# Colour changing tyre pressure monitors -do they work ?



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

One of the magazines that dropped out of the Caravan Club mag just now has colour changing tyre pressure monitors that go up to psi's suitable for use on motorhome tyres ( ie up to 80 psi). You buy a set that match the pressure of your tyres.

They replace the valve cap and will show yellow if tyre pressure is low or red if very low. Normal pressure is shown as green.

They're available in pairs at £ 8.95 or £12.90 for 4.

Question: does anyone use them or has anyone used them and could comment on their reliability ?

G


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Hi Grizz

I had a set for the car, but that was years ago . . . and with any luck they have improved since then!! :roll: 

They were randomly accurate to within about plus or minus 5psi, and with a car tyre that's quite a big percentage.

They got binned after quite a short lifespan in favour of a dial pressure gauge - though a digital would be more convenient these days.

Hope this helps

Dave


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## Chausson (Oct 17, 2006)

Hi Grizz
I had a set on my M/H until I walked around the van while parked on aire in France and heard a rather loud hiss, I discovered it was one of these cap thingys so off they came pretty damn quick. I contacted the company all they had to say was "I shall send you a new one" they have been consigned to the bin.

Ron


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Many thanks both, that's money well saved !

We've had one or two nasty shocks with low tyre pressure and I get twitchy until they are checked each morning ( we have a digital gauge).

I just hoped this might save the look of quiet resignation I get when I comment that the tyres look flat....!

G


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## scept1c (May 10, 2005)

Hi Grizzly, I have been using these for approx 3 years and I think they're pretty good.

It's so easy to make a daily check that your pressures are good by simply walking round van and looking at the caps. I do a proper check with a gauge every three or four weeks as well.

I also had a simple air suspension setup at one time and I used the caps on them as well.

Having said that I did have a problem this year. When on an aire in France, I spotted one cap was showing a yellow band indicating the pressure was low. I got the electric pump out and brought the tyre up to pressure then left the pump connected to see if the tyre was deflating. After a few minutes everything seemed ok so I refitted the cap and heard a hissing sound from the cap. I fitted a spare cap and all was ok again.

A month later, the same tyre started to deflate and I again fitted a spare cap and all has been ok since then.

I have not lost faith in the caps yet. The caps I had been using in the past were supplied by Ultraseal and I've never had any problems with them. The failing ones were bought on ebay at a much lower price and I have a theory that the quality may not be as good. I'm planning to get some Ultraseal spares before my next trip.

My current van on the Fiat X250 chassis does not have a spare and like my previous van, I have had Ultraseal injected into the tyres. I know that some will disagree but I feel a lot safer with Ultraseal. A local agent installed it for £50 plus an extra £10 for my motorbike in January. Good value when you check the price for DIY material. 

When the tyre started to deflate a second time as described above, I wanted to ensure that the problem was with the pressure cap and not a resealed puncture so I took the wheel off and made a close inspection of the tyre.


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## carol (May 9, 2005)

Grizzly said:


> One of the magazines that dropped out of the Caravan Club mag just now has colour changing tyre pressure monitors that go up to psi's suitable for use on motorhome tyres ( ie up to 80 psi). You buy a set that match the pressure of your tyres.
> 
> They replace the valve cap and will show yellow if tyre pressure is low or red if very low. Normal pressure is shown as green.
> 
> ...


Hi G again

WE had them on the Hymer and bought new for the Rapido - we had no problems until down in France, but we had a spare swapped it over and when we got home I phoned them up and they sent out another set to us.

We have been using them now for 7 years - and we are pleased with them.

Carol


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Hi G.
They came with my van. Seem to be OK and no loses yet. But the difference in the colours is so slight and being one of the one in five men who have a colour deficiency I don't always notice any change.
I check em with a digital gauge before a trip.

Ray.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Honours seem to be even in this !

I think I'll order one pair and see how we get on before going for all four. 

Thanks again everybody. 

G


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## RichardnGill (Aug 31, 2006)

You would be better of spend your money on a good pressure gauge, then in about 1 minute or so you could check all your tyre pressures very accurate. 

A dust cap is considered as a secondary seal to the valve core, meaning if a valve core fails the dust cap will still continue to hold the air pressure (even a plastic cap will do this). 

With pressure monitoring caps you have a far grater change of loosing air from the valve, that is a basic fact. 


Me personally I would never have them and that is MHO after 20+ years working in the tyre industry. 


Richard..


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

RichardnGill said:


> A dust cap is considered as a secondary seal to the valve core, meaning if a valve core fails the dust cap will still continue to hold the air pressure (even a plastic cap will do this).


Yes indeed, and a slowly deflating tyre is potentially the most dangerous of all. 8O

Rattling down the motorway you would be most unlikely even to notice it getting softer . . . until the tyre heats up so much it fails suddenly and catastrophically! (_No further graphic description necessary I think!! _8O )

(That is why I always put Ultraseal in my tyres, as this is primarily what it is designed to prevent - *but it will have no effect on a leaking valve*.)

Before anyone flames me - please note _I have not even mentioned the gadgets in question_ 8O 8O but a bit of relevant information could help with a decision. :wink:

Dave


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## bob44 (Mar 9, 2006)

Colour changing tyre pressure monitors -do they work ?

Hi Grizzly

Yes.

FWIW - V Happy with ours: In use on Car & Mhome for last 4 years.

(They like them in Cork, too - 'cos someone out there has been using an original set of ours since they removed them from our 'Van in 2005!)

