Am thinking of getting one of these as a birthday present for dad.
Are they worth having or is it best to just save your money and go to the local petrol station?
If they are worth having have you any recommendations on which one to get?
Ta
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If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished
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I've had one for about 15 years - I've used it about three times.
Far better - and quicker - is to use the free air service at Tesco or similar and buy your father a good quality digital reading pressure gauge so he can ensure the pressures are correct.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I have got one, Woolworths own make, very useful though its inbuilt gauge is not accurate so I use a seperate gauge. I tend to use it on warmish weekends or summer evenings and rely on the local BP's 'free air' if the weather is inclement.
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i have a digital halfords inflator it's inbuilt guage is very accurate very quick and easy to use.
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i have a digital halfords inflator it's inbuilt guage is very accurate very quick and easy to use.
I concur. Easy to use, and accurate. It agrees with the pressures indicated on my pencil style manual guage.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Ask yourself what you would want do if you got a puncture and the spare needed air? Or the puncture is a slow one and you would like to drive the car to somewhere more convenient. I suppose the modern 'motorist' would call breakdown, anyway, as mostly they seem to be incapable of changing a tyre. But, I prefer to cary some sort of inflating device and one that plugs into the cigar socket is just fine.
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Far better - and quicker - is to use the free air service at Tesco or similar and buy your father a good quality digital reading pressure gauge so he can ensure the pressures are correct.
But the pressures won't be correct as tyre pressures are supposed to be checked when the tyres are cold (ie, not been driven on for a period of time). By driving to the supermarket or similar will make the pressures inacurate.
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The "digital tyre compressor" regularly advertised in the Telegraph and which also appears in widget catalogues (e.g. Coopers of Stortford) at £29.99 is excellent. It is accurate (I check it regularly) and the gauge is clear (unlike a Halfords one given to me). It's in the gadgets section here:
www.telegraphliving.co.uk/csp/timscris/telegraph/i...p
Encourage your dad to check his tyres at least once a month.
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The "digital tyre compressor" regularly advertised in the Telegraph and which also appears in widget catalogues (e.g. Coopers of Stortford) at £29.99 is excellent. It is accurate (I check it regularly) and the gauge is clear (unlike a Halfords one given to me).
Seconded !! Bought one as the replacement for my Halfords one when the power take-off connector fell apart!
I wouldn't rely on garage ones; in the past, calibration on those has been left wanting and your tyres won't be cold either when checking them.
Very good and accurate as Roger says.
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>>But the pressures won't be correct as tyre pressures are supposed to be checked when the tyres are cold (ie, not been driven on for a period of time). By driving to the supermarket or similar will make the pressures inacurate.>>
But I do the tyre pressures AFTER I've been to do the shopping - the petrol station is about 50 yards away on the way out and it's about another one-and-a-quarter miles back home...:-)
What's more I've got a highly accurate Michelin half-moon tyre guage that was given to me by one of the firm's reps and I check that the pressures are correct whilst using the airline (which, incidentally, has a digital readout!)
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>>>> But I do the tyre pressures AFTER I've been to dothe shopping - the petrol station is about 50 yards away on the way out and it's about another one-and-a-quarter miles back home...:-)
But that doesn't apply to everyone.
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>>But that doesn't apply to everyone.>>
Pressures are important, to some extent, but the ratio between front and rear pressures, if they are different, can prove more important than absolute accuracy.
How many motorists do you genuinely believe have ensured that tyre pressures are correct?
How many motorists actually adjust their tyre pressures for sustained motorway work or for substantially increased passenger and/or weight loads?
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Even if there was a local garage mile away with air, why would I drive a car on presumably low pressure tyres down there with the consequences we are often warned about for short journeys, over-fueling etc. I've had an AirMan pump for about 10 years until recently and used it a lot, mostly at home in conjunction with a good tyre gauge. Eventual problem was the round bit of plastic securing the hose to the pump body started to crack with age and high temperature (these things get hot there and around the input point for the power cable. Spares are available from AirMan in Denmark at a price but I bought a different £20 Bosch rechargeable pump from B and Q.
