Nitrogen in Tires

I don't know about you guys, but I smell a great science project topic for my kids.
This would take months to monitor pressure drop. Better start early....

 

Why didn't I see it? It's obvious, isn't it? The snake oil coats the inside of the tires, effectively sealing them against pressure loss.

Tom

 

If you want to see proof that you are not wasting money by paying for nitrogen, you can pay to get a CD that will explain it all.

 

you know, if we fill our tires with steel ball bearings, the rotational mass of the bearings will apply more outward pressure at the tires and help them stick to the road better too. better yet, placing a hamster inside the wheel will provide an additional source of power for the propulsion of the car. even better still.....hamster/bearing combo.

 

I've been reading this Thread with interest, and would like to know...why DO Aircraft and Race Cars use Nitrogen and other exotic air blends in their tires?

Inquiring Minds Want To Know!!!

David (aka Blind Guy)

 

See now you're getting it!

I got knocked down by somebody here about the nitrogen in mine though it was the only marked up item on the sticker. Alot of points have been made here. This sounds like a job for Mythbusters! I am subscribing to the piece that nitrogen mantains a consistant pressure. Where I live, the tempurature range during night and day and through the seasons changes greatly. I drive 110 miles a day, 5 days a week, a rather constant route that doesn't change. I can tell when my milage drops and doesn't climb back up, the tire pressure must have changed too.

Based on facts in this topic, if nitrogen leaks less than air, and atmospheric air is 78% nitrogen, eventually (based on regularly checking and filling your tires) you all will have nitrogen filled tires.

Sorry secret agent man

 

For those who normally buy things with cash, you will get better MPG by filling your tires with Nitrogen because your wallets will be lighter!

 

Checkout post #6 of this thread. Qbee42 gives some good reasons why aircraft use it. As to race cars one of those reasons also applies, nitrogen is dry and therefore does not expand as much as air. Race car tires, of course, run pretty hot and with air they would be quite a change in pressure which effects handling.

 

Uhh.... that would be because of the water separator that I imagined all air compressors have. But you're right, a lot of tire inflators don't have working separators, so I withdraw that claim.

 

I have been an aircaft mechanic for 25 years so this nitrogen stuff has been fun to read.
Nitrogen is used as stated earlier because it has no moisture in it, maintenance manuals sometimes state "dry nitrogen" although I have never seen "wet nitrogen." At altitude the temp is way below zero so there is never a chance for ice to cause any problems. There are many components the are precharged with nitrogen (accumulators for one) that have valve assemblies or valve bodies with very small passages that if blocked or restricted by ice could cause big problems. The oxygen the flight crews use in an emergencey is also dry for the same reasons, they do not use the oxygen generators that are found in the cabin.
As for using nitrogen in cars, you re just throwing your money out the window. It is a complete scam.
Ted

 

Liquid Nitrogen is cool stuff indeed. :madgrin:

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_nitrogen]Liquid nitrogen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

 

I still want to know, do they vacuum out the air before filling with nitrogen?

If the oxygen leaks or permiates out it will leave the nitrogen in normal air behind, so after several months I should have nitrogen filled tyres for free, yet the pressure still drops at the same rate. ???

 

Can we exceed 100% nitrogen by your maths?

 

This supposed nitrogen enrichment from regular topping off will work only if there is a big difference between the loss rates for O2 and N2. But other tests indicate, at best, only a small difference in leak rate, so any N2-self-enrichment will be fairly slow. Before it is pure enough to be meaningful, the tread will be gone and the rubber will be rotting.

 

I predict OP will have *worse* mpg after 6 months of N2 filled tyres compared to air filled, because he will avoid routine petrol station tyre inflation to best pressures.

 

Yes, but don't forget the temperature ranges that they travel in at sea level and at altitude I doubt your car does that.

 

Perhaps but, will that extra 22% of Nitrogen really matter?

 

It is the reducing of the percentage of H2O in filling that makes a difference, I believe.

 

As was asked above, how do they fill the tires with nitrogen at Costco or anywhere else? Seems to me that the tire being tubeless and a somewhat rigid structure will always contain some air unless you fill the tire in a nitrogen chamber. (Don't recall one of those at the Costco tire department) So apparently they just add nitrogen to the air which is in the tire after its mounted to the wheel. You couldn't evacuate the air after mounting as that would collapse the tire and you'd still never get all the air out. I think its safe to say that you get some air even when they charge you for a nitrogen fill up.

 

What about the overal environmental impact?

Manufacture, storage and distribution of nitrogen can't be cheap, can it possibly balance the advantages? Do we really need our society devoting resources to carting nitrogen around for car tires?

How about maintain tire pressure? Are you going to keep nitrogen at home or drive to a special nitrogen fill to maintain pressure? Will you end up running lower pressure because of the inconvenience? Will you mix in air and dilute the effect? What about the gas to drive to the special place?

It all seems so unlikely to have any sort of advantage. Seems like you'd be better off just monitoring your tires condition and your driving habits.

This sounds like a plan to sell nitrogen and bogus marketing by Costco to give them a marketing advantage with a high barrier of entry and little or no real value to the customer.