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Adding air to tires

Saville

Saville

Well Known Member
So one of the ongoing maintenance issues is keeping the tire pressure up. I did a search through the forums and I did see something about using bicycle pumps or even hand pumps form Walmart. And there's lots of opinion as to what the pressure should be. One person gave the reminder to have a jack to jack up the wing.....

So all this generates a few questions.

If all you want to do is add a few pounds pressure to the tire - keep it topped up:

1) Can you use a hand pump?

2) What other devices are out there that makes this simple? Is there something between a hand pump and a full blown air tool compressor?

3) Do you have to jack up the airplane off the tire to top off the pressure?

Thanks!
 
Take a look at this manual. There are instructions for setting pressure:
http://www.goodyearaviation.com/resources/pdf/aircraftmanual.pdf

In general,
1) Yes, of course. Any way to get the proper pressure in the tire will do.
2) Foot-operated pump? 12v tire inflator for your car? CO2 cartridge inflator? Again, anything will do.
3) No. The Goodyear manual gives adjustments (+4%) for inflating loaded vs unloaded tires. I just keep all three tires on my RV9A inflated to 45psi, measured as the airplane sits on the ground. I think I got that value from Walt. Seems to work great.
 
I use the Slime brand of 12v pump from Wal-Mart. I keep one in the hangar one in the plane (and one in the car). Mine cost $14 bucks but they must have updated it because I got one for my boss with a digital pressure LCD (mine is an analog dial). His cost me about $18 bucks.

My builder suggested 35 lbs. and I do this on the ground.
 
A bicycle hand pump with built in gauge is very convenient. It just takes a few strokes to top a tire off. I used to use them to change tires and it is a little tiring to fill a tire up from empty with a hand pump.
 
A good quality tire pressure gauge is worth the investment. I do not trust the pencil type and have found them to be several lbs off compared better quality devices like this one.
 
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Has anyone tried inflating their aircraft tires with pure nitrogen? I do so in my cars and almost never need to refill them.
 
Once I switched to Michelin Airstop tubes, I found I could get by with adding air only at the annual. The tubes are expensive, but the convenience is worth it.
 
I've found tire pressure is dependent on what type of surface you operate off of the majority of the time. Being on a turf field, 25 lbs. works good for me. Anything over that, I feel every bump.
 
Not pressure-related, but useful....a mark with a tire crayon on the sidewall makes it super easy to find the valve stem.

 
rightrudder said:
Not pressure-related, but useful....a mark with a tire crayon on the sidewall makes it super easy to find the valve stem.

Click to expand...

Good idea and thanks for sharing. Lying on the floor and pushing the plane back & forth is a real pain in the arse!
 
Tire Valve Extension from Aircraft Extras

Order a flexible tire valve extension from Aircraft Extras. Just $19 and fits easily in your flight bag. Makes it easy to add air without removing wheel pants when you're away from home assuming you mark your tires for valve stem location and have an access hole. John
 
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Inflating tires

I have used "dry" nitrogen in my RV7 and inflate to 50#. Retired hvacr instructor and already had the gear. In a year one tire was 4# low and the other 2#.
88 hours and since its gets lots of abuse on the tires. Leaving KOSH in the AM.:)
 
So...what the heck IS the recommened TP? 25psi? 50? XX?

In the manuals, I saw Van's used 25psi to seat/inflate the tire...I found mine at 35+ and lowered to 25 because I thought that the target.

Now, it seems like guys are using things all over the map.

RV-7, mostly hard surface operations....got a number and a reason?

Thanks in advance,

Rob S.
 
I also marked my tire for valve stem line up with hole in pant. My mark lines up with wheel pant split. I don't use a gage at all, but I set my compressor regulator to 50 and have a cheapo extension that I use to inflate until I have same clearance on both wheelpants per say..My tire wear is normal, and I cant tell much difference in landing when they are 25 vs 45 PSI. What I can tell, is how easy it rolls in and out of the hangar. I like my pressure up on the high end.
 
Saville said:
3) Do you have to jack up the airplane off the tire to top off the pressure?
Click to expand...
No more than you have to jack your car up when you want to top off the tire pressure. :confused:

I fill mine to about 40lb, and then watch until the tires are "noticeably" low before filling. That seems to be about 25lb, and takes anywhere from 3-6 months depending on how active I am.
 
I use 45 all around, in 3 months they are around 35 which is my low limit.
With a tube type tire Low pressure = Flats
 
Pressure

I use 50# all around and re-fill when the push into the hangar requires more push! Also, I notice landing stopping distance increases (slightly) as tire pressure decreases, which incents me to keep the pressure topped-off. All subjective, of course.

I have leakguards and find they maintain pressure for twice as long as regular tubes. For instance, I have tested over a 30 day period (3 times) & found a loss of 3 to 5 lbs; a 6% to 10% loss per month. Empirical, of course.
 
might want to also occasionally check the torque on thru bolts on 2 piece rims. i have self locking nuts on the inside rim and recently lost the bolt.
 
rightrudder said:
Not pressure-related, but useful....a mark with a tire crayon on the sidewall makes it super easy to find the valve stem.

Click to expand...

I've thought about doing this, but what do you do about the valve cap? Leave it off? That seems like an invitation to get debris in the stem.
 
I use a 3/8" 12 point socket with just an extension to get my standard plastic valve stem caps on and off. The cap fits just snugly enough to not fall out of the socket. The other thing I do is to put the white alignment mark on the inside of the tire so it is easily visible to you when you are moving the airplane with the tow bar.
 
curtis said:
The other thing I do is to put the white alignment mark on the inside of the tire so it is easily visible to you when you are moving the airplane with the tow bar.
Click to expand...

Brilliant! Stupidly, I put mine on the outside and do the "shuffle" monthly to check pressures. Time to get out the bottle of white-out again...

I use this set to remove valve stem caps and fill tires:
http://www.cleavelandtool.com/Valve-Stem-Extension-_-Cap-Remover-Set/productinfo/VSSET/#.Vbuch3LbK9I
 
what size hole and cover in wheel pant

What size hole do you make in the pant for filling tires with air?

And do you plug it? I suppose you could use one of those stainless plugs available at most hardware stores or will they fly off?
 
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