Nitrogen..., Where to get it. Options

[BMXerror]

Hey all. I was just wondering if there's any place to buy nitrogen for tires just with a tire chuck, or if I have to get one of those high pressure cylinders and regulate it down. That is all. Thanks. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Mark D.

[sww914]

I think if it's under so little pressure that you can haul it around in an aerosol can then there isn't enough in there to inflate a tire. I've asked for air at 2 different tire stores, one local and one Costco, they both gave me nitrogen, no charge.
I wouldn't bother, air is already 78% nitrogen but the nitrogen is dry so tire pressures don't fluctuate as much with temperature changes.

[EdwardBlume]

I think if it's under so little pressure that you can haul it around in an aerosol can then there isn't enough in there to inflate a tire. I've asked for air at 2 different tire stores, one local and one Costco, they both gave me nitrogen, no charge.
I wouldn't bother, air is already 78% nitrogen but the nitrogen is dry so tire pressures don't fluctuate as much with temperature changes.

+1 on Costco. I have 35000 miles on Michelins from Costo with nitrogen in it. I check them occasionally, and they stand on their PSIs like nothing I've seen before.

[BMXerror]

...but the nitrogen is dry so tire pressures don't fluctuate as much with temperature changes.

Well, that's the whole point. I started running SCCA Solo 2 this year, and the way they set up their runs, there's a lot of temperature fluctuation, and this makes pressures rather hard to control. I think it'd be less of a problem if I were road racing, where I would get my tires up to temperature and keep them there for a while. I read today that with "pure" nitrogen, your tire pressures should fluctuate approximately 2% for every 10 degrees of temperature change. I've observed about 6% with atmosphere. If it's free (or fairly cheap) I'll give it a shot and see if it's worth my trouble. Thanks for the tip guys. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Mark D.

[carr914]

It all depends on the installation of the Nitrogen. You have to completely cycle the "normal air" out of your tires before the installation of the nitrogen. It's not as simple as draining the pressurized air out and putting Nitrogen in. Very few people or even tire shops realize this. If you have any "normal air" in the tire when you add the Nitrogen, it is now contaminated and you're back to square one.

Also if you have an air compressor at home or a portable air tank that you take to the track, you're screwed. That's why at professional races, you see the big Nitrogen bottles.

In theory, Nitrogen is great, but in the normal world it is hard or near impossible to achieve.

T.C.

[Randal]

It all depends on the installation of the Nitrogen. You have to completely cycle the "normal air" out of your tires before the installation of the nitrogen. It's not as simple as draining the pressurized air out and putting Nitrogen in. Very few people or even tire shops realize this. If you have any "normal air" in the tire when you add the Nitrogen, it is now contaminated and you're back to square one.

Also if you have an air compressor at home or a portable air tank that you take to the track, you're screwed. That's why at professional races, you see the big Nitrogen bottles.

In theory, Nitrogen is great, but in the normal world it is hard or near impossible to achieve.

T.C.

So what is the process for getting the nitrogen out?

[carr914]

You need the Oxygen & moisture out, that what plays havoc with the pressures. The correct way is to have a vacuum machine extract the old air out, fill with Nitro gen, vacuum/extract the 1st fill of Nitrogen out as that WILL be contaminated and then fill with Nitrogen again.

Then never put regular air back in the tires.

Places like CostCo or tire shops will just fill the tires up with Nitrogen without purging the Oxygen & moisture.

T.C.

[brant]

you need to originally mount the tires with nitrogen
the circle track guys believe that if a tire was ever mounted with air, it will never be 100%

they make purging machines you can buy to use after the tire is mounted to vacuum all atmosphere out and then refill with nitrogen for racing.

I've also been told that 6 complete fill and drains will work nearly as good as a purging station.

buy a big bottle/tank
they use different regulators than some other gasses.
figure about 250 for a tank and regulators plus the gas itself

fill/purge
fill/purge
fill/purge
fill/purge
fill/purge
fill/purge

and by the way
road racing guys don't have it much easier
it take 1.5 laps to get those tires warm enough and then they go away after about 6-10 laps when they overheat
(all phases/states in one session)