Best tire guage?

I have one of these - works great; still has original battery after 2 years of use:

the digital ones get panned by a lot of experts....something about being overpriced and the inherent difficulty in converting some sort of pressure into another. I'm not a physicist, so I don't understand the details.

At any rate, most "experts" say the round dial-type gauges are the most accurate. I have the "holding" Accu-gage. They are about $20 in most auto parts stores. Only complaint is that if you drop it, from any type of height, it will break. the needle will stick on some random number and it loses accuracy. That's the reason Consumer Reports rated it only fair, otherwise, it is top-notch.

So in this case a NON digital device is better huh?

I currently have a pencil type gauge where the little plastic "pencil" pops out depending on the pressure

But I don't trust it

Not according to any of the reports I've read.

Here's an example:

I am not going to argue the reliability of the digital vs. analog round gauges. I noted the primary argument Consumer Reports has against the dial gauges is that they will go out of whack if you drop them.

I've done that once in some 25 years of "dial gauge" ownership, about

Pencil gauges can be accurate, but they are affected by altitude, humidity, etc. Also, many of the cheap ones, like anything else aren't much good. If you like the digital, great. Enjoy.

Get an air compressor and one of these Milton tire inflators :

Air compressors are great. I just don't have the need for one. The very rare occassion I've needed one for a tire, the guys at the local tire shop loan me one.

BTW, for whomever cares, as I said, I am not an expert, and I don't really understand any of the techno geek stuff about this, but the following site, addresses some of what I have heard about the digital gauges....it is talking about "moderately priced" digital gauges, but I have no idea what their idea of "moderate" is... Nor do I know if this is correct, but it seems to be about the same stuff I have heard on car radio talk shows and in various print stories.

I'll take Consumer Reports analysis over "bikepro" hawking their own goods, thanks.

P.S. I do know something about the technology. Digital gauges use "strain gauge transducers". They are much, much more accurate than spring resistive sensors and have basically replaced the spring sensor in everyday applications such as scales.

Well, Travis, it's not only "bike pro" saying that, I've heard essentially the same thing from many other places....bike pro was just the first that sprang up when I googled the term.

As I said, they say moderately priced gauges. What the heck does that mean? Is a $30 gauge moderate, or is it expensive. Got me. $20 for the Accu-gage is about at the top limit of what I'll pay for any gauge. I'm sure there are digital gauges that are excellent. But do I have to pay $60 to get one, or is a $12 one good? And the article specially calls into question those transducers you talk about.

Tom and Ray, the CarTalk guys, who I trust pretty well, say a digital gauge in the $15 range should be good. They have never steered me wrong, so I would guess if someone went that route they'd be in good shape.

My real concern would be the battery, although they probably last five years or so, when I want I gauge, I want a gauge. I live a fair distance from town and it isn't a matter of walking across the street to buy a lithium crystal when one fails. Of course, if I drop my gauge, I'm in the same boat.

It's beyond me. It's a tire, plus or minus a couple of pounds no big deal. Too many people get too tied up to getting to 30.0000 PSI. Sort of like the old days of setting points. Sure I can get it right to the mm. But within a couple is good enough for me.

I have a disposable digital Radio Shack. It is accurate and so far the battery lasts forever. They promise 5 years I think.... then you throw it away.

Everyone with a car or bicycle, or anything with pneumatic tires like a hand-truck for the garbage cans, wheelbarrow, or a riding mower, needs /some sort/ of an air source at home. If you have to take the tire to the tire-shop compressor each time they're a touch low, you are far less likely to check them regularly.

Keep your eyes open at garage sales for a good deal - people regularly get rid of good stuff for pennies on the dollar.

You can get a 5-gallon air storage tank that you fill up at the local tire shop, around $20 brand new. They'll get a flat car tire with a nail in it off the ground long enough to limp to the tire shop.

Or a small 120V 1/2-Horsepower 2-gallon "pancake" compressor, or even one of the little 12V lighter-socket jobbies will do the job.

You only need the big 230V 5-HP 80-Gallon monster at home if you plan to run a bead-blast cabinet, an impact wrench to change tires, or paint your car. The little 1/2-HP portable units work just fine for nail-guns, filling tires, and small paint spraying jobs.

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My compressor is a medium 230V 5-HP 30 gallon compressor. It has no problem with air ratchets, impact guns, or paint guns. It does tend to run a little more when using a die grinder for long periods. It's great for topping of tires while they are stone cold but a little overkill for filling soccer balls.

Get one that works.

When I was counsel for a state's Weights and Measures program I ran some informal tests with their master calibration gauge (tested twice a year against a national standard). I found that the pencil gauges were often way off, but almost 5lb, but a few we tried were spot on. Most of the dial gauges we tried were within 1lb between 20lb and 60lb, but not very accurate outside of that range. Most of the digital gauges we tried were within 1lb of the master gauge reading. Almost all were accurate within 1lb within the

Richard.

Thanks for advice Richard!