checking tyre pressures

[simon_m]

hello folks,

have any of you had problems with the new and improved pressure guages that are appearing at petrol stations all over the place? the ones that require you to select the pressure you want, then just wait for the air to go into (or out of) your tyre.

on one occasion i had to wait about 10 minutes for the useless machine to increase one of my tyres by about 2 psi. and another time it just let a load of air out and that was that.

annoyingly the nearest conventional air guage is in a motorway service station which makes checking my tyres a right pain in the ass.

simon

[JasonS8]

Buy a pressure gauge and tyre pump from Halfords and be done with it.

>> Edited by JasonS8 on Monday 29th July 10:05

[lrussell5]

you're always at risk of under-inflating at petrol stations because your tyres arent cool. so do it at home always....

[mattc]

Those new fangled set-desired-pressure-and-press-go pumps are really good when they are working, but seem to be highly temperamental - my nearest one is out-of-order 3 days out of 4.

But I agree that you're better off checking at home with cold tyres. It's also worth knowing just how close your nearest garage gets to the values on a 'proper' gauge, as you might be able to use them when you are in a hurry (or lost your own gauge).

[simon_m]

i think i'm just going to have to get myself a guage from halfords then.

it just annoys me that i can go to 4 or 5 garages and for some reason all their machines are out of order.

oh well..

[cirks]

quote:
Buy a pressure guage and tyre pump from Halfords and be done with it.

'Buy an ACCURATE pressure guage' bit is vital. My double barrel Halfords pump under reads by close on 4 pounds! Petrol stations and garages are meant to have their guages checked regularly but I still would not trust them.

[simon_m]

quote:

quote:
Buy a pressure guage and tyre pump from Halfords and be done with it.

'Buy an ACCURATE pressure guage' bit is vital. My double barrel Halfords pump under reads by close on 4 pounds! Petrol stations and garages are meant to have their guages checked regularly but I still would not trust them.

does anybody have advice on where to get an accurate guage?

or i suppose i could just get a halfords one and work out how far out it reads.

simon

[lrussell5]

PCL Pneumatics sell the best, all BS rated.
www.pcl.org.uk

[simon_m]

cheers for that.. i'll have a look later.

[apache]

I got a digital jobber, accurate to 1psi from Halfords for 12 squid, easy to use and fits in the glovebox a treat, it's the best handling mod I've spent money on

[tsteenholdt]

quote:

quote:
Buy a pressure guage and tyre pump from Halfords and be done with it.

'Buy an ACCURATE pressure guage' bit is vital. My double barrel Halfords pump under reads by close on 4 pounds! Petrol stations and garages are meant to have their guages checked regularly but I still would not trust them.

I wouldn't trust garage guages at all. Was at a BP garage with 3 air pumps once. Tested the pressure of one of my tires on each pump and got 3 completely different readings

[mhibbins]

quote:

quote:

quote:
Buy a pressure guage and tyre pump from Halfords and be done with it.

'Buy an ACCURATE pressure guage' bit is vital. My double barrel Halfords pump under reads by close on 4 pounds! Petrol stations and garages are meant to have their guages checked regularly but I still would not trust them.

I wouldn't trust garage guages at all. Was at a BP garage with 3 air pumps once. Tested the pressure of one of my tires on each pump and got 3 completely different readings

I wouldn't trust halfords foot pumps either, I've broken 2 in the last 6 months... anyone know where I can get a decent one?

[lrussell5]

see above....www.pcl.org.uk

[phV6]

If I remember right, the gauges in garages need to be accurate if they are charging you for using it. It then comes under weights and measures. Then the barmy b******s will probably fine some poor garage for selling you air in PSI and not a Euro friendly measurement