Interesting Info About Nitrogen Inflation

[rbattelle]

Tire shops are pushing nitrogen inflation as the messiah of tire care these days. Personally, I think it's nothing more than a way to generate revenue. The way I figure it, nitrogen is about 6% cooler than ordinary air at a given pressure. It also has a slightly higher specific heat (about 4%), which means it can absorb a bit more energy than air before the temperature changes. Note that air is about 78% nitrogen anyway.



Here's an interesting little commentary on it:

http://www.btc.net.au/tyrecare/nitrogen.asp



-Ryan

 

[JohnnyH]

Tire shops are pushing nitrogen inflation as the messiah of tire care these days. Personally, I think it's nothing more than a way to generate revenue. The way I figure it, nitrogen is about 6% cooler than ordinary air at a given pressure. It also has a slightly higher specific heat (about 4%), which means it can absorb a bit more energy than air before the temperature changes. Note that air is about 78% nitrogen anyway.



Here's an interesting little commentary on it:

http://www.btc.net.au/tyrecare/nitrogen.asp



-Ryan

When the tires on Airplanes need servicing, it is always nitrogen. It has to do with the dryness of the nitrogen compared to air. When the airplane gets cold soaked, -56 degrees Celcius for many hours, the moisture in the air would freeze. Nitrogen would also prevent rust or corrosion within the wheel. Just an idea.



John

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Actually, I'm thinking more about inflating my truck and RV tires with HELIUM for the added lift it would provide in counteracting the weight of those items - lessee, with the sheer volume of 10 tires at an average PSI of 60 PSI or so, I might hafta load a few rocks in the bed of my truck to keep the tires in contact with the pavement... :-laf :-laf :-laf

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

Nitrogen is an "Inert" gas and that is what gives it it's "Mystique" to th eunknown consumer. Airliners I knew of and Drag racing too. It just took the Town Fair tire companies and fetter , good year , and others to market it as a wonder all.



Gary I allways wondered what would happen if ya did that on a 3500 and weiged it if it would make a difference.

 

[Yo Hoot]

I was once told nitrogen is bad for anything that might dry rot... like rubber. It has no moisture and it robs moisture out of rubber. Don't know if it's true but I though I'd mention it.



My train horn air supply is n2 so I have onboard air!

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

My train horn air supply is n2 so I have onboard air!

Hoot ain't kidding LOL! Or at least I remember that from Lee's inn parking lot at night :-laf





Now that I think of it if you filled your tires with HELIUM would the truck then become LOWER as the suspension is now being pushed up into the truck LOL!

 

[WDaniels]

"Dry nitrogen" works best. We use it in our accumulators, tires and anything that will suffer a pressure differance from extreme cold to hot. Especially when it's -50 out and you need your hydrualic starter which is driven by that accumulator to start. The cold will affect the nitrogen very, very little. I've also seen it so cold up here that the tires on my rig are less than 50% inflated. At that underinflation it will break the bead when you go around a corner to quick and the tires are not warm. (flexable enough) Put dry nitro in the tires and no more under inflated tires. Works real good.

WD

 

[pgleavitt]

The last 2 times that I bought tires at Costco they used nitrogen to fill the tires. It was free and seems to work well. Tires seem to stay cooler while running throu desert at high speeds. This summer will tell for sure when it gets real hot out.

 

[ProspectorTim]

I also got my latest set of tires from Costco - with the free nitrogen fill.



Besides all the other features that everyone has already pointed out, they also say that the nitrogen molecules are bigger (I'll trust them on that, I'm not going to research it) and thus the tires are less prone to leak.

 

[Un-Hemi]

Hmmmmm...

It was my understanding that nitrogen was more temperature-stable than air, but was MORE prone to slow leakage. Interesting!

 

[ProspectorTim]

It seems like everyone has a different opinion. Who ya gonna believe?



Pro:

RV Tire Deterioration

Macs Tire Center "Nitorgen Facts"

Does it Work - Nitrogen Filled Tires

TruckTires.com "Should you stop putting air in your tires"



Con:

(every "con" article I found was a different link to the *same* article!

Car Talk "Dear Tom and Ray"

 

[rbattelle]

It seems like everyone has a different opinion. Who ya gonna believe?



Does it Work - Nitrogen Filled Tires

Well, if "Judy Stokes" says it offers a better ride and improved gas mileage, then it must be true! We all know what a reliable physicist she is!



I stand by my personal *opinion* that nitrogen inflation is bunk unless you drive an airliner. Should we also have ailerons, since airliners have those too? Think of the wear savings on your power steering system if you had working ailerons to help with steering!



