GrAsShOpPeR

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!

onecrazyfoo4u

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.

Stocker

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.

wheel_of_steel

I use helium to save weight

onecrazyfoo4u

Lol, somebody should try that and document the results here.

Stocker

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.

wheel_of_steel

I lurnd sumtin 2day, thanks stocker





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.

onecrazyfoo4u

The more you know!

Tibbi

I use Hydrogen gas in my German ride.

Stocker