I rely on my Halfords budget tyre pump guage to give me the correct 31 psi pressure. The tyres show even wear across the tread and the ride is good. I cross-checked yesterday with a pen-style pocet guage and got only 25 psi. Which should I believe?
What % under-inflation is a.) safe and b.) legal?
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I check my tyre pressures with either a cheap digital gauge or a 12v pump with a digital gauge, both read the same pressure. I occasionally cross check with a garage air line. I recently had two new tyres fitted and they were both 0.5 psi low on my gauge so another cross check. What the actual pressure is is anybody's guess but digital gauges seem to be well calibrated these days. My tyres wear evenly across the tread is that is a good sign.
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...they were both 0.5 psi low on my gauge so another cross check....
Half a psi?
You'll lose that whipping the inflator off the valve.
When I was in the trade, it was reckoned the pen-style mechanical gauges were the best, but that was before the widespread availability of digitals.
I still use my pen one, which reads about the same as the gauge on my foot pump.
Like many of us, I don't check the tyres as often as I should, but they are usually within a psi or two of what they should be.
There's no point in trying much harder than that, given the measuring tolerances of the gauges.
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>> Like many of us, I don't check the tyres as often as I should, but
>> they are usually within a psi or two of what they should be.
>>
>> There's no point in trying much harder than that, given the measuring tolerances of the
>> gauges.
>>
>>
I agree, with the gauge tolerance, ambient and tyre temperature, (even when cold) a couple of psi one way or the other won't make much difference as long as all four are all the same.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 27 Jul 11 at 10:04
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To be fair my pencil gauges are reasonably accurate, within a couple of pounds.
I bought one of these a few years ago, it's spot on accurate but so easy to read, which is where the pencil type fall down...unless you're under 25 in which case most don't check tyre pressures anyway.
tinyurl.com/3pzu3pt
Possibly able to be found cheaper elsewhere, i haven't looked.
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I agree - easily the easiest and clearest, and very accurate.
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>> I agree - easily the easiest and clearest, and very accurate.
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Even after you have dropped it?
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Don't drop it then.
PS why is "gauge" one of the most consistently misspelt words?
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In my case, probably because my spelling ability has been damaged by marking thousands of student assignments.
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The black plastic Tesco digital one for about a fiver is well worth a whirl.
Sorry, I don't have a picture -- it is 14cm long, 2.5cm wide, 13mm thick, with a 30 degree, or so, angled measuring end.
I found them accurate to within 1 psi -- as based on a check against several dial type gauges I have and my use of the one most likely to be correct -- at my tyre pressures. Also the two digi ones I bought gave the same reading to within 0.5 psi, which lends some confidence, although not really a large enough sample.
In use, leave it on the tyre for about 3 seconds else you get a low reading as there is some sort of filtered reading to prevent it responding to air pulses.
To turn it on, you press a button just before using it, and it turns off automatically after some seconds.
The bit you press on the valve should have its centre spigot protruding only about 1mm above the rubber surround used to seal off the air, when in use.
I chose my ones carefully from those on display. That way I have almost no air loss in use, if I angle it square-on to the valve before pressing it on. A longer spigot releases too much air before you get the rubber in contact to seal the valve.
I found the clock gauge type convenient, in that the reading is instantaneous, but I lost a lot of air in use due to a long spigot.
Last edited by: busbee on Thu 28 Jul 11 at 15:42
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>> The black plastic Tesco digital one for about a fiver is well worth a whirl.
>>
>>
>> Sorry, I don't have a picture -- it is 14cm long, 2.5cm wide, 13mm thick,
>> with a 30 degree, or so, angled measuring end.
Thats what I use, It matches the pressure indicated on the digital gauge on my 12v pump, simple, accurate, and does the job.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 28 Jul 11 at 16:50
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I bought one of these recently - looks good value and appears to be accurate. But does not hold reading.
tinyurl.com/3hjrcbc although I think I paid less postage.
Halfords were selling them for about £12 at one time.
You can find them marginally cheaper by Googling.
It appears to be a superseeded model, but reputable brand?.
Last edited by: pmh on Thu 28 Jul 11 at 17:21
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I just use the one on my Michelin tyre pump, when Auto Express did a magazine they said it was the most accurate one from the cheap pumps. The pump cost me £15 but I've had it three years and its going strong.
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Here is a similar one that claims to be plus or minus 1psi, £4 (vat?)
www.maplin.co.uk/digital-tyre-gauge-338996?c=froogle&u=338996&t=module
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>> I bought one of these a few years ago, it's spot on accurate but so
>> easy to read, which is where the pencil type fall down...unless you're under 25 in
>> which case most don't check tyre pressures anyway.
>>
>> tinyurl.com/3pzu3pt
Mine looks pretty much the same as this. I bought it following an Auto Express product test some years ago. Not only was it found to be accurate (the police used it at the time) but it retained its accuracy after dropping. I'm assuming it's still accurate but who knows! As draiber says,it's easy to read and you can't go wrong.
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Tyre pressure guages - Old Navy
