Tire pump revisited

A weird postscript: the first one of these hoses I bought, probably for the Gen 1 incarnation, I didn't protect very well at a chafe point. So I replaced it several years ago, and put what was left of it, which was most of it, in the basement for possible reuse. The basement can get kind of humid in summer.

I just happened to be down there looking for something else, and found that old coil of hose completely disintegrated by some white ... fungus, I'm presuming ... just totally destroyed, bend the hose and it flakes apart. Yay, one less thing to have in the basement.

The one still in the car seems to be doing fine. I found this one article saying polyurethane air hoses can be ester-based or ether-based, and the ester-based ones can be attacked by moisture and fungus. Wow, they're not kidding.

How to check the quality of PU air hose - XHnotion Pneumatic

 

If you have not yet discarded the decomposed hose, please cut three 1-foot sections from different places along it and bag them separately. There are researchers 'stateside' who may want to identify fungi and bacteria present.

 

Well, I escorted it out of the basement and into my trash bin, but that won't be collected again for a week, so I guess I could cut some sections if I had somewhere to send them.

 

In the mood for science eh? I have a fella in mind at UC San Diego. Seems appropriate to email him first, before sending bags of snake-like items. I'm happy to do that, or loop you in. Better by PM though than posting his email here. Lots of bots

 

Bought this one at Lowe's and put it in my wife's SUV late last year. Now we have inflators in both cars (Black & Decker in the Prius, Kobalt in the Acura). I really like the Kobalt even though it's a little pricey.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-DC-12V-AC-120V-Dual-Power-Air-Inflator-Power-Source-Car-Electric/1000092575

 

Why is it that the wife always gets the newer and more expensive car and tire pump?

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

If she appreciates a gift of a tire pump, keep her.

 

^That!

Unless......

Means:
"newer more expensive car, and tire pump..."

 

Looks like a nice unit. Can the fuse be serviced? The lack of that in the B&D 120V one is why I went with Campbell Hausfeld for the home base.

 

12 Volt/120 Volt dual power is a nice feature. I have a 12v Viair compressor to carry in a car and I still do, but it was always a pain to use it because the pump is very powerful and requires 15A but came with only a cigarette lighter jack. If I use it with the in-cabin 12v outlet which is rated for 10A max in most cars, it blows the fuse in the car. So, I had to buy an adaptor to directly connect to the 12v battery post.

And almost 99% of the time I need to use the pump is when the car is on the driveway at home. So, I later purchased a 120v corded compressor by Husky. It was cheaper than Viair. Used it several times, but using an extension cord and pulling it all way around the car was just not convenient. I now use Ryobi One+ cordless lithium battery inflator almost exclusively. I still keep the Viair in the car just in case but have not used it for years.

Happy wife, happy marriage. My wife would not know how to use a tire pump, but when we had two cars, she always drove a larger more expensive car (Sienna minivan then Pathfinder SUV) while I drove a less expensive commuter car (Civic, Prius, and PP). But recently, we decided to make a compromise and consolidate cars. We now drive a single compact SUV, the Escape PHEV. It is bigger than PP and smaller than Pathfinder Hybrid we had. One car serves a dual purpose. Now, I don't have to buy two pumps.LOL

 

This is one of the better portable inflators and I always keep with me on my long travels.

Milwaukee M18 Inflator.

 

It's easier to find someone who'll appreciate a shiny car though. The tire pump part is the rare part.

 

Yes.

From the owner's manual:
This unit is equipped with fuse protection. If at some point the inflator fails to operate when using the 12v DC power method, check the fuse in the end of the 12v plug. To replace the fuse, simply unscrew the 12 volt power plug tip, remove existing fuse, install new fuse and reassemble power plug tip. Use only AGC - 10 amp replacement fuse.

 

I wasn't clear. The C-H and B&D models I was talking about are 120V only; no cigarette lighter plug. The C-H has a replaceable fuse. If the fuse goes on the B&D model, you need soldering skills to fix it.

 

Air follows the usual ideal gas laws so PV=nRT.
Meaning the pressure of a fixed quantity of gas times its volume equals the quantity of gas times a constant (which depends on units used) times the [absolute] temperature.

So if the temperature of air in a tire drops from 310°K to 290°k, then the (absolute) pressure will drop to about 290/310 of its previous value, assuming the volume of the tire is constant.

 

Toyota also put out a TSB with how to do that.

https://attachments.priuschat.com/attachment-files/2015/10/96267_T-SB-0345-08.pdf

 

The rough estimate is 1psi change for every 10F change in temperature.

 

And so it does. I went over a thing on my way out of Yellowstone (I think the thing was a rock chunk dropped from the rock face alongside the road) and on came the tire-pressure light.

There was a nice flat paved turnout just beyond, so I had a fine place to get out my plug kit, jack up the car, take off the wheel, and see the damage was in the sidewall where I couldn't use the plug kit.

So on went the spare, which was conveniently at 60 PSI already, but of course a couple pounds get lost in the process of unscrewing the blue hose. So once the spare was mounted, I was able to cap the blue hose with the above and then use the on-board air to top up those lost couple pounds in the spare. The behavior without a spare as the 'tank' wasn't pretty—fast cycling, along with some exercise of the relief valve—but it was usable.

Funny thing: various people drove by while I worked, but nobody stopped or asked questions. I guess everybody saw a guy with a car jacked up and a spare tire and thought "oh, there's a guy changing his tire, looks like he's got it."

Which wasn't wrong—I mean, I guess I did have it—but I wouldn't have minded saying "I think I've got it, thanks for asking" either, if someone had asked. Especially as I had no cell service anywhere nearby.