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Missyjoe

Tire Inflators

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We purchased a used 2015 Tiffin Phaeton from Lazy Days. Had them install a tire pressure monitor system. After we arrived at our first RV park, I started playing with the tire monitor system. After I got it working, the drivers rear inside tire said 58psi. I tried to check it with my manual gauge. But, was unable to register a reading on either of the rear inside tires with the monitors on them ( there's a valve stem off of the monitor). All other tire I was able to read. Looking to try to inflate the tire to go back to Lazy Days (20 miles). My portable compressor died at 70psi, even though it said 150psi max. Although the gauge on the pump confirmed 58psi.

in reading some of the blogs, some stated that the generator may have an air pressure takeoff for such use. I can't find anything in the owners manual about this.... help

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The Phaeton has air brakes right? It should have a connector to plug an air hose into in one of the compartments. Possibly one of the front ones on the right side.

Gary

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Like Gary said there should be a air chuck in the front (look over the generator) This is used to air up the suspension when being towed. There is a possibility it is just zip tied to some thing and not installed to the system. Ether way there should be a air manifold with a plug you can remove to install one. 

Bill

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Roland,

Yes. one other thing, the type of fittings are different. They look alike but will not plug into the wrong connector. there is a Milton A style and a Milton M style. The M style is the more common in industry. Here is the big BUT you sometimes find the Milton A style on RV and buses. I would look above your generator on the passenger side on the firewall. I would make sure I had a male fitting of matching type of coupler zip tied close to it. Just in case the tow truck has the wrong style fittings he can use it to connect to your air system.;)

Bill

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Missyjoe, Welcome to the FMCA forum!

If you can confirm you really only have 58 PSI in that tire, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO INFLATE IT! Call a tire service in to address the issue. There is a good chance it will explode, at 58 PSI it is considered a run flat, A Phaeton should be equipped with a G rated tire, 110 PSI max pressure, 58PSI is too low to run it without damage. It really needs to be inspected by a qualified person, personally I would replace it and the tire along side of it, as it was most likely overloaded carrying that weight.

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Agree with Joe about the danger of running a tire if it was run at that pressure. Our 2003 Phaeton has a chuck for an air hose in the compartment directly under the driver's seat. If you can get enough air in the low tire to drive to a nearby tire facility, I would take that chance, but at a slow speed. 

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On 7/25/2017 at 2:40 PM, hermanmullins said:

Is there a chance that the monitors might be set on metric??????????

Herman 

Don't think so  58 kpa = 8 psi        58 psi is 400 kpa

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On 7/24/2017 at 7:31 PM, Missyjoe said:

We purchased a used 2015 Tiffin Phaeton from Lazy Days. Had them install a tire pressure monitor system. After we arrived at our first RV park, I started playing with the tire monitor system. After I got it working, the drivers rear inside tire said 58psi. I tried to check it with my manual gauge. But, was unable to register a reading on either of the rear inside tires with the monitors on them ( there's a valve stem off of the monitor). All other tire I was able to read. Looking to try to inflate the tire to go back to Lazy Days (20 miles). My portable compressor died at 70psi, even though it said 150psi max. Although the gauge on the pump confirmed 58psi.

in reading some of the blogs, some stated that the generator may have an air pressure takeoff for such use. I can't find anything in the owners manual about this.... help

Didn't Lazy Days set-up the TPMS? or were they just too lazy (sorry could not resist).

If you really had only 58 psi the TPMS is set wrong as it should have warned no lower than -15% to -25% from your baseliine pressure (Cold tire inflation)

If they screwed on the sensor it is possible they created a leak.

 

Since your TPM is giving you a reading I suggest you review the instructions and confirm the inflation. If only 58 then call service and tell them the tire was operated when "flat". This is a real safety issue. Steel body tires can explode (zipper failure) when being re-inflated.

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And driving on the improperly inflated tire in a dually situation can cause the fully "overloaded" tire to zipper fail....don't ask me how I know.

 

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Remove that tire sensor and re-check the air pressure. I once encountered low pressure readings on one tire, I removed the flow-thru sensor and check pressure again, it was normal the last reading. Turned out the sensor was not pushing in the tire valve stem enough to obtain a proper reading, nor would it allow adding air to that tire.

