Looking for a new tire pressure gauge - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Daox · 05-16-2017, 04:20 PM

So, I've had a few different tire pressure gauges. The digital ones are nice because they give you exact numbers (not that its THAT important). Mechanical ones are nice because they don't need batteries. I think I'm leaning towards a mechanical one, but I'd also like something accurate that lasts. So, I'm looking for suggestions. What do you guys like and why? Thanks!

jonzobot · 05-16-2017, 06:13 PM

I have a digital one that I keep in the garage for when I'm at home and checking pressure (usually when I'm changing tires). I keep a mechanical "stick" type for emergencies in the glovebox. At higher pressures I'm not sure the stick types can be really relied on for much accuracy - but that's just my guess.

oil pan 4 · 05-16-2017, 06:13 PM

I have a tire slime gauge it's pretty accurate. It reads 1psi high across pretty much the entire span.
I don't know how accurate the digital ones are.

nemo · 05-16-2017, 06:25 PM

I use an dial Accu-Gage.
The mechanical accuracy rating is ± 2% from 30% to 60% of scale. If you are interested in more info go here https://www.ghmeiser.com/index.htm

ksa8907 · 05-16-2017, 10:54 PM

My job deals directly with accurate temperature and pressure measurement. I think what you're after is repeatability and not accuracy. It doesn't matter that your tire is exactly 40.000 psig, it is more important that the tires are approximately the same pressure.

The transducers we use in high volume are around $1000 and error is +/- 0.4% of full scale, we buy 0-30, 0-100, and 0-600. The transducers we use for critical places are about $1500 and are +/- 0.05% of full scale and are 0-2300 psig.

I'll drive the point home, ignore accuracy and go for repeatability in this case.

Also, the reason they are so expensive is because they are high quality electronic transducers. So how good is that $5 digital tire guage?

+/- 2% of full scale on a gauge that goes up to 100 psig would be 2psig. So instead of 40 it could be anywhere from 38 to 42 with no way for you to know.

nemo · 05-17-2017, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ksa8907

+/- 2% of full scale on a gauge that goes up to 100 psig would be 2psig. So instead of 40 it could be anywhere from 38 to 42 with no way for you to know.

So if the gauge is 60 PSI then the 2% is 1.2 PSI from 18 to 36 PSI (30 to 60 percent of scale). Would have thought the the percentage would have been of the actual reading not of the gauge limit.

Ecky · 05-17-2017, 08:30 AM

I just plug in my tire pump now and then, it has a gauge on it. If the tire is below my threshold, I turn it on and add air.

Gasoline Fumes · 05-17-2017, 02:12 PM

I wasn't happy with the gauge I bought. And I wasn't happy with the other cheap gauges available. So I made my own! I used the quick-connects so I could swap tire chucks with my compressor if I needed to.

ksa8907 · 05-17-2017, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nemo

So if the gauge is 60 PSI then the 2% is 1.2 PSI from 18 to 36 PSI (30 to 60 percent of scale). Would have thought the the percentage would have been of the actual reading not of the gauge limit.

If it were, then if you were reading 1psig your error would be 0.02psig. Not realistic.

2000mc · 05-18-2017, 02:58 AM

I've found <$10 mechanical gauges are typically inaccurate, or become so in short order. <$15 electronic gauges are typically very accurate but have awful durability. Nicer mechanical gauges may last a lifetime for personal use, but remain consistent <5yrs used professionally. I've had a https://www.matcotools.com/catalog/p...RESSURE-GAUGE/ for about 10yrs, and it still agrees with most tpms within 1psi and is perfectly consistent retesting the same tire, batteries last a lot longer than I expected ~3yrs.