Tire fill: Something different in the air

[oil pan 4]

Here is a bias ply, 8 inch rimmed trailer tire with the air pulled out of it.
I pulled a gentile vacuum, filled to 30psi with CO2. Blead CO2 down to 23psig and filled with 404a till it was at 55psi.
The max pressure on the side wall is 60psi for this tire.
Looks like this will be the first on road test.

After weeks of checking pressure on CO2 filled and CO2/404a filled tires, yeilding results about as dramatic and dynamic as watching a tree grow. Its time for another small step.

[oil pan 4]

Since I filled the 8 inch rim trailer tires with the mixture and they are small enough to fit in the freezer so I put a tire in the freezer for about 6 hours.
When i removed it the metal rim was showing 4°F to 5°F and the tire its self was less than 10°F.
Pressure dropped to 42psi over about a 85°F temperature change.
That was less of a pressure drop than I was expecting.
So the danger of it getting cold out side and making the tires go flat has been removed as a possibility.

[deejaaa]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

Here is a bias ply, 8 inch rimmed trailer tire with the air pulled out of it.
I pulled a gentile vacuum, filled to 30psi with CO2. Blead CO2 down to 23psig and filled with 404a till it was at 55psi.
The max pressure on the side wall is 60psi for this tire.
Looks like this will be the first on road test.

After weeks of checking pressure on CO2 filled and CO2/404a filled tires, yeilding results about as dramatic and dynamic as watching a tree grow. Its time for another small step.

and paint drying.

[oil pan 4]

I sold the trailer that had the tires I was going to test the helium fill with. That one is off the table for now.
I need to pick up a spare tire for my small tired trailer and could do the helium fill test then.

[oil pan 4]

I took the trailer tires filled with the mixture on their first voyage. They were my 4.8x8inch load range B bias ply tires used on my aluminum trailer, tney were on my trailer when I originally bought it. We took 200lb of steel to be recycled at the scrap yard.
These tires are rated around 440lb each. The weight of the trailer plus the load of scrap put them at about 50% capacity.
And it worked. No catastrophic failure, or any failure, deficiency of any kind.

This was a 2,000lb trailer, but I reduced its capacity when literally sold the 12inch 990lb each load range C tires out from under it. They were 5 years old, made a trip to Maine and 2 trips to virginia and back so they were getting warn down and some one offered me $50 for them, think I paid $75 each for them and I have definitely gotten my $150 out of them. I like how the trailer sits low to the ground with these 8inch wheels, makes it easy to load and unload. To restore its 1 ton capacity I will not be buying tall narrow 12 inch wheels again. Instead I will buy and install brand new 5.7x8inch load range C wheels rated for around 1,020lb each, costing around $56 each.

[oil pan 4]

Went 100 miles with my fancy tire air in my 8x18 foot deck over trailer with a car on it, in the texas heat, 100 miles each way.
Nothing happened, they just did their job.
Until now this trailer had just been driven around town and to the next town over in cooler weather.
One of the tires had a slow leak, leaked down to 20psi and refilled with air. I am just going to keep refilling the slow leaker with air. The others will be topped off with, CO2 one time then 404a the next, as needed.

I have had the smaller tires on the 4x8 trailer on there now for months and done lots of small tows. They are still fine.

[markweatherill]

How about water?

Bean bag beads?

[RedDevil]

One thing that keeps nagging on me is what those gases will do when it gets cold; condensation may occur and make the tire collapse.

CO2 is unfit for winter use up north as it will condensate at near atmospheric pressure when it gets really cold.
R-404a condensates at room temperature at pressures higher than tire pressure, but not that far off. I don't know the exact condensation point for that but suspect it lies at an even higher temperature than CO2.

It would be interesting to know what happens when you fill a balloon or such with your mixture and put it in the fridge.

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

One thing that keeps nagging on me is what those gases will do when it gets cold; condensation may occur and make the tire collapse.

CO2 is unfit for winter use up north as it will condensate at near atmospheric pressure when it gets really cold.
R-404a condensates at room temperature at pressures higher than tire pressure, but not that far off. I don't know the exact condensation point for that but suspect it lies at an even higher temperature than CO2.

It would be interesting to know what happens when you fill a balloon or such with your mixture and put it in the fridge.

See post 32, I already tested it down to 5'F.
That is about as cold as it normally gets here in new mexico.

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

See post 32, I already tested it down to 5'F.
That is about as cold as it normally gets here in new mexico.

I see. Sorry for that. Good to know it works in the cold too.