Petrol Station Air Compressors

[acarmody]

Is nitrogen worth the hype or not? I've been told that the only real benefit is that the pressure doesn't change with temperature. I just don't like the fact that they reckon you need to take it to a tyre shop to get pressures checked and to get a top up.

I don't know whether its so good or not, but I've never had to add air to any of my tyres, but that could just be because I get them serviced every 15,000km. The way I see it, I'm paying about $250 a tyre, whats an extra $6/tyre?

EDIT: Heres a bit of a read, http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/repair-questions/4302788 , so may or may not be worth it, up to the individual.

 

[glenn l]

nitrogen is good if your towing on a big trip or a race car to keep the pressure stable, the pressure still changes as the tyre gets hot but no where near as much as air.

 

[Coast_Calais]

servo gauges are dodgy, they've been dropped a few million times, and even those panels... i cannot believe some of the readings i get when checking what it's pumped up to from the servo...

buy your own gauge, fill from servo and check. do this when they're cold, and check regularly and your tires will love you back...

edit:

I don't know whether its so good or not, but I've never had to add air to any of my tyres, but that could just be because I get them serviced every 15,000km. The way I see it, I'm paying about $250 a tyre, whats an extra $6/tyre?

sorry, i gotta ask, what do you get from a tyre service? :hmmm:
not trying to be a smart arse, but other than checking pressure, wear pattern, rotating and looking for foreign objects, which you can do all yourself, the only thing i can think of is getting a balance done?

 

[XStatic64]

I pumped mine up the other day using a mini air compressor that cost around $200, the tyres got to about 20psi each and the compressor started slowing down and vibrating weirdly.

I decided I would pump them all up to 20psi and go to the servo and put them up to 35 where I usually have them. When I went to pump them up there were all 47-50psi.. needless to say I let them down and I will be looking for a reliable pen type tyre pressure checker to keep in the car.

Cant believe I paid so much for this air compressor because it was meant to be the best in the range, it even says it can pump up 4x4 and truck tyres but the reading is way out.

Sounds like the compressor is up to the job but the inflator attachment isn't.

I'd go get a more reliable attachment, keep the compressor.

 

[wikky]

sorry, i gotta ask, what do you get from a tyre service? :hmmm:
not trying to be a smart arse, but other than checking pressure, wear pattern, rotating and looking for foreign objects, which you can do all yourself, the only thing i can think of is getting a balance done?

I'd say that's what he meant by getting them serviced (I'd consider an inspection and balance a service).

 

[Coast_Calais]

I'd say that's what he meant by getting them serviced (I'd consider an inspection and balance a service).

fair enough :spot on:

 

[acarmody]

sorry, i gotta ask, what do you get from a tyre service? :hmmm:
not trying to be a smart arse, but other than checking pressure, wear pattern, rotating and looking for foreign objects, which you can do all yourself, the only thing i can think of is getting a balance done?

Also alignment. I pay $55 for all 4 tyres aligned, rotated, balanced, pressure check, and damage inspection. That's under Bob Janes long life tyre plan, and you get fair hefty discounts under it. I find that regular servicing is cheap compared to having to buy new $250 each tyres.

Also I was wrong, its every 10,000km.

You get a report every service,

 

[Maxxiz]

I used to work at a servo with one of these digital tyre inflators.. Id probably say about 7/10 people couldnt figure it out/took a while to figure it out. Alot of people came in saying it was broken, which meant I'd have to go out and do it for them, not that I really minded. One of the main problems I'd say is because they have the "Lock on" air valve, people assume it will hold on, when in reality they rarely do, you have to hold the valve actually on the wheel valve with some pressure

 

[Verynice]

LOL! hand written wheel alignment report, typical dodgy bob jane :thumbsup:

 

[1991_Vn2nV]

To add to this I prefer the old style manual compressors with the little pressure gauge built in. You have full control and you can check the pressure yourself. Plus they seem to be higher powered

They are, the auto ones can also generally only inflate to a maximum of 60 psi. But the auto ones are far and away the best option because of theft and damage. The manual tyre attachments are about $120, and we were losing one every few months. We tried the couplings that didnt allow them to be detached, so people cut the hose which just made it even more expensive. and if they weren't stealing them, people were breaking them purely by negligence. People just don't give a **** anymore about anybody's property that is not their own. They get thrown and run over etc. all the time. Yet people expect them to work perfect every day. Every time one got stolen, or broken, it'd take about 3 days to be replaced. In those 3 days, people would go ape ****. Same with our windscreen washers, they get stolen and broken as well, probably 5 a month. But if they all go missing and we run out for a few days, again people go ape.