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Old 04-26-2017, 08:23 AM   #1
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Ideas for inline tire pressure gauge for air pump?

I have a Viair air compressor for my RV. It came with a short, stiff hose that has a built in air gauge. I have since gotten a longer, more flexible hose with a quick release air chuck. I like the inline air gauge idea though and would like to add one to my setup. Does anyone know of an air gauge that can be put in line with my setup? You can see what I am using in the video below.

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Old 04-26-2017, 08:40 AM   #2
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I use this.


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Old 04-26-2017, 09:30 AM   #3
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Old 04-26-2017, 09:53 AM   #4
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Old 04-26-2017, 12:26 PM   #5
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I have the Viair RV compressor (sorry, can't remember the model #, but it looks much like yours). I also have a horrible back, so being bent over holding a chuck on the tires isn't an option for very long. I have 12 tires to check pressure (Tag-Axle DP, plus toad). I faithfully use a TPMS, but I couldn't find (or they didn't have) a flow-through sensor available for my TPMS when I bought it long ago...

I wanted to be able to hold the chuck on the valve stem, and use the TPMS sensor to read the pressure (so their wouldn't be an offset between what a particular gage read, and what my TPMS said), I came up with the following piece of midnight engineering:

I have a Schrader chuck that locks on the valve stem, attached to a 18" flexible air hose, that is attached to a brass pneumatic "T". The second point on the T attaches to a Schrader valve (that I screw my TPMS sensor to), and the last point has a QD fitting that mates with the output of the Viair "gun".

The plan is to attach the hose to the tire valve stem, put the TMPS Sensor on the Schrader valve, and then use the Viair "gun" to pump air in/out of the tire to set the pressure to exactly what I want it to be. All while I stand upright, or sit comfortably. (I have 22.5" rim tires, so inflation can take a while).

In addition to my physical limitations, this configuration allows me to set the pressure to exactly what the TPMS sensor reads. My TPMS sensor has the same accuracy as the manufacturer-recommended tire gage, but has much greater resolution. By basing the pressure setting on the TPMS sensor, the benefit should be that my TPMS does not give false alarms on tire pressure warnings due to error between where I thought my pressure was set, and where it actually was.

My next trip is tomorrow, so I should know how well this works!

Carl
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Old 04-26-2017, 12:52 PM   #6
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This may be off the wall, but what if you were to splice together the Viair factory hose with your longer hose with a double-ended barb connector? This would restore the factory in-line gauge, and give you the long, flexible hose you want. Even better, you could also add a quick-connect female coupling to the factory hose. Your blue hose already appears to have those.

My Viair has a "lock-on" chuck. It works well. If yours does too, you might salvage the lock-on chuck feature in the same way - by cutting the factory Viair hose at the halfway point and adding a "male" quick connect fitting to the hose on the chuck end of the hose. This way, you could insert as much hose as you want in between, AND you could restore the factory hose by simply connecting the chuck portion to the compressor portion with the quick connects.

I see barb sizes ranging from 1/8 to 3/8, and most can be had with a thread fitting on the other end. So you may be able to adapt different hose sizes to standard 1/4" air hose quick connects.

I had considered an arrangement like this for my compressor, because mine connects to the tow vehicle battery with alligator clips. I was concerned that the power cord was not long enough, and that the trailer battery might be depleted at the end of a weekend of boondocking. So more hose seemed to be the answer. Then someone suggested using my jumper cables as an "extension cord". Doh!! Problem solved as far as I was concerned, but in your case, the hose option might work.

Again...off the wall, but maybe.
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Old 04-26-2017, 12:58 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ckabrahamson View Post
...The plan is to attach the hose to the tire valve stem, put the TMPS Sensor on the Schrader valve, and then use the Viair "gun" to pump air in/out of the tire to set the pressure to exactly what I want it to be. All while I stand upright, or sit comfortably. (I have 22.5" rim tires, so inflation can take a while)...Carl
I like your plan and just have one comment. My TPMS system manual says it can take up to 5 minutes for the system to refresh a reading on the display (not to be confused with failure alerts, they are instant).

Once you get out and do some testing, I am curious as to how long it takes you TPMS to update the new pressure.
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Old 04-26-2017, 05:17 PM   #8
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Maybe like this from Harbor Freight?

Tire Inflator with Gauge
Under 10 bucks
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Old 04-26-2017, 06:10 PM   #9
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Maybe like this from Harbor Freight?

Tire Inflator with Gauge
Under 10 bucks
This works great to get air in and out but the gage is almost 5-7 psi off in either direction. I use to inflate and use a precision gage to set press.
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Old 04-27-2017, 12:16 PM   #10
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Maybe like this from Harbor Freight?

Tire Inflator with Gauge
Under 10 bucks
I will have to look into something like that. I like that it clips onto the valve stem too. For some reason I had a lot of trouble ready the pressure of my inside dually tires this past weekend and resorted to a clip on gauge. I found several of this type on Amazon so will check reviews and go with this option most likely.
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Old 04-28-2017, 02:09 PM   #11
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Hbillsmith: a very valid point! My manual doesn't go into refresh rate, but having just used it, it only appears to be a few seconds. Unfortunately, the larger pain is that the handheld monitor goes to sleep after a few seconds. It works but is still clunky.

So, I'm going to replace the analog dial with a high- accuracy digital gage. I'm still leaving the Schrader valve stem to have the TPMS sensor installed, but I'll use the digital gage to set the pressure.
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Old 04-28-2017, 11:04 PM   #12
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I use this for an inline gauge and it works well: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PUTC0M...I3H11VAA5TW5JS
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Old 04-29-2017, 07:04 AM   #13
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I use this for an inline gauge and it works well: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PUTC0M...I3H11VAA5TW5JS


I didn't see what the max air pressure was on that gauge. I need one that will read over 125psi.
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Old 04-29-2017, 12:05 PM   #14
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Per my instruction manual the measuring range on that gauge is 3 - 175 PSI.
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Old 04-30-2017, 05:35 AM   #15
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My max psi tire pressure is 125lbs on the 5th wheel n the side by side is 7 lbs so it will be great for both of them. Thanks.
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Old 05-11-2017, 07:14 AM   #16
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Wanted to report back that I ended up with the tire chuck/gauge combo in the link below. I have not used it to put are in my tires yet, but did a quick check of the gauge against my analog dial gauge and it was as close as two gauges can get to each other. I am actually looking forward to putting air in my tires tomorrow for a full test of it. The clip on chuck should make it a breeze to check and fill the tires.


http://a.co/0G6b8dl
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Old 05-11-2017, 08:29 AM   #17
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That's the same gage I went with. I had posted earlier about using a brass Tee with a place to connect my TPMS sensor, and using the TMPS to read the pressure. But, as someone had cautioned, there was a bit of latency between the pressure change, and it's display on the TPMS. It was only a few seconds for my unit, but it made it a bit of a pain to set a precise pressure. I was just going to add a digital gage to my Viair control handle, but the entire assembly was quite affordable, so...

So, the new plan is the Jaco digital gage, and I'm going to add the TPMS Tee and valve between the handle and the pressure gage. I'll use the pressure gage to set the tire pressure, and then if I want to verify the TMPS sensor, I just screw it onto the Tee. It's a plan - we'll see how it goes...
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Old 06-04-2017, 07:01 PM   #18
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I'm very happy with this Ryobi inflator (Home Depot, $40).
It has a digital pressure gauge. Set the desired pressure and it shuts off when achieved.
It has a locking chuck and runs on an 18V lithium battery (sold separately ).
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