Bob L


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## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

I want the sort they have in F1 with tyre temperatures and pressure relayed by telemetry to my dashboard..... or on second thoughts I'll go back to kicking them every six months


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## b16duv (Feb 14, 2006)

sallytrafic said:


> I want the sort they have in F1 with tyre temperatures and pressure relayed by telemetry to my dashboard..... or on second thoughts I'll go back to kicking them every six months


Try this HERE, if you have deep pockets.

As a rough guide, checking the tyres for temperature with the back of your hand after a drive is an easy way to indicate problems - ie when stopping for fuel, just walk round van and place back of hand on sidewall - if tyres are more than 'warm' then could be under-inflated. The 'warmth' should be relatively the same amongst all tyres on vehicle.

This is not an infallible method, merely a rough guide, but I have used it for years and a soft tyre is easily detectable.

HTH

David


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## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

Goodness when you consider the size of your financial and emotional commitment £169 ain't a lot to pay to look after those little bits of rubber that are your only contact with the ground.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

I bought a 'Raytek' laser temp gun when in the states from Radio Shack at about $30.
It takes a few seconds to point the gun at all RV and toad tyres to see any impending problem. 

I'm sure they are available in UK for not much more.

Ray.


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## b16duv (Feb 14, 2006)

sallytrafic said:


> Goodness when you consider the size of your financial and emotional commitment £169 ain't a lot to pay to look after those little bits of rubber that are your only contact with the ground.


When i mentioned 'deep pockets' I was really meaning relative to the cost of a digital pressure gauge, or the valve cap indicators! (not the motorhome!).

A good system though, especially if they do a 12volt system that goes to 80 psi.

Raynipper, i like the sound of you laser temeperature gun!

David


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Tyres*

Hello G,

We recently came back through Belgium. I mentioned the strange noise from the wheels and tyres and the rest of the crew suggested it was my paranoia (had checked the tyres 3 times on our 2 week trip). I put it down to those Belgium Concrete motorways.

Weh we left Hull I pulled in at the motorway services only to find one of the inner rear tyres was flat, broken plastic valve extender was to blame, could hardly touch the outer tyre it was so HOT.

Not having a spare we managed to nip to local Garage fro them to inflate and check the tyre.

I have seen some quality visual tyre monitors on a US website somewhere, I will see if I can retrieve the info.

After all, you would not want this to happen


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Cats Eye*

This is what I was thinking of

Cats Eye
Cats Eye UK


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## b16duv (Feb 14, 2006)

Valve extenders for the inner wheel of a twin wheel set up are prone to problems.

I once had a double blow out on a truck - the inner tyre had a rubber valve extender that was supposed to be secured by a clip on the outer wheel. 

This clip broke and the rubber extender waggled about in one of the holes in the outer rim until it ruptured, allowing all the air to escape from inner tyre.

The outer tyre was now taking all the weight on the offside of the axle - it overheated and blew - first of me knowing there was a problem.

You can get rubber, plastic, and I think, stainless steel braided extensions, as well as the traditional rigid steel ones.

For some reason (?) they always remove the valve at the wheel end and put it in the end of the extender - I would have thought retaining the one at the wheel end (instead of or) as well as the one at the outer end of the extender would be good practise. Maybe there is a technical reason why they don't do this.

If using flexible extenders, make sure they are secured to the outer wheel!

HTH

David


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Hi David,
Another thing you might like to take a look at is the steel valve extenders used on most quality RVs.

http://www.wheelmasters.com/hoses.html

Ray.


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## b16duv (Feb 14, 2006)

raynipper said:


> Hi David,
> Another thing you might like to take a look at is the steel valve extenders used on most quality RVs.
> 
> http://www.wheelmasters.com/hoses.html
> ...


Ray,

That's the ones I was referring to.

These are nice shiny stainless steel ones, whereas us (ex) truckers use a much more utilitarian version!

Thankfully, I don't have twin wheels anymore (hooray!), I was just trying to be helpful (as you are too)

David


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## Patrick_Phillips (Aug 17, 2006)

Chausson said:


> Hi Grizz
> I had a set on my M/H until I walked around the van while parked on aire in France and heard a rather loud hiss, I discovered it was one of these cap thingys so off they came pretty damn quick.
> Ron


We have them on all 6 wheels of the van, two trailer wheels and all 4 smart car wheels. Had the same leakage problems. It seems that the type with a fixed pre-set pressure are prone to leaking but the ones that just measure pressure loss are a lot more reliable - no problems in 6 months.  
The fixed pressure type also look a lot more attractive to thieving fingers. 8O 
Not an alternative to digital pressure guage (and compressor - how annoying to have a flat when on a campsite) but I do check all tyres before every journey now, which I never did before fitting the caps.
Patrick


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## Patrick_Phillips (Aug 17, 2006)

Just posted and it has appeared as b16duv with another quote that I didn't make 8O 8O 8O 
Sorry to impersonate you, b16duv  
Even odder is that on the reply copy, the post is correct... 8O 
Patrick

PS. This has posted fine...


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## b16duv (Feb 14, 2006)

Guys an gals,

i don't know whether it's just me, but my previous post (answer to Raynipper anout valve extensions) hasn't appeared, but Patricks post is appearing as my post!

For the sake of my sanity! please will someone post/pm me to say that theirs is the same, or is appearing normally.

The last three post were Raynipper, Me (B16DUV), and Patrick_Phillips

Thanks

David


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## b16duv (Feb 14, 2006)

Thank goodness it wasn't just me, Patrick!

It seems to be OK now though?

Weird!

Oh, no it's not! (edit)

Don't worry about my post (reply to Ray), it was just my usual drivel anyway!


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