Favorite DIGITAL Tire Pressure Gauge?
My old one died. Had pressure checked in one tire shop then got suspicious when I felt every damned road gravel chip in steering wheel. Next tire shop claimed Cuarenta y ocho libras 48 lbs. Bled press...
Forum Discussion
Kayteg1 wrote:
What is with this "digital" obsession.
Do you have digital toilet paper dispenser?
Did no think so.
I have several dial-type pressure gauges and the best working is the one that I got over 20 years ago for free from auto warehouse as promotion.
Not only very compact design, bright color for easy finding and very accurate.
For those very precision jobs I made a chuck with gauge having 6" dia scale.
Pretty accurate, but too clumsy for everyday use.
I pump air about once a year, so check it 2 or 3 times a year.
Had a digital years ago but after using it 5 times batteries went dead.
I replaced the batteries and one use later whole thing went dead.
Get good quality mechanical gauge and compare the scale to reliable gauge.
That is all you need for next 20-40 years.
I have found over the years that most low cost dial type pressure gauges will tend to be not so accurate over the full scale AND there is something called "parallax error" that comes into play.
Parallax error comes from the ANGLE you view the analog needle from.
That error can be substantial if you are not looking straight above the needle.. And on small 2" store bought gauges with 100 lb range the parallax error is on the order of +/(-) 2 lbs depending on how close the gradients are..
Have a old school analog Volt Ohm meter which has a mirror placed under the needle.. That mirror is there to indicate if your looking at the correct angle.. If you are not able to see the underside of the needle then you are reading the measurement correctly.
If you see a reflection of the underside then you are not at the correct angle.
For years I did use old school analog gauges, but I didn't buy them new from a store.. I made my own using a more precise more expensive gauge and a air chuck.. Still have one for old time sake, but have found the the 1/2 lb increments of the new fangled digital gauges to be far more accurate and much easier to read.
As far as battery life, the oldest digital gauge I have the batteries lasted about 12 yrs.. Just bought two new 386 button cells for it this year.. Cost me a whopping $2 for 12 yrs of use, not gonna break any ones bank for batteries.
