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What is all the hoopla about putting Nitrogen instead of air in tires?? anyone done it??
Nitrogen???
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If it is free, then I am all for it. If it is .01 or more, then I will take my cool refreshing free 84% nitrogen compressed atmosphere.
Really, I see it for competition and for long haul and maybe for fleets, but the everyday driver and even an enthusiast it is not worth the price some places are getting for it. I understand they need to recoup the price of there expensive equipment that gets the nitrogen out of the air, but some are 60 bucks a car (but with free refills for life, about what a 1 hp small tank compressor costs).
Really, I see it for competition and for long haul and maybe for fleets, but the everyday driver and even an enthusiast it is not worth the price some places are getting for it. I understand they need to recoup the price of there expensive equipment that gets the nitrogen out of the air, but some are 60 bucks a car (but with free refills for life, about what a 1 hp small tank compressor costs).
When there's a fire and the tires "blows" up...having it filled with N is better than regular air, as N won't add O to the fire...
...also N doesn't expand like regular air, so once you have it inflated to what you want it at, it'll stay closer to that than if you used regular air.
Chuck
...also N doesn't expand like regular air, so once you have it inflated to what you want it at, it'll stay closer to that than if you used regular air.
Chuck
It's true, but not for the reason you infer; it's because the nitrogen is dry. Water vapor expands faster than nitrogen or air. If you had completely dry air and completely dry nitrogen, any difference in the rates of expansion would not be measureable.mercutio said:
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The big difference is the water content...
The water vapor in the air in our tires has more to do with the pressure variations than anything. Humidity here runs 90% in the summer...
Water expands ~1600 times in volume from 0 to 100C.
Water vapor in the air is concentrated in the compressed air, unless you have a dryer in the line, like for a paint booth.
Nitrogen out of a bottle is dry; (otherwise it freezes coming out of the regulator) so less expansion/contraction. But it only works if the tire is mounted and backfilled with nitrogen, otherwise there is a lot of standard, humid air in there...
Easiest answer: Fill your tires when it's really cold outside, so the humidity is low!
The water vapor in the air in our tires has more to do with the pressure variations than anything. Humidity here runs 90% in the summer...
Water expands ~1600 times in volume from 0 to 100C.
Water vapor in the air is concentrated in the compressed air, unless you have a dryer in the line, like for a paint booth.
Nitrogen out of a bottle is dry; (otherwise it freezes coming out of the regulator) so less expansion/contraction. But it only works if the tire is mounted and backfilled with nitrogen, otherwise there is a lot of standard, humid air in there...
Easiest answer: Fill your tires when it's really cold outside, so the humidity is low!
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