Who says "nitrogen molecules are bigger"? "Bigger" than what? They are smaller than oxygen molecules (the other major component of air). And remember air is NOT a molecule... it's a mixture.



-Ryan

Disclaimer - I'm not trying to be offensive to any individual or group of individuals with this post. I mean no ill-will toward anyone. My "tone" is not mean-spirited in any way, although it certainly is sarcastic in the first 2 paragraphs... but I was just trying to be funny.

 

[LightmanE300]

Hey guys, do you think that these tire shops have the ability to charge nitrogen filled shocks, like the Kore setup remote res shocks? I have a Kore Chase system on the way and have been having trouble finding a shop that can charge these things with 200psi of nitrogen. .

 

[NVR FNSH]

Hey guys, do you think that these tire shops have the ability to charge nitrogen filled shocks, like the Kore setup remote res shocks? I have a Kore Chase system on the way and have been having trouble finding a shop that can charge these things with 200psi of nitrogen. .

Check a good motorcycle shop that does suspension service - rear shock is nitrogen charged.



Brian

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

Good Call Bri I was just going to chime in with that. ANY Motorcycle shop that deals with KAW ,Honda , 'Zuk should be prepped for that. ESPECIALLY if there are Dirtbikes parked out front.

 

[LightmanE300]

Thanks for the info guys. Funny you should mention that because I thought the same thing, called the dealership where I bought my quad, and the guy has the nitrogen charging setup. Problem solved! Now I'm just eagerly waiting for the fedex man to bring my Kore setup!

 

[DPelletier]

Well, if "Judy Stokes" says it offers a better ride and improved gas mileage, then it must be true! We all know what a reliable physicist she is!



I stand by my personal *opinion* that nitrogen inflation is bunk unless you drive an airliner. Should we also have ailerons, since airliners have those too? Think of the wear savings on your power steering system if you had working ailerons to help with steering!



Who says "nitrogen molecules are bigger"? "Bigger" than what? They are smaller than oxygen molecules (the other major component of air). And remember air is NOT a molecule... it's a mixture.



-Ryan

Disclaimer - I'm not trying to be offensive to any individual or group of individuals with this post. I mean no ill-will toward anyone. My "tone" is not mean-spirited in any way, although it certainly is sarcastic in the first 2 paragraphs... but I was just trying to be funny.

I couldn't agree more.



Dave

 

[rbattelle]

Mac Tire has some interesting ideas.

Oxygen molecules are smaller than nitrogen and leak 3 to 4 times faster

News to me, considering nitrogen falls before oxygen on the periodic chart and contains about 12% less mass than oxygen.

Nitrogen is a dry gas and free of moisture

Of course, this assumes that the nitrogen was handled in such a way as to ensure no moisture gets in it. So I assume that the experts at Mac put a strong vacuum on the tire to get out all the air and moisture from the tire before filling it with nice, fresh, dry nitrogen (remember - a tire at 0 psig still has 14. 7 psi air in it with all that "nasty" moisture and what-not).



I think (and this is just a theory) that nitrogen is used for things like airliners and the space shuttle (and maybe race cars too) only because it eliminates the chance of an errant leak in a tire providing the oxidizer during a fire/explosion. That's not fact... it's just my theory of why it's used in those applications.



-Ryan

P. S. Again, I'm not trying to insult anyone (well, okay I guess I'm sort of insulting Mac Tire's ad).

 

[mgoncalves]

My experience in the HVAC world, has shown that we can't pressurize gas lines with nitrogen to test them because it will leak out, where compressed air does not.



This drove us crazy last winter, we would put our test on with nitrogen because we have it in the trucks all the time. I could never find a leak with nitrogen but the pressure always dropped over 24 hours. Air it up with good old fashioned air without touching anything, and they would hold fine.



Long story short, no nitrogen for my tires, I fear I would need to pump them up frequently.



Matt

 

[dslmacdown]

My experience in the HVAC world, has shown that we can't pressurize gas lines with nitrogen to test them because it will leak out, where compressed air does not.



This drove us crazy last winter, we would put our test on with nitrogen because we have it in the trucks all the time. I could never find a leak with nitrogen but the pressure always dropped over 24 hours. Air it up with good old fashioned air without touching anything, and they would hold fine.



Long story short, no nitrogen for my tires, I fear I would need to pump them up frequently.



Matt

Are you talking about natural gas line? I have never heard of that. I would never use compressed air on refrigerant line. You know how much POE oil LOVES water. As far as tires good ole air is equal to 80% nitrogen is free and plentiful.



Chris (trying to return to HVAC)