Inflating Tires

vtec to vvel

One day, I woke up and thought what a PITA it is to drive to the gas station to get air in my tires, only to find I'm short 1 quarter, and then having to go inside to get change to be told "you have to buy something".

So I went on Amazon and bought a portable air compressor tire inflator. The thing works wonders and works like a champ, and for sh!ts and giggles, I turned it on without hooking it up to the valve to see how much air would shoot out, and noticed there were small/tiny water mirco-droplets that were shooting out. I'm thinking these droplets probably made it into the tire, and was wonder if the water/moisture inside the tire would hurt anything or if this is normal. Can't exactly dry out or evaporate out of the tire since the rubber is non-porous.

Yes, I tried searching this site, as well as Google, though Google said something about people filling up their tires with water and not air (?).

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crazy4oldcars

Compressing air creates heat, decompressing it creates cool. Blowing yourself with compressed air really IS cooler, altho it is also dangerous.
Cooled air can't hold as much moisture (humidity) as warmer air, and so the moisture condenses out of the air in the form of droplets.
People using compressed air to operate tools, or for painting, have an inline filter to remove the moisture before it gets to the tool or painthead.
As far as your tires are concerned, there isn't enough moisture involved to create a problem. There isn't even enough to create a puddle.


Kirk B.

crazy4oldcars

Filling tires with water is an off-road trick to add weight for traction, at the point it will do the most good. Farmers will put water in tractor tires for the same reason.
Not a good idea on a road car, since fast moving water breaks things.


Kirk B.

Rusty

When a compressor draws in air, the air is compressed about 12 times normal atmospheric pressure. Moisture that is present as a vapor in air begins to condense. More condensation occurs as the compressed air moves through the system and cools. The effect is more pronounced in summer because of higher humidity.

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vtec to vvel

Thanks everyone!

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SouthArk370Z

As per crazy4oldcars and Rusty, that's just the way air compressors work. I've never had it cause a problem with tires and I live in humid South Arkansas. As mentioned above, you can get a water-knockout (cyclone) and/or dryer (desiccant). A cyclone works better with high flow (air tools, paint sprayers, etc) and probably wouldn't work well in your application.

If it bothers you that there is some water in your tires, switch to Nitrogen. Expensive but dry as can be (will even absorb moisture already present in the tire).

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crazy4oldcars

Lol, as long as you don't mind running around with green valve stem caps.

I never really understood this trend. According to advocates, nitrogen doesnt leak out because N2 molecules are larger than O2 molecules.
Air is some 80% nitrogen.
Once the O2 molecules leak out, there would be near 100% N2 in the tire.
Replace the 20% leaked with air, again at 80% N2, meaning the air in the tire is essentially 96% N2.
A couple of more rounds, and, for all intents and purposes, your running nitrogen in your tires, without paying anywhere up to $40 per tire.





Kirk B.

Rusty

Nitrogen in tires came from airplanes. They use it because it doesn't support fire. Plus moisture in tires at high altitude freezes. On landing. Tires can get to over 250F. Turning that ice into steam in seconds. Suddenly increasing tire pressure.

Putting N2 in airplane tire is a process. They don't use the same process for putting N2 in car tires. Costs too much and time consuming. Putting N2 into your tires is just another way to separate your from your money. If you were racing for big bucks. Then it would be worth it.

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