Selling Nitrogen In Tires - Is It All A Lot Of Hot Air?

“There's a sucker born every minuteâ€
--P.T. Barnum

The air you breathe (the same air in most tires) is 78% nitrogen by volume. Any increase above that is of marginal benefits for the additional costs. Your tires will wear out from driving sooner than they will from oxygen exposure. Besides, only the inside is filled with nitrogen, leaving the outside exposed to regular air.

To properly use nitrogen in your tires, all of the air from inside has to be purged, generally by alternately filling and venting the tire. Unless the tire is broken off the rim, cleaned of moisture and debris, and then remounted with a water-free rim lubricant before purging with nitrogen, you'll miss most of the benefits.

I'd fill new tires with nitrogen, if the tire shop would do it for free. But topping off from a nitrogen hose for 20 bucks? Save your money.

 

That is what one of the local tire places is advertising for the price of filling tires with nitrogen.

Did Costco use a non-water based rim lubricant to install the tires? If not, the nitrogen fill was compromised.

Anyway, good thing you got it for free.

 

I got a flyer on Nitrogen(ing) my tires from my old Audi stealership. It was free but I didn't have my Audi anymore so I didn't bother.

 

Sorry, you lost me with "Nitrogen is more dense than oxygen." Last time I looked, nitrogen was 7 on the periodic chart and oxygen was still at number 8.

It is true that there are benefits of filling tires with moisture free gasses, but compressed air can be moisture free, and compressed nitrogen can be moisture laden.

Unless you can get it free from someplace like Costco, save your money.

 

The reason Costco is putting nitrogen in the tires is not altruistic. They know you'll have to come back to add nitrogen to the tires every so often and that you will probably do some shopping while you are there. It is just another way to get you into the store.

To me, the real problem with all of this is how are you supposed to add nitrogen to your tires if you are at home or need some on a trip and can only find a gas station with regular compressed air?

 

The Costco store in my area { Merrillville Indiana} will only fill your tires with nitrogen if you purchased your tires there. The store manger said they won't refill tires if they weren't purchased there. I even mentioned that I purchased tires for my other cars and trucks and asked if they would empty my prius tires and refill with nitrogen and he flat out said NO, only if I purchase new tires for my prius, then they would.
So I guess that not all Costco's, treat there customers the same........dang...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(8AA @ Jun 2 2007, 09:20 AM) [snapback]453923[/snapback]</div>

Actually it's N2 and O2, so it's really 14 vs. 16, and you're right. When an article makes such a basic error, you have to question all of the content.

What they were probably trying to say, but too stupid to properly articulate, is that N2 molecules are larger than O2 molecules, so they are slower to pass through permeable membranes. The atomic radii of a nitrogen atom is 65 picometers, while it's 60 picometers for oxygen.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 2 2007, 06:12 AM) [snapback]453851[/snapback]</div>

You mean you haven't seen the new "clean rooms" recently installed at Costco warehouses across the country? The ones with an air lock, where they totally evacuate the atmosphere, before you can enter the inner room with a pure N2 atmosphere, so you can be assured that not a single pesky O2 molecule touches the inside of your tires?

Now, if we could just do something about all the unnecessary O2 on the outside of the tire... :lol:

 

i expected a scientific discussion at first, and at the end found it amusing how the guy was claiming that most people are not comfortable with that "science thing"

counter points:
1. prius has alloy wheels. why are you concerned about rust? alloy wheels will corrode, but at the bead surface where the tire and the wheel touch. this is because of road salt.
2. if you drive few enough miles, you might have tire degradation before the tread wears out... but guess what! that happens on the outside of the tire and it's from weather exposure- rain, salt, sun, etc.
3. changing what's between the tire and the rim will NOT change the properties of the TIRE material. it will still heat up. but nitrogen will expand less when heated. in a prius, this makes little difference. in NASCAR, a half pound tire pressure difference at 180 mph making a bunch of left turns is a bigger deal.
4. how concerned are you about your tires bursting into flame? air is not flammable either, otherwise we'd all be really, really screwed.
5. good luck removing ALL air from your tires too... um, unless you do this in a pure nitrogen room or in a vacuum...

 

Putting "pure" nitrogen in tires is nothing new but a lot of tire retailer shops will tell you it is. IMO, it is just another way to add to their bottom line and increase their profits. It is also a selling point even if they do not charge for it with the hope people will come to them because of this.

In theory nitrogen is not as likely to change in density based upon temperature or humididy as standard good ole' fashioned air is. Then again, how do we know exactly how "pure" the nitrogen is that the corner shop is pumping?

If the shop was willing to do it for free I would say go ahead but for those that want to charge extra for this, I say no way.

Best,

Ken Stewart

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ken Stewart @ Jun 2 2007, 04:03 PM) [snapback]454074[/snapback]</div>

Amazing how many people have forgotten (or never learned) the ideal gas law.

Air (with all the moisture removed) and pure N2 are going to follow the ideal gas law closely enough at the temps and pressures inside a tire that the change in pressure is going to be identical.

If there is some moisture in the air, there will be a difference, but you have to remember that a Prius tire is operating at temperatures well below the boiling point of water. The partial vapor pressure of water at 40 degrees C is less than 1/10th what it is at 100 degrees C.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(8AA @ Jun 2 2007, 09:20 AM) [snapback]453923[/snapback]</div>

The Costco provided Nitrogen is a ‘special, heavier†form of the natural gas. It is produced in a special chamber filled with “breakfast burrito gas†:lol: .

 

Why haven't the prior Nitrogen futile discussions already stomped this falocy to death?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(The Annoying One @ Jun 2 2007, 09:25 PM) [snapback]454217[/snapback]</div>

I'm pretty sure that gas contains some sulphur compounds too.

 

Our Prius was a 2006 certified used car when we purchased it in April. The previous owner had filled the tires with nitrogen. As a result we have some pretty valve stem caps