Anyone heard of this?

[Chris Gholson 1,065]

Hi All,

 

I was speaking with a mechanic the other day and he mentioned that he fills the tires of all his vehicles with Nitrogen. He said since N2 is a larger molecule than oxygen it won't escape as easily through the pores in the tire, thereby maintaining proper inflation. Also, N2 is an inert gas and won't cause oxidation like oxygen, and it is non-flammable.

 

This is the first I've heard of it, and wondering if anyone else out there is doing this...thanks.

[AZ4AU 0]

Hello Chris,

 

Yes, you heard it right and Costco has been doing it for 1-2 years now also. They will usually put a green cap on the valve stem when it has nitrogen . Some dirt race cars also use it because being an inert gas it won't expand like regular air once the tire gets heated up thereby changing the circumference of the tire .

[Ridge Runner 6]

The phone companys have use nitrogen in the cables for a long long time.I'd have to say from day one that cable was made.It's all for the reasons you said and I believe it has no moisture in it.So if you see a big tank hook to a cable by a hose from the ground it's nitrogen for sure.I've had to hookup alot over the years with SBC.

Chuck Anders

[Clodhopper 0]

Optics like gun scopes and binoculars are filled with it and NASCAR uses it exclusively in tires because of it's stability due to not holding moisture. It's not such a radical change because the air you breathe is 75% nitrogen.

[CaptGrumpy 0]

Chris,

Filling your tires with oxygen would be expensive and a fire hazard. Things that normally do not burn become flammable in an oxygen environment. This is why we normally use air which is 18-19% oxygen and 80% nitrogen.

I still fill my tires with a compressor.

Good question.

[MikeHemp 0]

how much do they charge for an N2 fill? could be a mega profit item for the tire shops.

 

Mike

[Inhere 0]

They have been filling tires with nitrogen in OZ for years, being an inert gas, the psi preasure doesn't rise inside the tire when it gets hot. The tires last a lot longer!

[Joe Kauffman 9]

Some car manufacturers are selling their cars & trucks with nitrogen already in the tires as well. My brothers' father-in-law just bought a new Toyota Tundra and the tires came prefilled with nitrogen. Most of the aftermarket offroad shocks I've purchased are also nitrogen filled.

 

Joe Kauffman

[Paseclipse 0]

I just finished up designing a hermtically sealed electronic module that's going to fly out in space for NASA and they're injecting nitrogen into it too. Yeah, even the space program does it.

 

Del

[rexb 0]

Yep, nitrogen in your gun scopes means they won't readily fog up. That's very interesting about the tires, learn something new every day.

[Chris Gholson 1,065]

Mike H.,

 

There is a MIDAS here in town that is charging $29 to do it.

[Shep 5]

One small point. It might be a good idea if you could pull a vaccum on the tire first, to get all air out. Then charge, but don't think that's feasible. Most AC and commercial refrigeration units either come with refrigerant or nitrogen in them, BUT were evacuated first to pull moisture and air out first.

I don't believe I'd be interested in doing it to my tires. $30 will almost buy a bottle of CABO!

[Mike Furness 26]

If I may I will chime in with a little of my personal experience with N in the tires.

 

Although it is very stable, heat resistant and a non oxident (has no oxygen component) it does have one draw back. Once you start using N and you get a low tire(small leak) and need to refill you must refill with N. If you use standard air, the stuff we all breath, from a compressor you are no better off than before using the N. The reason being is that you have now contaminated the the inert gas N with the air we breath which includes N but also O and water vapor and a few other goodies(smog for one). So unless you are doing just highway miles and can have easy access to N to refill tires it is probably a waste of money.

 

I suppose it is possible to have your own N generator to separate the N out of the air like the commercial gas processors do but that is costly. Perhaps a storage tank like some carry for regular air would do the trick.

 

Personally I think it is a waste of money for anyone going into the wilds. Never heard of a N station at a country filling station or remote farm/ranch compressor. It does have its place and will become more common into the future. And I haven't seen a hand pump that will pump it while stuck out in the woods either.

 

That's my long winded two cents worth.

 

Mike

[cmbb 0]

Gentlemen; finally something I know a bit about. I work for an elec. utility and we use quite a bit of nitrogen in our transformers. All of the above posts are correct. I would question the "mechanic said Nitrogen could not leak out of pores of tire".

We deal with many bottles of nitrogen, costs company about $12 for a bottle with 2000psi, weighs about 100#. We tried it in our tires, rigged up a valve, hose etc. It leaked out the same as air from your compressor. We could see no advantage and we got it free! There is some merit in the racing circuit. Possibly in OZ there is a need for it. Good ole air from the compressor has worked quite well for a number of years. Save your money to buy more important gold related items.

[Rich 7]

Hi Chris,

Here is some info I found on a Jeep forum. Pretty cool forum for you Jeep guys out

there.

 

Nitro

 

 

Rich

[Billyazprospector 0]

AIR in tires have worked for how long, I feel this is just a quick fad that will slowly fade. Chris shouldn't you be dealing with the #1 Independant tire company up there anyways Discount Tire! If not we need to talk.

 

Billy .......Now wait till you see the all rubber wheel and tire! NO air or wheel neccesary! they already make them for tractor use.

[MikeHemp 0]

chemistry geek warning!

 

Nitrogen is not an inert gas as it will readily react and form bonds (some very unstable) with other elements, it does not, however, have the oxidation properties of Oxygen so I understand the theory here but most tires the tread wears off and you buy new ones, long before the rubber rots. I think I would save my $29, check and adjust tire pressure monthly to lengthen their life. this reminds me of the $199 paint sealer you can purchase at the car dealer that would buy a lot of turtle wax, as it is a huge profit center for the dealer.

 

 

Main Entry: inert gas

Function: noun

Date: 1902

: any of a group of rare gases that include helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and sometimes radon and that exhibit great stability and extremely low reaction rates — called also noble gas

[GotGold 0]

chemistry geek warning! ..........

 

Main Entry: inert gas

Function: noun

Date: 1902

: any of a group of rare gases that include ..... called also noble gas.

Mike, your search engine here intrigues me, where does it come from??? Am I missing something?

 

Gary

[Inhere 0]

nitrogen (as in "chemical element") n. : a common nonmetallic element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless inert diatomic gas; constitutes 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume; a constituent of all living tissues

[MikeHemp 0]

Mike, your search engine here intrigues me, where does it come from??? Am I missing something?

 

Gary

 

Gary,

 

just a Merriam Webster dictionary def. of "inert gas" below is same dictionary entry for Nitrogen note key word "Relatively" missing in the above posts def. followed by the def. for Nitroglycerine (just for kicks and to tie it into the prospecting forum) my first point was inert gases refer to the far right hand row on the periodic table (aka noble gases as Helium, argon etc)

 

 

Mike

 

Main Entry: ni·tro·gen

Pronunciation: 'nI-tr&-j&n

Function: noun

Usage: often attributive

Etymology: French nitrogène, from nitre niter + -gène -gen

Date: 1794

: a colorless tasteless odorless element that as a diatomic gas is relatively inert and constitutes 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume and that occurs as a constituent of all

 

Main Entry: ni·tro·glyc·er·in

Variant(s): or ni.tro.glyc.er.ine /"nI-tr&-'glis-r&n, -'gli-s&-/

Function: noun

Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary

Date: 1857

: a heavy oily explosive poisonous liquid C3H5N3O9 used chiefly in making dynamites and in medicine as a vasodilator