Tyre Inflator – Importance and Steps to Inflate your Tyres
Apart from keeping your tyre pressure at an optimum level, a Tyre Inflator also saves time and money of going to a gas station.
A tyre is one of the most important elements of a vehicle. No matter how expensive or topfeatured your car is, without the right set of tyres, it cannot deliver what it has been designed for. When it comes to road safety and handling, tyres play an important role in determining how well your vehicle will perform on road. Therefore, in order to experience a smooth and safe ride, it is important that your car and bike tyres are in a good condition. To keep your tyres in a good working condition, it is important to make sure that the pressure inside them is optimum. Tyre pressure can be checked at gas stations but a better and timesaving solution is buying a tyre inflator and checking it yourself. Apart from keeping your tyre pressure at an optimum level, a tyre inflator also saves time and money of going to a gas station. Keeping a Tyre Inflator is also helpful during the time of punctures. A tubeless tyre can move up to 100kms even after punctures if they are inflated again. An inflator comes in handy in such a situation. Now that we have understood the importance of an inflator of a tyre, here are a few steps to follow while using one:
1. Know the Current Pressure – The first step is to know the current pressure of your tyre. This step is important as it helps in understanding how much remaining pressure does we require to put it. An air pressure gauge or a tyre inflator that has a built-in pressure gauge can be used to make the reading. You have to press the pressure gauge or the tyre inflator into the air valve of the tyre and hold it until it reads the current pressure.
2. Find the Right Amount of Pressure to be put – After knowing the amount of air that is inside the tyre, you will have to calculate how much air needs to be filled inside them. It is important to know the right amount of air that needs to be filled as over-inflated tyres are as risky as under-inflated tyres.
3. Let your Tyres Cool Down – A cold tyre gives more accurate pressure reading than a hot tyre. Do not immediately read your tyre’s pressure right after they have run a long distance, as hot tyre shows inaccurate or higher pressure.
4. Remove the Caps of Valve Stem – Once your tyre has cooled down and you know its current pressure, find the valve stem and remove its caps.
5. Attach the Inflator – Take the tip of the inflator or the tyre pump and press it into the valve through which the air will go inside the tyre. Let it stay attached until the desired pressure is obtained.
6. Do the Pressure Monitoring – It is important to check the pressure of the tyre time to time while inflating it. This should be done to make sure that the tyres are neither underinflated nor over-inflated. If you have a digital inflator it automatically stops after the desired pressure is achieved.
7. Replace the Caps of Valve Stem – Once the air has been filled, put back the caps on the valve as it prevents the air from escaping from the tyre. This step is important or else the tyre will flatten again.
8. Repeat the process for remaining tyres – If you have two or more punctured tyres, do the same process on all of them. Even if you don’t have a punctured tyre, check the pressure of all
the tyres of your car or bike before a long ride. How to Choose the Perfect Inflator for your Tyres There are a number of tyre inflators available in the market. Different air inflators come with different features. One needs to select the best inflator according to the preference of the buyer. Inflators usually come with a pressure gauge that informs about the tyre pressure. Additional features include a flashlight, in case it needs to be used at night. Another model shuts down automatically once the desired pressure is achieved. There are also inflators that are batterypowered. Talking about portability, there are tyre inflators that can be plugged into a cigarette lighter. Also, some inflators come with an additional warning signal that indicates an upcoming traffic, if the car is parked on the side of the road. Before buying a tyre inflator also check the airflow of it. If it comes with 35L/min air flow, it will only take 3 to 4 mins to fill the air inside the tyre. However, an inflator with an air flow less than 35L/ min takes almost 10 to 15 mins to fill the tyre with air. One must take care while buying a tyre Inflator with more than 35L / min air flow as it consumes more than 15Amp power. So if your tyre inflator has an air throw of 45L or 60L then you have to connect it directly to a car battery. These are some of the features available in different tyre inflators. One should examine carefully and choose according to his/her requirements. Do not go for commercial-grade tyre inflators that are generally found in gas stations, as they are very expensive. These commercial tyre air pumps have been designed to fulfil the task of checking and inflating multiple tyres in a day. Carrying an inflator like this is of no use for the people who inflate their tyres on rare occasions. Therefore, one should only go for inexpensive, portable air pumps.