The Bosch one has no power cable for the car and is pretty useless after blowing up one empty tyre. So get one with a 12v power cable. Avoid the ultra-cheap ones. I saw one of those on offer at a petrol station for a few pounds if you bought £10 worth of petrol. It broke inside after one use.
Since the ones designed for truckers are the best made but also most expensive (£50 plus) I would suggest going for an AirMan (maybe £30 upwards)and probably will myself next time.
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Thats a brilliant idea for a present..I got one from Argos and it's easy and quick to use and much better than messing about on a garage forecourt..Better than a pair of socks anyway..
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Definitely worth while unless your Dad lives next door to an underused filling station. And great for bike tyres as well.
Cross check the gauge against something proven accurate before relying on it.
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I have a Halfords model and it is well worth the money. I check my tyres fairly regularly and I always check them when the tyres are cold. If you have been driving when you check them at a petrol station, they won't be cold.
Some tyres on some wheels seem to lose more pressure than others, for some reason, so need regular checks.
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Thanks a lot for all your help. That's dads present sorted then!!
I have to say that I think this will be the first time in a long time that I will be well prepared!! I've still got 2 1/2 weeks before his big day...normally i'm panic buying the day before and he's got enough socks,hankies and golf balls to last him a lifetime!
Thanks again....most appreciated!
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If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished
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I've still got 2 1/2 weeks before his big day...normally i'm panic buying the day before and he's got enough socks,hankies and golf balls to last him a lifetime!
Don't forget to buy him some socks, though. All men have to get soscks on their birthday -- it's a tradition.
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>>All men have to get soscks on their birthday -- it's a tradition.>>
Oh come on...:-)
You've forgotten ties and handkerchiefs.
Plus things to make you smell nice.
Personally I would prefer five litres of semi or fully synthetic oil and an oil filter or even a full tank of petrol...:-)
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I've got a halfords one with digital readout.
The gauge is rubbish and the pump takes ages to add 2-3 psi and makes a terrible racket.
I use it generally after washing the car. Beats checking it at petrol stations and getting filthy hands and inaccurate gauges.
I've got a pressure gauge as recommended by HJ, think its still in the faq.
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Agree with the above.
I check each tyre regularly with a digital gauge, in each case then use the compressor to get the pressures just above the values required, then drop back to accurate figures on the digital gauge.
I don't use the gauge on the compressor at all.
System works fine, and in particular has highlighted one tyre which consistently loses a bit more than the others.
Oz (as was)
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"I've got a halfords one with digital readout.
The gauge is rubbish and the pump takes ages to add 2-3 psi and makes a terrible racket"
I've got a Halfords one also - gauge is spot on (checked at a mate's garage when he had just had his calibrated, and against a digital gauge that I knew was accurate) Certainly better than the supermarket pump which over inflated by 15lbs per sq in which I once used!
Doesn't take long to put in a couple of pounds either, which, if you check weekly, is all that is needed, if any. If it's more than 2-3lbs per week something wrong with tyre?
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Phil
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Oh, and by the way, if you have 4 cars on your drive, 3 of which are owned by members of the family who don't seem to think that tyre pressure needs checking, it's very useful!
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Phil
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Oh, and by the way, if you have 4 cars on your drive, 3 of which are owned by members of the family who don't seem to think that tyre pressure needs checking, it's very useful! -- Phil
I couldn't agree more if you have lots of cars to check it is quicker, My three local Tyre dealers (one independent)all say don't trust any supermarket gauge, Te independent dealer has his gauge checked every 4 weeks !! I wouldn't care to guess how frequently the supermarkets are done. On top of that most Gauges can be used to pump up Bike tyres, footballs and in some cases Inflatables.
It can make life so much easier
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