Does this really help keep the tires cooler and from losing air as quickly? I read this in the paper that about 10% of tire places and maintenance places were starting to offer to replace the air with nitrogen inside of the tire for a few bucks
Waste of money IMHO. If you are changing the outside air temperature of the climate you are driving in or operational heat buildup VERY quickly and/or dramatically and need that consistency in pressure, then go with the nitrogen, or better yet, argon. They are inert gases. For automotive applications, it's a total sales gimmick IMHO. Aircraft tires are inflated with inert gases because of the accuracy needed for a set tire pressure specification ( some I know are 140psi +/- 5psi) that can't be maintained with common atmospheric gas over the operational ranges, which can vary widely, set by the aircraft builder. Checking and maintaining your car's tire pressure once a month using just plain old air is the best method of avoiding premature wear and unsafe tire conditions IMHO.
True, but it's only a very small improvement - measurable and quantifiable, but just barely. Don't pay extra for the privilege, either through higher overall prices at the shop or as a separate line-item. If they want to use a nitrogen generator because they think it's better, they're welcome to.
All they're doing is running the air through a molecular sieve filter that catches and purges the oxygen and CO2 from the compressed air, then wringing the last of the moisture out.
Apparently, the small amount of water in air makes the pressure vary more than gas without water in it (the oxygen, CO2, and other gases have little to do with it). At 30 psi, the concentration of oxygen, nitrogen and water are about 3 times what they are in air.
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For race car crews, the more consistant pressure with changing conditions does make a difference. For those of us who turn right more often, it doesn't make much difference. And many garages remove most of the water from their air (they have condensors in the lines), if the air is hooked up to the in-house compressor, as opposed to the compressors that are stand-alone that some gas stations have.
For God's sake, the tires are NOTHING compared to a passenger cabin containing dihydrogen monoxide. GET THAT SHIT OUT OF THERE QUICK. If you have kids, you do NOT want to take a chance. Make SURE you eliminate all dihydrogen monoxide from the passenger compartment IMMEDIATELY.
Here's a page describing the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide. Dangerous stuff:
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The funny thing about DHMO is that it is more common than you would think, and is used in *EVERYTHING* from baby formula to Scotch-Guard!
The only thing I can say about it for sure is, AVOID BREATHING IT AT ALL COSTS!!! Breathing anything more than just a very small amount can cause immediate death!
Actually, they say that the tire pressure is more consistant with the nitrogen than air, because there is no water in nitrogen. But, unless you race cars, it doesn't make enough of a difference to really matter.
Well, there is some DHMO in Scotch Whisky as a byproduct of the manufacturing methods, but at well below critical quantities. The alcohol content will get to you long before the DHMO will.
Now you /do/ want to be extremely careful about dilution of the base Scotch with any more added DHMO than absolutely necessary...
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