Michelin High Power Tyre Inflator - any good?

[TR4man]

Bearing in mind the OP's concern was potentially inaccurate pressure gauges based upon the opinion of his local tyre fitter, I wonder how you would ensure that the gauges and tyre inflators you have at home are any more accurate than those on a petrol station forecourt?

Yes, that's fine when the gauges are new, what do you do after they have been used many times over the months? They don't remain accurate, they lose it (as commercial gauges do, hence the need for calibration).

Do you get them calibrated too? :roll:

The group test I linked to focuses on accuracy as one of the main features. Providing a gauge is within permitted spec, usually 0.3 - 0.5 psi you will have no issues, particularly when you consider that ambient weather temperatures will make far, far more difference than that (1 psi for each 10 Fahrenheit degree increase in temperature).

 

[TR4man]

Bearing in mind the OP's concern was potentially inaccurate pressure gauges based upon the opinion of his local tyre fitter, I wonder how you would ensure that the gauges and tyre inflators you have at home are any more accurate than those on a petrol station forecourt?

Do you get them calibrated too? :roll:

The group test I linked to focuses on accuracy as one of the main features. Providing a gauge is within permitted spec, usually 0.3 - 0.5 psi you will have no issues, particularly when you consider that ambient weather temperatures will make far, far more difference than that (1 psi for each 10 Fahrenheit degree increase in temperature).

Yes, that's fine when the gauges are new, what do you do after they have been used many times over the months? They don't remain accurate, they lose it (as commercial gauges do, hence the need for calibration).

 

[un1eash]

I have the Race X RX0014 gauge.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000VZ8S26/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_tl9ZAb8RX1PX8

Every electric pump I've tried always dies after a few years, the latest Michelin manual pump failed after a few months as the hose went brittle and snapped. I now use an old £5 manual pump I got well over 15 years ago from motor world, then adjust using the gauge.

 

[markeg]

Bearing in mind the OP's concern was potentially inaccurate pressure gauges based upon the opinion of his local tyre fitter, I wonder how you would ensure that the gauges and tyre inflators you have at home are any more accurate than those on a petrol station forecourt?

Do you get them calibrated too? :roll:

I have TPMS on my car - so if the Michelin pump, digital gauge and TPMS are all stating the same reading, I'm pretty confident the Michelin pump is pretty accurate.

 

[Ewazix]

Bearing in mind the OP's concern was potentially inaccurate pressure gauges based upon the opinion of his local tyre fitter, I wonder how you would ensure that the gauges and tyre inflators you have at home are any more accurate than those on a petrol station forecourt?

Do you get them calibrated too? :roll:

I have TPMS on my car - so if the Michelin pump, digital gauge and TPMS are all stating the same reading, I'm pretty confident the Michelin pump is pretty accurate.

A pretty reckless attitude :wink:

....... But seriously apart from using well rated gauges etc as you do what's the alternative? :?

at the end of the day providing the tyre is within the specified range (which it's bound to be if you are using the pump plus a gauge) it's down to how you set up your preferences anyway. Then the most important thing is that pressures are the same on the axle pair.

 

[ben g]

I hope that Michelin one is better than the Michelin one I bought a couple of years ago. You can set the desired pressure on the front panel and the pump will auto cutoff when it reaches the set pressure

Except for when it doesn’t work, and blows your tyre out . I was bent down next to it trying to figure out why it was taking so long when it literally blew me off my feet. Also had grit in my eyes for a couple of days.

Not a good experience I can tell you.
0A626576-6F53-41D8-B123-82E7D3FA469D.jpeg
FCD28EA1-BED0-4165-9AB4-A1D18350A28D.jpeg

RIP to this man's thumb

 

[ben g]

I have a ring 630 tyre inflator. It's been in my car for at least 5 years. Gets a fair bit of use pumping up my tyres, work colleagues tyres and also footballs.

A friend used it last year and then used his Michelin tyre pressure gauge afterwards. He said the ring 630 was within 0.5psi of the stated pressure, which is good enough for me.

It does only go up to 35psi, which can be annoying. But I usually go for 32 front, 34 rear in my tyres anyway, so it's not an issue for me.

 

[TR4man]

Bearing in mind the OP's concern was potentially inaccurate pressure gauges based upon the opinion of his local tyre fitter, I wonder how you would ensure that the gauges and tyre inflators you have at home are any more accurate than those on a petrol station forecourt?

Do you get them calibrated too? :roll:

I have TPMS on my car - so if the Michelin pump, digital gauge and TPMS are all stating the same reading, I'm pretty confident the Michelin pump is pretty accurate.

A pretty reckless attitude :wink:

....... But seriously apart from using well rated gauges etc as you do what's the alternative? :?

at the end of the day providing the tyre is within the specified range (which it's bound to be if you are using the pump plus a gauge) it's down to how you set up your preferences anyway. Then the most important thing is that pressures are the same on the axle pair.

Very true.

So you may as well just carry on using the ones on petrol station forecourts which are likely to be just as accurate as those we use at home as none of them are calibrated.

 

[Theog]

Hi all,

Thanks for this feedback.

I was near halfords the other day so thought I would just go ahead and get one. I went for the slightly more expensive one (£46 http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/tyre-inflators-pressure-gauges/michelin-programmable-rapid-tyre-inflator) as it has functions to remember the pressures. I think with the cheaper one it only pumps and doesn't stop at designated X PSI. This one remembers the pressure and pumps / releases where necessary (this is what the guy said anyways). I think it pumps quicker too, so I thought £10 is probably good given my impatient nature.

So far I have been quite happy with the initial usage of it. It pumps from 0-30 psi in ~3mins, so it was quite quick going from 32 to 34 etc.

Cables are long (to sig light), but you have to pass the unit through each side of the door for them to reach left and right wheels. If only it was ~1m longer could pump each side. Very small factor, but just thought I would mention.

Rather than buying a separate pressure gauge, I might pop down to my local tyre place and compare it to what this one says, then do the same in 5 months time or so. See if there are any differences.

If there are, then I may buy a separate gauge..... to be honest, I will buy one anyways because they look useful, but I will probably save that as an additional toy to play with down the line.

On a slight side note, does anyone have an experience with third party tyre pressure systems? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tyre-Pressure-Monitoring-System-Tools/b?ie=UTF8&node=7108279031

Might be quite good just to monitor variations. Or are these generally terrible?

Thanks

T