations supply almost as much water as air and their pressure gauges are often inaccurate. I use my own gauge and manual pump for this reason.
The only real benefit to using nitrogen is that it's completely inert, oxygen can be quite reactive under the right circumstances, but those don't exist inside a tyre. Tyres and wheels have been specifically made to be filled with ordinary air and won't react with oxygen or any other atmospheric gas.
Your money would be much better spent on a good-quality tyre pressure gauge and a manual pump, since tyre pressures should ideally be checked when cold, anyway.
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Yup. I've got a 12v michelin pump. Far more convenient than using a petrol station pump!
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it must be some of the remaining 22% that leaks out resulting in tyre pressures dropping
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KozmoNaut
Member
Even if that is true (which it isn't, nitrogen leaks out as well), refilling your tyres as they lose pressure would slowly increase the percentage of nitrogen.
It's all bunk anyway. I check the pressures on my Panda once or twice per month and once every week on my motorcycle with a good quality calibrated pressure gauge. By my estimations, they both lose less than 2 psi per month.
You should be checking the pressures much more often than that, I never have to refill by more than 0.5-1 psi.
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