VansAirForceForums  
Home > VansAirForceForums

- POSTING RULES
- Donate yearly (please).
- Advertise in here!

- Today's Posts | Insert Pics


Go Back   VAF Forums > Main > RV General Discussion/News
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Today's Posts

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 04-30-2007, 09:05 AM
pierre smith's Avatar
pierre smith pierre smith is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Louisville, Ga
Posts: 7,840
Default Nitrogen for tires..

A friend of mine told me that he uses nitrogen in his tires because they don't leak down nearly as fast. He said it's because the nitrogen molecules are much larger than air. He also went on to tell me how cheap it is to buy.

Do any of you guys use nitrogen?

Thanks,
__________________
Pierre Smith
RV-10, 510 TT
RV6A (Sojourner) 180 HP, Catto 3 Bl (502Hrs), gone...and already missed
Air Tractor AT 502B PT 6-15 Sold
Air Tractor 402 PT-6-20 Sold
EAA Flight Advisor/CFI/Tech Counselor
Louisville, Ga

It's never skill or craftsmanship that completes airplanes, it's the will to do so,
Patrick Kenny, EAA 275132


Dues gladly paid!
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 04-30-2007, 09:35 AM
rvpilot's Avatar
rvpilot rvpilot is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 335
Default Niiitroggen!!!

I use nitrogen, put it in these new fangled leak resistant tubes. Have to add the stuff every time I fly! Don't believe it's the nitrogen tho', I never had this problem before I installed these crazy high dollar tubes.
I do believe the nitrogen is a good thing!
__________________
Bill Waters
Based KCVC (Covington, GA)
RV6A - Gone, but not forgotten!
RV8 - Gone too, now winning races in the RV Gold Class!
RV4 - Flying!!!
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 04-30-2007, 09:43 AM
sprucemoose's Avatar
sprucemoose sprucemoose is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: MKE
Posts: 1,519
Default

Well, considering that air is about 80% nitrogen, I'd say we all use nitrogen, at least 80% of it...

Ditto the leak-proof tubes. Michelon Air Stops are my choice. They leak maybe a pound a month, maybe. Not much more $ than cheap tubes either.
__________________
Jeff Point
RV-6, RLU-1 built & flying
Tech Counselor, Flight Advisor & President, EAA Chapter 18
Milwaukee
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 04-30-2007, 09:49 AM
Low Pass's Avatar
Low Pass Low Pass is offline
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Houston
Posts: 2,012
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by sprucemoose
Well, considering that air is about 80% nitrogen, I'd say we all use nitrogen, at least 80% of it...

Ditto the leak-proof tubes. Michelon Air Stops are my choice. They leak maybe a pound a month, maybe. Not much more $ than cheap tubes either.
Second the Michelin Air Stops - the tubes I've been using for the last 2-3 years with 78% N2. If your goal is to hold pressure longer, use them. If you want to say you inflate your tires with 99% N2 versus 78% N2, go with the bottled N2.
__________________
Bryan

Houston
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 04-30-2007, 10:51 AM
kentb's Avatar
kentb kentb is offline
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Canby, Oregon
Posts: 1,786
Default If it really worked....

If the O2 leaked out faster then the N2, as you repeatedly put more AIR in your tire you would be increasing the N2 concentration. After all the O2 would have leaked out and you would be left with only N2 when you started filling.

Kent
__________________
Kent Byerley
RV9A N94KJ - IO320, CS, tipup
AFS 3500, TT AP, FLYING....
Canby, Or
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 04-30-2007, 12:39 PM
WSBuilder WSBuilder is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Azle, TX
Posts: 352
Default More ways to spend your money?

The military (and I assume the airlines) uses bottled nitrogen to service tires and oleo struts to very high pressures because it is dryer than air and thus is more corrosion resistant. You don't want parts pressurized to 300 to 1500 psi failing! I doubt the risk is high in our RV's.
__________________
Bill Grant, A&P
8KCAB, M20G
RV-4: Fuselage controls
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 04-30-2007, 12:52 PM
RScott RScott is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Estacada, OR
Posts: 787
Default

Nitrogen seems to be the latest fad among car & truck tire dealers. If the reason is because nitrogen is drier than air, than it has to be because cars & trucks run tubeless tires, so wheels are exposed to the gas inside. Anyway, moisture is not an issue in a rubber tube--is it? I don't see how.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 04-30-2007, 12:55 PM
Larry D Larry D is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 19
Default Air is good enough for me

Pierre,

As a chemist I spent years working with gases. Dry air is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% argon and other minor components. Nitrogen's only advantage over air is it doesn't react with the rubber and doesn't support combustion. Oxygen will react with rubber slowly and does support combustion, but it does that at a rate so slow we have no reason to worry. You'll wear out the tires long before the reaction will matter. At the speeds we land and the temperatures we develop the use of pure nitrogen is an unnecessary expense. If we regularly produced high temperatures in the tires for long periods as in a race car or very high temps as in heavys and fighter aircraft then the use of pure nitrogen makes sense but not for an RV.

Larry Dickinson
RV-9A 160 hrs
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 04-30-2007, 01:01 PM
rvpilot's Avatar
rvpilot rvpilot is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 335
Default Use of nitrogen...

Nitrogen has been used quite a while in racing applications because of it doesn't change pressure quite drastically as the tires heat up, thus you are able to have better control over tire pressure change. Same may apply to using them in cars at today's highway speeds.
I believe the use of nitrogen, especially in high altitude aircraft, is for the same reason, you don't get the drastic pressure changes.
Someone else???
__________________
Bill Waters
Based KCVC (Covington, GA)
RV6A - Gone, but not forgotten!
RV8 - Gone too, now winning races in the RV Gold Class!
RV4 - Flying!!!
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 04-30-2007, 01:28 PM
RV7Factory's Avatar
RV7Factory RV7Factory is offline
Chief Obfuscation Officer
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Livermore, CA
Posts: 1,110
Default

I don't know if it is a national thing or not, but the last two sets of car tires I purchased at Costco (in CA) were filled with Nitrogen. They switch your valve caps from black to green to signify the change. The reasons why have already been mentioned, but here is an article explaining Costco's rationale.
__________________
Brad Oliver
Livermore, CA | RV-7 | SOLD
RV-7: RV7Factory.com | iPhone app list: AviatorApps.com | Photography: BradOliver.com
Reply With Quote
Reply



Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:11 AM.


The VAFForums come to you courtesy Delta Romeo, LLC. By viewing and participating in them you agree to build your plane using standardized methods and practices and to fly it safely and in accordance with the laws governing the country you are located in.