Do Anyone Here Use Nitogen in your Tires?

[iceworm]

Following is based on work experience with N2, compressed and liquid, and for my home use, compressed Argon, Argon,CO2, O2, Acetylene. I'm neither advocating nor not advocating using N2 in one's tires

If one wants N2 for tires, I'd recommend going to an industrial gas supply. Buy a bottle and a regulator. Q size is 80ft^3, M size is 125ft^3. The next size up is likely bigger than you want to handle. You definitely want to buy the bottle from the place that will be filling it. That way you can just trade it for a full bottle - just paying for the fill.

One thing to check is the distrubitor stock. Industrial suppliers tend to stock the larger sizes - not much call for smaller N2 bottles. Pick a distributor that stocks the size you want. Air Liquide, Praxair, Linde are a few.

You will also need a regulator. Full N2 bottles are 2200 psi. You will want to regulate down to 100psi - 80 psi. A wire feed welding regulator won't do. Pressure and flow rate are too low.
A small size O2 regulator for a cutting torch works fine. Screw in an air hose and air chuck and you are good to go.

I haven't bought bottles in quite a while, so any price estimates will be guesses. Expect to pay $200 - $250 for the bottle and $30 for the refill.

I would expect it takes about 3 ft^3 to fill a small tire to 30psi. So, Three purges will get to about 1% O2. Three purges, three tires will drop an 80ft^3 bottle to maybe 1500psi. Figure, after the initial fill, you sneeze in the tires once a month, that will last a long time. Just don't forget to shut off the valve between uses. Oh yeah, tie/chain to the wall/bench/stand so it won't tip over when the cap is off - that is really considered bad, similar to crossing the beams in Ghost Busters.

ice

 

[PaladinLV]

What are the advantages
Where do you get your tires converted?
Is there a low cost generator on the market for home use?

A generator will only give you @ 90% and the same is true with commercial units according to several dealerships out here.

I go to a dealer out here that uses bottled nitrogen (100%).
Cost to have nitrogen is $5.00 per tire ONE TIME fee if no other service is performed. After that, it's free.
Top-off once in January and once in June unless a major pot hole is hit

Started using Nitrogen back in 2009 and will never go back to regular air.

AJ

 

[finless]

When I replaced my rear tire and had Allen tire mount it to the rim, they used nitrogen.
I did not notice much difference on the FOBO system with high and low readings. Maybe 1/2 PSI change difference between air and nitrogen sad the tire heats up.
But then agaiun I did put on a different tire than the original so could be an impact as well.

Bob

 

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

Following is based on work experience with N2, compressed and liquid, and for my home use, compressed Argon, Argon,CO2, O2, Acetylene. I'm neither advocating nor not advocating using N2 in one's tires

If one wants N2 for tires, I'd recommend going to an industrial gas supply. Buy a bottle and a regulator. Q size is 80ft^3, M size is 125ft^3. The next size up is likely bigger than you want to handle. You definitely want to buy the bottle from the place that will be filling it. That way you can just trade it for a full bottle - just paying for the fill.

One thing to check is the distrubitor stock. Industrial suppliers tend to stock the larger sizes - not much call for smaller N2 bottles. Pick a distributor that stocks the size you want. Air Liquide, Praxair, Linde are a few.

You will also need a regulator. Full N2 bottles are 2200 psi. You will want to regulate down to 100psi - 80 psi. A wire feed welding regulator won't do. Pressure and flow rate are too low.
A small size O2 regulator for a cutting torch works fine. Screw in an air hose and air chuck and you are good to go.

I haven't bought bottles in quite a while, so any price estimates will be guesses. Expect to pay $200 - $250 for the bottle and $30 for the refill.

I would expect it takes about 3 ft^3 to fill a small tire to 30psi. So, Three purges will get to about 1% O2. Three purges, three tires will drop an 80ft^3 bottle to maybe 1500psi. Figure, after the initial fill, you sneeze in the tires once a month, that will last a long time. Just don't forget to shut off the valve between uses. Oh yeah, tie/chain to the wall/bench/stand so it won't tip over when the cap is off - that is really considered bad, similar to crossing the beams in Ghost Busters.

ice

about 12 years ago when i started carrying nitrogen at my shop for tires we used tanks, that is the highest purity you will find since
nitrogen compressors will probably be 1.5%-2.5% less. next you do need to purge the tires 2-3 times to keep the purity in the tire high.
done correctly you will end up with 97.5% or better in the tire.
the purging process, letting out the n2 & then repeating is very important to achieving the desired results of purity.

 

[AY4B]

So basically you let out all the air, fill with n2 ,let it out, fill , out, fill, done?

 

[iceworm]

This one is about physics and chemistry.
Water vapor in the compressed air:
Vapor pressure of water is .2psia at 50F and 1psia at 100F. Considering the tires are 20psig - 30psig, it is not going to affect much of anything. That is assuming there is any noticeable quantity. And no, water, by itself, will not corrode alloy wheels.

Pressure/temperature stability of N2 vs air:
Gas laws don't care if the mix is pure N2, pure O2, or anywhere between. Fill the tire to 30psi at 30F, drive until the tire temp hits 100F. Air pressure wil go to 36psi. And that is as it should be. The pressure change due to temperature will be no different N2 than it will be for Air.

Water vapor in air compressor tanks: If it concerns you, don't go the the local stop and rob gas station for air. Get a compressor, and drain your compressor tanks - regularly. I do - ever time I use it. One I have is a small light weight portable, oil-less, with tanks - maybe 1ft^3. I don't recall it was much over $100. For home use, I would not get one of the tankless buzz boxes.

N2 generators: I not dissing anyone that chooses to get a generator, cause I don't much about $500 Amazon N2 generators. No familiarity. But I am familiar with industrial sized N2 generators. They use a membrane. I highly suspect all generators use a membrane, just different sizes and different sized compressors.

The membranes deteriate. In fact, I managed to totally deteriate a $40K set just letting them sit, in the original packing, for a few months. Really pissed off the boss.

If you are considering a generator, call the mfg, ask:
Published specs on the output.
Recommended maintenance to keep the output in spec,
Recommended testing frequency.
How long they would expect it to last, using it one day per month for a few ft^3.

Could be I'm all wet and the generators are a fine spec, little maintenance, and will last 10 years - or not.

No comment on pressure loss N2 vs Air. There are some good test reports available. I'd just be repeating what they said. Interestingly, the N2 advocates say "best thing since sliced bread, with the advantages of walking the dogs and changing diapers. The ones with no dog in the race are pretty much saying, Hummm .... There's a difference?

Again, I'm not dissing anyone. I've just never seen the specs, nor the proscribed maintenance on the consumer grade units.

ice

 

[bscrive]

To be done effectively you would have to have two Schrader valves in your rim. One to put the nitrogen into and the other to let the air out. Even if you did this, it would still be a waste of money. Air works perfectly fine for our tires. Nitrogen is only a cash grab for car dealerships.