 

 

Tireman9, back when I was in high school I worked one summer changing truck tires at my uncle's garage, but was never allowed to air them up after I mounted one. An older experienced man did that using a cage made from 2" pipe. Well, one burst, the man lost a hand. Still today, I'm somewhat paranoid about topping my MH tires off before leaving home. Air/gas pressure can be deadly, that's why pressure vessels are tested with water pressure.  If one of my MH tires drops to 58 psi, it will remain there until I reach someplace that sells/installs new tires.

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Motorhome03,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

Couple of questions:

Have you verified that you do need 120 PSI based on your actual weights?

12 VDC and powerful compressors are difficult to find.  Will you be airing up when not on shore power or generator?  The 120 VAC units are a lot more powerful and more common (read lower price).

And, if you don't need the full 120 PSI, have you considered using your on-board air system-- with the dryer, it is a lot better quality air than available from a portable compressor.

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You can buy the AC 110 V variety for about $100 on sale at Lowe's or Home Depot.  They are the small two to three gallon compressors that go to 150 psi.  After years of fiddling with the on-board air I gave up and purchased one.  It resides in my mid-compartment right by the 110V outlet in that compartment.  I have enough hose to get to the entire coach and the toad when connected.  The only good way to get to 120 psi is to have something that goes near 150 psi.  Our on-board system cycles to 130 then dumps so the only way to get close to 120 is to get it when it is just before cycling and at 130 psi, trying to get to 110 takes a great deal of patience.

 

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I'm like Brett. first off I can't think of a situation where I would need 120psi and when I do need to add some air, I like it dry not wet.  My thought is that if you have to run at max cold psi, your over weight and need to find out why.  If you are within weight limits or under, the max = hard ride!

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11 hours ago, TBUTLER said:

You can buy the AC 110 V variety for about $100 on sale at Lowe's or Home Depot.  They are the small two to three gallon compressors that go to 150 psi.  After years of fiddling with the on-board air I gave up and purchased one.  It resides in my mid-compartment right by the 110V outlet in that compartment.  I have enough hose to get to the entire coach and the toad when connected.  The only good way to get to 120 psi is to have something that goes near 150 psi.  Our on-board system cycles to 130 then dumps so the only way to get close to 120 is to get it when it is just before cycling and at 130 psi, trying to get to 110 takes a great deal of patience.

 

If using a portable compressor I would use an inline drier to trap the moisture.

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An air drier would be important if inflating the tire from the beginning, less so when adding a little air to bring the tire up 5 psi.  Not saying it isn't a good idea, just not all that important considering the amount of air being added.

Regarding psi, my front tires require 110 pounds to carry the load and I run them at 115 to be just a little on the high side.  It's not a hard ride if the tires are at their carrying capacity at that pressure.  When I had Goodyear tires the pressure required was 105 and I ran them at 110.  Switching to Michelin, their chart bumped me up 5 psi.

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I'm of the other school for inflation in that I use the on-board compressor, but for 110 psi.   I have never had a problem inflating tires to 110 psi using that system. I also have a 5 gallon pancake 110v - 150 psi compressor here at the house.  The on-board compressor outperforms the pancake every time. Nice thing about the on-board system is that it has a built in air dryer. 

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I use a portable compressor I purchased at Home Depot rated up to 150psi. I could never get my tire monitor system and my tire gauge to match pressure so I had my tire gauge checked and found it to be about 5psi off. I invested in a Matco gauge which clips to my valve stem and has a chuck which clips to my compressor. I connect it and squeeze the trigger and was able to add air to all my tires in less than 15 minutes. This gauge from Matco is guaranteed to be accurate to within .2psi. The first time I used this gauge a funny thing happened, my TPMS matched the gauge. It was about $135 but the peace of mind I have now knowing my tire have the correct PSI makes it well worth it. I also had a tire I could not get a reading on with my old tire gauge unless I removed the TPMS from the valve stem. With this new gauge it is capable of reading it without removing it.

For me it was a great investment

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For 19.5 and 22.5 size tires If you need to add more than 15% of the pressure needed I would rely on a service truck. If you have lost that much air there is some problem that needs to be fixed and just adding air will not fix whatever caused the air loss in the first place.

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