Are TPMS questions

[BeerBrewer]

I've been considering getting TPMS system and I can't decide upon what type of sensors to go with (caps, flow through or internal. Is one better than another?

Does the weight of the sensor (cap or flow thru) effect the valve stem? Does the weight of them causing the stem to wear out and leak air?

How often are TPMS sensors stolen?

Are the sensors interchangeable between manufactures? Meaning will a STS sensor work on a Bellacore TPMS for example?

I've also heard that some systems will display the last know good value if the sensors loses connection to the display unit. This seems like a really really dumb feature. The only possible reason for that feature would be to mask communication issues between the sensors and the system. Are there TPMS that don't do this? If so, please do tell! I'd personally rather see something like "sensor lost" than the last know value.

Thanks

[jjrbus]

I have a cheap Rocboc solar TPMS, with 4 external sensors I use on the back duallys on my little Toyota.

While the pressures and temperatures reported are not NASA accurate, it never fails to report low pressure. Because the system is cheap $40 or so I did not trust it and tested it numerous times. loosen a sensor and it quickly alarms. Take a sensor off, pressure goes to zero and system alarms, within seconds!

My wifes Honda Fit has TPMS, does not say witch tire is low. So I added a Carchet system to her car and it is about the same. The Carchet has the advantage of being able to buy replacement sensors. None of the other cheap ones have replacement sensors available.

Both systems are a pain to program and the instructions are dismal, ya get what ya pay for.

[Still_Searchin_]

We have two trailers, one with Duran TPMS with built in batteries that last about 4-5 years, and a TST system with replaceable watch batteries that seem to last a couple of years. The batteries are activited when placed on the valve stems, and will last longer if removed during storage. The Duran sensors have saved me three times in the last 20 years.

[fj12ryder]

RCMAN46 wrote:

philh wrote:
I have the TST, so far working very well.

They claim if there's a catastrophic failure, it instantly alerts you.

Depends on your definition of instantly. When I adjusted the air pressures with the TST system on my 5th wheel last year by removing the sensor it took up to 10 seconds before the monitor alarmed a loss of pressure. Sometimes it will alarm within 2 seconds.

They claim minutes to alarm a loss of signal. Every time I have left my trailer to go for dinner etc it takes at least one hour before I start getting loss of signal alarms from the sensors on the trailer.

I think the amount of time it takes to alarm is dependent on where it's at in the rotation. It could be instantly if it happens while the monitor is actively checking the sensor, but could be several seconds if the monitor is working its way through the sensors.

[fj12ryder]

BeerBrewer wrote:
I just heard back from EEZRV and the tech told me that the system cycles through the sensors and if it goes to one and its not there, the system will display dashes. He said if that happens a lot that I would probably need a repeater. Which makes sense.

FWIW, the new TST systems come with a repeater. An excellent idea IMO.

[RCMAN46]

philh wrote:
I have the TST, so far working very well.

They claim if there's a catastrophic failure, it instantly alerts you.

Depends on your definition of instantly. When I adjusted the air pressures with the TST system on my 5th wheel last year by removing the sensor it took up to 10 seconds before the monitor alarmed a loss of pressure. Sometimes it will alarm within 2 seconds.

They claim minutes to alarm a loss of signal. Every time I have left my trailer to go for dinner etc it takes at least one hour before I start getting loss of signal alarms from the sensors on the trailer.

[BeerBrewer]

I just heard back from EEZRV and the tech told me that the system cycles through the sensors and if it goes to one and its not there, the system will display dashes. He said if that happens a lot that I would probably need a repeater. Which makes sense.

[fj12ryder]

Unless they've changed the parameters, it takes about an hour for the TST system to realize it's lost a sensor and to notify you, not "several minutes", unless you consider 60 to be "several".

[BeerBrewer]

I already heard back from TST! Unfortunately I wasn't all that happy with what they said.

TSTs reply was as follows:

If a sensor is lost it will read the last temperature and psi for that position. If the display does not receive any data from a sensor, and no parameter has been violated the display is thrown into stasis and it holds on to the last data received as it continues on with the rotation to the other tire positions. It may take several minutes before it recognizes that the sensor is not present.


Someone above just posted that it can take an hour and not minutes to notify of a lost sensor.

[BeerBrewer]

It makes sense to use metal valve stems due the weight of the sensors, now the big question is do I have metal valve stems? See the pic below. The end of the valve stem appears to metal (brass). The base (closes to the rim) on the other hand looks to be rubber or plastic (can't really tell), but I wiggle it a tad. So can these support the screw on sensors? I'm think not!

Sorry...I can't figure out how to post the picture 😞

I'm not surprised that the sensors are not interchangeable between brands, I guess that explains why the sensor theft is so low.

Hiding poor host-sensor reception is the only logical reason that I can think of why a TPMS maker would design system that keeps posting the last know value when a sensor is lost. So rather than let the driver know that he is driving without monitoring a tire or two, they keep giving him false data....Nice! A few have said that they have seen it take an hour or more for the system acknowledge a lost sensor. I don't know how others feel, but in my opinion that's really shameful.

I sent a bunch of emails to the US made TPMS makers asking them what happens when a sensor is lost. I'll let you know what they say.

[fj12ryder]

philh wrote:
I have the TST, so far working very well.

They claim if there's a catastrophic failure, it instantly alerts you.

Yes, if the pressure drops below the pre-set level, it will alarm as soon as the monitor receives the signal, very quickly. The only real issue with the TST system is the lag time between losing a sensor signal and being notified of that occurrence.

[philh]

I have the TST, so far working very well.

They claim if there's a catastrophic failure, it instantly alerts you.

[ScottG]

I bought a cheap $65 system off eBay. Always worked great.

[STBRetired]

I have the Tire Minder A1 system. It works quite well. It came with the cap type sensors and a repeater. It will report when a sensor loses connection and will reconnect if the sensor comes back. Minder Research has a free battery replacement program. You just pay $5.00 shipping and they will mail you as many batteries as you need along with the rubber o-rings to seal the caps.
I went with the metal valve stems on the MH but still have the rubber ones on the toad as they are really short and the sensors actually touch the rims. Will have metal valve stems put in next year when I replace the toad tires. So far, no leaks.
EDIT: They also come with locking nuts that require a wrench to remove. I have the locking nuts on the MH but not the toad as the stems are too short. In 3 years, never had a sensor stolen off the toad.

[DFord]

After spending literally years thinking about which system to buy, I settled on https://eezrvproducts.com/eezrv-tpms-info and have been satisfied I made the right decision. If you go to Quartzsite, you can meet Donald Chin the owner of EEZ RV Products.

They come with the tamper-proof sensor that require a wrench to fasten and remove the sensors. The tamper proof cap can be removed for easier access to the valve stems when adjusting pressure is required and I took all mine off. I haven't lost a one since but it's a lot easier adjusting the pressures now.

The batteries are easily replaceable (2016 button batteries which should last 2 years). One thing to remember is most of these system operate at 433Mhz which is often used by indoor/outdoor thermometers and cause problems.

When contact is lost with a sensor, the receiver beeps to alert you. The receiver can handle 20 different sensors. They come either flow-through or anti-theft valve cap type.