Nitrogen for tire inflation at home?
#1
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Nitrogen for tire inflation at home?
Just curious if anyone is set-up at home to maintain tires filled with nitrogen?
I was debating one of those set-ups with the tank, regulator and hose to be able to top-off car tires without going back to the tire center, maybe trying it in the bicycle tires. Am I nuts for thinking of this?
If you have one, how easy and expensive are the nitrogen fills at a welding supply?
Thanks!
I was debating one of those set-ups with the tank, regulator and hose to be able to top-off car tires without going back to the tire center, maybe trying it in the bicycle tires. Am I nuts for thinking of this?
If you have one, how easy and expensive are the nitrogen fills at a welding supply?
Thanks!
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Why waste the money and effort? Air is free, and works just as good. Unless your in a high class race care that needs exact/consistant psi every time.
#3
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I prefer to use 78% Nitrogen mix with lots of water vapor . . . a.k.a. from my shop compressor. Eventually all the not-nitrogen stuff leaks out and you're topping off with 78% nitrogen again, and you're close enough to pure nitrogen for horse shoes or hand grenades.
#6
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People have seriously considered it and tried it. I blame ^ you people for costing me an hour reading about helium.
Yes, you can put helium in your tires. Yes, it would be lighter than air or nitrogen probably by a few dozen grams per tire. You would save (much) more weight by tossing out the contents of your ashtray/change drawer, leaving your sunglasses at home, or having a piss. Also, it is the smallest element and would leak out at annoyingly high rates from your tires.
Helium is also a limited-availability natural resource with a huge price distortion caused by government. Currently it is cheap because we are selling our stockpiles**. Market forces will react when our sale ends, and the price will rise probably dramatically, but probably we will still be able to afford helium balloons for parties. I stopped buying helium balloons for parties when I figured this out - I'd rather have it cheaper for longer, to keep down the cost of MRI testing where people currently NEED helium (as a coolant) to save lives.
It used to be hard to make and we didn't have gobs of it laying around. It was $2500/ft3 in 1915 and $0.15/ft3 in 1989. One isotope is currently still at $2000 because they make it from Tritium. Helium is also mined with natural gas, and the prospect of "running out" of helium is something our great-great-etc. grandchildren will have to worry over, if anyone will. 100-300 years-ish. As it gets more expensive, look for more efficient uses in imaging as well as higher incidences of recycling (vs. blowing it out to the atmosphere). Also, expect lower-cost practical applications of MAGNETIC cooling. (mind = blown)
The 1984 US olympic team allegedly used it to conduct heat out of their tires (helium conducts heat better*)
the Skunk Works allegedly tried and declared it to be too much hassle, even with military-ish maintenance schedules, a bottomless budget and a desperate desire to lose weight on the SR-71.
At least *some people* at Lockheed have considered it and figured they could save 3 lbs. per aircraft. And maybe the tires could explode conjectures the last poster
**stockpiled to float our national security related blimps early in the last century, and not strictly required for exactly that these days
*and supercooled helium doesn't/can't boil. The way it transfers heat means it goes straight to gas instead of boiling internally. Crazy.
Yes, you can put helium in your tires. Yes, it would be lighter than air or nitrogen probably by a few dozen grams per tire. You would save (much) more weight by tossing out the contents of your ashtray/change drawer, leaving your sunglasses at home, or having a piss. Also, it is the smallest element and would leak out at annoyingly high rates from your tires.
Helium is also a limited-availability natural resource with a huge price distortion caused by government. Currently it is cheap because we are selling our stockpiles**. Market forces will react when our sale ends, and the price will rise probably dramatically, but probably we will still be able to afford helium balloons for parties. I stopped buying helium balloons for parties when I figured this out - I'd rather have it cheaper for longer, to keep down the cost of MRI testing where people currently NEED helium (as a coolant) to save lives.
It used to be hard to make and we didn't have gobs of it laying around. It was $2500/ft3 in 1915 and $0.15/ft3 in 1989. One isotope is currently still at $2000 because they make it from Tritium. Helium is also mined with natural gas, and the prospect of "running out" of helium is something our great-great-etc. grandchildren will have to worry over, if anyone will. 100-300 years-ish. As it gets more expensive, look for more efficient uses in imaging as well as higher incidences of recycling (vs. blowing it out to the atmosphere). Also, expect lower-cost practical applications of MAGNETIC cooling. (mind = blown)
The 1984 US olympic team allegedly used it to conduct heat out of their tires (helium conducts heat better*)
the Skunk Works allegedly tried and declared it to be too much hassle, even with military-ish maintenance schedules, a bottomless budget and a desperate desire to lose weight on the SR-71.
At least *some people* at Lockheed have considered it and figured they could save 3 lbs. per aircraft. And maybe the tires could explode conjectures the last poster
**stockpiled to float our national security related blimps early in the last century, and not strictly required for exactly that these days
*and supercooled helium doesn't/can't boil. The way it transfers heat means it goes straight to gas instead of boiling internally. Crazy.
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I suppose helium in your tires is no less ridiculous than removing your brake booster. Every half pound counts when you drag race your econobox three times a year.
I suppose helium in your tires is no less ridiculous than removing your brake booster. Every half pound counts when you drag race your econobox three times a year.
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