Terry500
Site Supporter
Tire Gauge, Mine is off 10% which one should I get
- Thread starter tnman
- Start date
Andrew Shadow
Site Supporter
Pencil gauges that aren't worth a crap aren't worth a crap. Anyone who buys a cheap plastic pencil gauge made in China can expect to get a piece of crap pencil gauge. Milton pencil gauges are better quality than the cheap plastic ones and they scored quite well. As with all things not all are created equal. The most inaccurate tire gauge that I tested was a digital.
Digital the best? I've had mixed luck with digital. As shown in the video one of the rhino digital's was off 10 pounds at the 40 psi testing. And when the batteries get weak they are even worse or don't work at all IMHO.
I've had a couple of pencil type gauges for years in my bikes and I always have that one favorite for a calibration standard. Of course I've tested them myself for accuracy before I consider them good for use. They ([pencil) seldom fail "a little" it works until it doesn't in my experience.
Back when I was "working" I tested my air gauges at work against calibrated gauges. Now days I test them against all of the electronic devices available to me before I carry them. Every car and truck now has a tire pressure monitor built in. Read the trucks pressures and use the pencil gauge to compare. You've tested both the pencil gauge and the variation of the trucks 4 sensors. go to the next car and repeat.
In air pressure close enough is good enough most times and I seem to be able to feel by handling when the MC tires handle best and the scallops and handling will tell me if more pressure is needed.
I ordered up two Dewalt pencil gauges after watching the video yesterday "before this thread talk happened". $9 for 2 and I'll test the accuracy myself then carry them or not.
I've had a couple of pencil type gauges for years in my bikes and I always have that one favorite for a calibration standard. Of course I've tested them myself for accuracy before I consider them good for use. They ([pencil) seldom fail "a little" it works until it doesn't in my experience.
Back when I was "working" I tested my air gauges at work against calibrated gauges. Now days I test them against all of the electronic devices available to me before I carry them. Every car and truck now has a tire pressure monitor built in. Read the trucks pressures and use the pencil gauge to compare. You've tested both the pencil gauge and the variation of the trucks 4 sensors. go to the next car and repeat.
In air pressure close enough is good enough most times and I seem to be able to feel by handling when the MC tires handle best and the scallops and handling will tell me if more pressure is needed.
I ordered up two Dewalt pencil gauges after watching the video yesterday "before this thread talk happened". $9 for 2 and I'll test the accuracy myself then carry them or not.
rwthomas1
Site Supporter
Funny, was just thinking about this. The seasons are changing so I fire the bike up at @45*F but ride home at @75*F. Tire pressure can vary 4-5psi with that temp swing. TPMS system tracks pretty well with the electronic gauges I have. I have a nice mechanical but it was consistently 4psi low. I buy the cheap 3pack of digital gauges from Amazon, I like the ones with replaceable AAA batteries. When I test the gauges they all report within 0.1psi of each other. Are they accurate? They match TPMS, and the adjusted value of the mechanical gauge so good enough. At least they are consistent....
wjbertrand
Ventura Highway
I just picked up an Oxford Digigauge. It’s very hard to get the typical 45° head seated on the valve stem and have room for the pencil type gauge plunger to expand freely. Even digital ones with 45° heads have to be maneuvered between the spokes of my Super Ténéré to use. PITA! The Oxford one has a 90° head - so much easier. I can’t really use 90° stems because the internal TPMS sensors have integral straight stems.
It seems to agree well with the TPMS system pressures which the manufacturer claims are accurate to 0.1 PSI. Hopefully it’ll prove accurate and durable over the long term.
It seems to agree well with the TPMS system pressures which the manufacturer claims are accurate to 0.1 PSI. Hopefully it’ll prove accurate and durable over the long term.
I got my $4.40 each Dewalt pencil type air gauges today. I compared them to 3 tires on the Suburban. The Sub said 33, 33, and 32 for pressures. The Dewalts were both within 1 psi so in the bikes they went. They read 32.5 and 32.8 if you care. The gauges are graduated in 1 psi increments on all 4 sides. I like.
GEFM. Good enough for me!
ST Gui
240Robert
I agree. First how does anyone know the deviation from accurate? To do that it needs to be compared to some certifiable standards or it's merely guess work.
"A buddy has an XYZ gauge and the manufacturer says it's accurate down to .X%!" Uh ok. Digital or analog by the time it gets to use most of us will never know or have a way to verify the claims. Maybe test 10 gauges and see how many come within 1 or 2lbs of another? 4 out of 10 read the same and the rest are all different?
Maybe watching tire wear and correlating it to air pressure might help. I dunno. I have a battery powered inflator that I set to a pressure and it turns off. A common type of product. But I don't know that 38 (car) or 42 (ST) is accurate. Given that at an indicated 42lbs the bike goes up on the center stand fairly easy. Not a clinical test in the slightest. I take it on faith.
I had a friend who did a lot of lifting with free weights. He'd take plates to the PO and weigh them. Then he's drill a series of divots until they weighed exactly (so he said) the indicated weight. Much ado but it kept him off the streets. But he said they had certified weights to check their scales so there was a standard he had access to.
If only there were a consumer source to get a gauge accurately tested so you could either upgrade or compensate. Barring that- accuracy is arguable.
Andrew Shadow
Site Supporter
Most cities of any significant size will have a calibration service around and most of them will test a gauge for someone off the street if you want to pay for it. I have no idea what it would cost but I don't know that it is worth the expense either. If a person goes to the dollar store and buys a cheaply made pencil gauge that has an all plastic body that warps in the heat of the sun I think that they should not be surprised if it is not very accurate. If a person buys a good quality gauge from a reputable company chances are that it will be more than accurate enough for the type of pleasure riding that most of us do. Many of the higher quality ones come with a calibration certificate so at least you know that it is accurate when you receive it. I guess that my point is that it is better to put more money towards purchasing a good quality gauge vs putting that money towards getting a cheaper gauge tested for accuracy.
Where I previously worked I had the benefit of having air pressure gauges that were tested for accuracy and calibrated on a regular basis. I brought an array of tire pressure gauges in to work one day and checked them all against a calibrated/certified gauge. Many people assume that digital gauges are more accurate, I guess because of the digital display that displays the result in tenths of a pound and which are easy to read. That should not be confused with accuracy however. The display is only the interface for the user to read the result, it doesn't really have anything to do with the accuracy of the gauge. I did this test for my own curiosity and I found the results interesting.
The results of the tests that I did are here.