Why can't I inflate my tires?

[leehljp]

The tires in my Toyota Camry are low because of the cold air and the low tire indicator light came on. I checked the air pressure. Two were 24 lb and two were about 28 - 29. It was 20° F this morning and will be tomorrow also. (They were checked two months ago at F 75°+.) If it were warmer, I am sure the temps would be 3 to 4 PSI more.


Anyway, I plugged in my 6 gallon air portable compressor, built up pressure and inflated one tire fine. The next, I could not get air to go in at all. Changed chucks and the same thing. Went to another tire and it inflated slowly but acceptably. Last tire was like the second one. It would not inflate. Took my chucks apart and checked them and they were OK. Both chucks were alike but one bought at HF and the other purchased at the NAPA parts store two or three years ago.


Chucks look like this one:

http://www.harborfreight.com/dual-chuck-tire-inflator-68264.html

The valve stem cores didn’t seem to be too far in but they could be just a tad too far in to be activated.


Anyone have an opinion on this and a solution?


Thanks.

[JimD]

Hank,

It could be the valve core. Do you have replacements? It means unscrewing the old one which will let all the air out to try it, however. I don't remember any failing but my plugging kit came with a little box of replacements for the valve cores and some caps.

One of the reasons I like my little 12V Viair compressor is the hose screws on to the valve stem. Very good connection (if a bit of a hassle when it wants to cross thread).

Jim

[leehljp]

I looked on Amazon for a "good" quality chuck inflator, and in one review post, I found that sometimes the chucks themselves become defective. I have a small 12V inflator with a clamp-on head somewhere, if I can find it. I might have to do just that.

I also am going to pick up a few valve core at walmart tomorrow, along with a new rubber air hose. After working on the tires to air them up, and then giving up, I stopped for about an hour and then I went back out a second time and - POW, the 3 year old HF coiled hose snapped in two - at the current 24°.

LOML says that I am crazy being out there anyway!.

[LCHIEN]

... (They were checked two months ago at F 75°+.) If it were warmer, I am sure the temps would be 3 to 4 PSI more.


...Thanks.

Not sure what the problem is, but your statement about 3-4 psi is about right on.
According to boyles' and charles' laws, changing temperature from 75 to 24 F is about 10%. if your tires are 70 cold and 30 warm, that's 3 PSI. or 10%.

[Bill in Buena Park]

Hank, I was wondering if you tried activating the valve to see if maybe its not frozen. If you can activate and a little air escapes, then you know that's not the problem.

[capncarl]

Hank, I've had this problem with several of my air chucks. Some work on some tires and some do not. I just toss them back in the drawer and grab another one, next time they might work on the tire? I don't think it is a product of the cold.

[TimTucker]

Not sure of the correct term, but I have the harbor freight version with the dial gauge and sometimes the wiggly part at the end of the inflator sometimes gets wedged against the side of the opening. A little tap on the driveway and it usually loosens again.

[leehljp]

Thanks for the replies. I lets me know that I am not going crazy.

Bill, upon reading your post, my first thought was "was there moisture in the tire and it froze?" Then I remembered the pressure gauge worked, so the core was not frozen.

Capn, I think what you said - is what is happening. For that reason, I started looking on Amazon to see if there was one or two chucks that "stood out" over and above others in reviews. I am going to add a couple of other chucks to my collection - a simple round head chuck and an Clip-on type.

Tim, I took both of mine apart and checked them. I couldn't find anything that might be causing it to hang or stick. I will add a third one like the link, but one that is used commercially.

[Black wallnut]

I use a dual commercial style and have never had a problem that I can recall.

[Carpenter96]

I use a commercial style, a bit more expensive but I have been using it for 30 plus years and it works great. I'm in Barrie On Canada and have used it as low as
- 30 C which is - 22 F.

Regards Bob

[leehljp]

I went by an auto parts store and got what looked like a good chuck. I also ordered This one on Amazon. I ordered it based on the number of reviews (120+ 5 star reviews).

After adding the simple chuck to my air hose, it worked fine as compared to the ones that I provided in the link. But I look forward to the Milton for its long reach!

[JimD]

I use an earlier version of this one (HF):

http://www.harborfreight.com/dual-chuck-tire-inflator-with-dial-gauge-61387.html

I don't remember having a problem with it but I also have a real simple little one, I don't remember where it came from. But I hardly ever use that compressor for tires after getting a good 12V.

My bimmer's tires also did what you describe a few weeks ago. I took it out of the garage and drove to work and all was fine. It sat there 10 hours or so and it got colder, maybe down to 20 degrees. Silly low tire pressure warning on dash blotting out other information. I checked the tires and found they were still in the upper 20s and thus, I judged, safe to drive on. I filled it up back in the garage. There are lots of good things about BMWs but few like their TPMS system. My wife's will tell her which tire but mine just screams that something is low. A lot, incessantly. And after you fill them, it still yells for awhile even if you reset it. The system has sensors in each tire so it could give you pressure but it doesn't, at least in my admittedly low end BMW. No dipstick and inaccurate (deliberately) speedometer are other pet peeves.

[LCHIEN]

I use an earlier version of this one (HF):

http://www.harborfreight.com/dual-chuck-tire-inflator-with-dial-gauge-61387.html

I don't remember having a problem with it but I also have a real simple little one, I don't remember where it came from. But I hardly ever use that compressor for tires after getting a good 12V.

My bimmer's tires also did what you describe a few weeks ago. I took it out of the garage and drove to work and all was fine. It sat there 10 hours or so and it got colder, maybe down to 20 degrees. Silly low tire pressure warning on dash blotting out other information. I checked the tires and found they were still in the upper 20s and thus, I judged, safe to drive on. I filled it up back in the garage. There are lots of good things about BMWs but few like their TPMS system. My wife's will tell her which tire but mine just screams that something is low. A lot, incessantly. And after you fill them, it still yells for awhile even if you reset it. The system has sensors in each tire so it could give you pressure but it doesn't, at least in my admittedly low end BMW. No dipstick and inaccurate (deliberately) speedometer are other pet peeves.

I have that HF chuck and in some ways its great - the dual head allows me to get to my car tires more easily even if they are upside down. The rubber outer casing for the gauge protects it from the driveway as you sling the hose around.
My main complaint is that the gauge has 220 PSI full scale which gives me very low resolution when filling car tires at 30 to 33 PSI range or ( but adequate for bicycle tires at 72 to 80 PSI.) Sure wish it had 110 PSI range instead of 220 PSI!

[JimD]

I find some sort of gauge on the hose to be a big help, even when it's crude and not terribly accurate. I use my better gauge after getting to the desired pressure or a little more. My 12V compressor doesn't give me a very accurate pressure but it reads consistently close to 5 psi low so I know how to compensate.

[dbhost]

An interesting post. I have personally never had a problem getting air to go into tires. And trust me, I have worked on a LOT of tires over the years! This is new to me.... FWIW, I have only ever used Milton chucks. I have had one fail as in it literally fell apart, but it was at least 30 years of all day long daily service station use, never had one not fill a tire though...