After years of being on the sidelines, had enough and decided to convert over to strictly nitrogen.
This is what triggered it- Every year like clockwork, when the temperature swings dramatically, the TPMS goes haywire, with Zorba the Greek swings, it moves around from wheel to wheel.
Warming up the tires does nothing.
Filling up the tires is a Greek dance in itself because it does not clear the error warnings right away. Not to mention its always at the worst bloody inopportune moment; when your fingers are stiff and running late to a funeral.

So I went to Costco (not my regular tire shop- who dont have it) because I had seen they offer this service and offer TMPS installs as well.
Told them to do it, did not care what it cost, just fed up with having to be subservient to technology.
It cost a whopping $11.
Saw the machine deplete the tires completely, then fill it up- then deplete completely again (this way it flushes) and then fill it up.
Instant relief, manic Zorba the dancing tire pressure gremlin was gone and remarkable improvement in handling (probably because the pressure was low in the first instance)

Will let you know a year from now if its a proper cure.
I realize that some of you hard-asses will criticize me for not going to a balloon shop and using helium instead to make the car lighter.

 

Helium should be reserved for the nobility.

 

The world supply of helium is limited. Nitrogen is virtually unlimited. Use Nitrogen.

So aside from moisture, and the very extremely minimal, negligible savings in weight, what is the advantage of using nitrogen? And how do you expect it to affect the pressure in the tires? Nitrogen expands and contracts exactly the same way as air, which is 80% nitrogen anyway. Just wondering, since I am a chemical engineer and I cannot for the life of me see any advantage whatsoever to using nitrogen. I would be interested in a good logical explanation of the benefit.

 

It's obviously the TPMS improvement isn't it? There had to be a real world benefit somewhere.

 

According to popular mechanics, there are several advantages, such as lower rate of loss.
To be perfectly honest, for the first time my rational was based solely in logic and not science.
The devil I knew always gave me trouble, the unknown devil was worth a shot.

 

Interesting, going from 78% nitro to 100%ish shouldn't make much of a change in PSI change per degree of temp.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret...jsp?techid=191

 

+1 on what 110reef said.

The clearest advantage is the seller's profit. And don't forget all of those ugly little green valve caps. They're green because they tell everyone that your tires are filled with nitrogen and you're saving the environment. Doesn't that makes you feel good about spending your money? Your tires already had 80% of the nitrogen in them from being filled with air, so what did you really buy?

A lot of hot air.

 

I think/guess its more about getting rid of the 20% that attracts moisture.
They even use nitrogen for the house air on all the tools at Costco. That part is smart because they dont need dryers in the lines.
You know how much water builds up in the air tank. I have to drain mine (I swear that thing puts our air and water and rust in equal parts) So I believe nitrogen house air probably has 1/10th the moisture??

 

At $2.75 a wheel with free refills?
Man there more money in hotdogs. lol

Its free when you get the tires there. So no financial incentive.
They better not have stolen my Union Jack valve stem covers- that would be a racket.

 

I've heard a couple of comments....
1. the pressure is more stable (I've heard this from road course drivers, as well.)
2. less prone to microscopic leaks
3. The RV folks swear by nitrogen in their tires.

 

That can't be normal, right?

I live in Finland, temperatures range from -25°C/-13°F to 25°C/77°F depending on season, and my car is outside overnight and indoors when I'm at work. That's plenty of temperature changes, yet the TPMS warning has come on only once so far, and that was for a good reason (a screw in the specified tire).

 

When I put on my engineer hat and think about this, here are my thoughts.

Typically for an "ideal gas", P1/T1 = P2/T2. Really doesn't matter much what the gas is, whether O2, N2, or Air. Since N2 and O2 are very similar gasses (Both are diatomic gasses, and MW is 28 for N2 and 32 for O2) the change in pressure versus temperature is essentially the same. The article talks about N2 leakage versus Air leakage, and I find it hard to believe that it is significantly different either.

Moisture is the only thing that would be affected, IMO, in that air has moisture in it while N2 is typically very dry. So on a cold day, you could condense some water vapor which will lower the pressure since vapor going to liquid will change volume from 22400 to 1. So essentially, if you just used dry air instead of nitrogen, the effect would be the same. Those that live in humid environments will see more of an issue.

Also, as Q&C has stated, when you compress air, the moisture actually falls out as water, so when using air, there is probably liquid water running around inside your tires. This could cause slight imbalance which is likely why racers would rather not use air.

 

I may have mentioned it on this form but have done so on my Lexus form. I purchased an Alltel TPMS programmer and tester. I decided to go this way based on now having 3 out of 4 of our cars having the TPMS feature. Also my Lexus is a 2010 so the sensor batteries are starting to fail. I can now go to each vehicle and do a non contact read of tire pressure , temps and battery condition. Using an Altel programmable sensor I can clone any of the sensors thus not needing to change them in the TPMS module. It also has the feature of going into the OBDII port and moving the sensor ID's from wheel to wheel and also turning off the TPMS lite. As an extra feature for the unit I have it also tests key FOBS for function and battery condition. On the jag my TPMS went off when I got a nail in my rear drivers side tire. I also check the tires once a month and when winter hits I check them on the 1st day temps hit below 30*F. I just had 4 new tires put on the lexus and I have replaced one sensor and I have 2 more with low batteries so the'll be replaced when the go. Oh the Altel sensors I use cost $28. This works for me.

 

At the very least, using nitrogen over common air would seem to reduce the risk of tires burning up if they get too hot. Additionally, exhausting it into an extremely closed space might be usable in committing suicide in some form.....though it is beyond me how effective that might be practically!

Bottom line, I'm in the south so it would only be a consideration due to the humidity rational.

 

 

On my Audi when using nitrogen the tyre temps didn't seem to vary as much, so on a 300 mile drive a nitrogen tyre rose by a max of 2psi air filled rose by 4-5

Perhaps my imagination?

i just use air now (as nitrogen is just to difficult to find) and check pressures weekly.

 

Just some opinion here. https://www.getnitrogen.org/why/

 

Ha, Its free here.
Learn to swim mate.

 

I wonder what the moisture content of freezing air is? If moisture drops out of the air stream during a heavy frost it seems this morning might be a good one to suck the air out of the tires and refill them. Burr cold...

 

Do you adjust cold pressures to the expected driving temperatures or just set it to the recommended pressure in the room it's being set it in? My garage is 50 degrees and outside is in the 30's. Do I add 2 lb per wheel in anticipation of the lower outside temps?