Things I learn in my driveway

[Coyote Chris]

I have a 12v pump so never considered a "hand pump" but I have seen some that are placed on the ground and you repeatedly step on a pedal to make it work. They usually have a much larger diameter cylinder (hi volume, low pressure) that is suitable for car tires but perhaps too big to carry on your NT?

I still have mine. With cable ties, it can be made pretty small, but not small enough. Its a huffy. I used to carry it a decade ago....
There are actually high quality ones out there if you can believe that...
https://www.amazon.com/Arrival-Pistons-Aluminum-Accurate-Pressure/dp/B06XCZ6NSD/ref=sr_1_8?s=sports-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1490902519&sr=1-8&keywords=foot+air+pump

 

[Coyote Chris]

Aerostich has this one on their web site.

http://www.aerostich.com/tools/tire-repair/pumps-air-compressors/alloy-drive-m.html

The one I am getting is from the same manufacturer. Perhaps a tad smaller. In the air pump races on youtube, the
high volume ones did indeed fair better, you pays your money and you takes your choice. But this one indeed is quality.
Mine also has a flexible screw on hose...just the thing for old weak hands....

(Got my LEZYNE lite drive (Medium) pump today! Cylinder is about 3/4 in diameter and the pump is nine inches long. I took my NT
front tire down to 15 psi, screwed on that nice flexible ABS hose, and started pumping. I pumped for about 6 minutes and
700 plus strokes, switching hands once. After 700-800 strokes, the pump was still pretty easy to work but you knew the
resistance pressure had gone up for sure, so I took it off and measured the pressure. 28 psi. This tells me that if the front tire
had just been repaired and had no air in it, while the first 15 psi would have been the easiest, the second 15 psi wasnt that bad.
I am very impressed with the quality of this pump, and its fittings. Nomenclature and dimensions of the various Lezyne pumps are
ambiguous but if there really is a "large" size with a verifiable 1.5 in diameter barrel, I would go with that but for $25 I am not
complaining. Two thumbs up )

 

[Coyote Chris]

Just curious. When researching co2 inflaters, one guy said in his vid that always remember that CO2 escapes the tire faster naturally much faster that nitrogen and Oxegen, so replace the Co2 when you get a chance. Dont know if this is true but
its on the web.....
Another vid showed a dude filling his sport bike rear tire with CO2 and he figures he gets about 5 psi per 16 gram cartridge.

 

[bicyclist]

I agree if they are small enough. Do you have a link to some you like?

I don't have a link. Just making the point that you don't want a road bike pump.

 

[Coyote Chris]

I don't have a link. Just making the point that you don't want a road bike pump.

OK, by reading some mountain bike forums, I found this little hummer....I think its a winner....its really not too big for a pannier....
http://www.lezyne.com/product-hpumps-hv-microfldrhvg.php#.WN8u1ogrLmg


http://blog.lezyne.com/lezyne-micro-floor-drive-hv-wins-fat-bike-com-trail-pump-shootout/


https://fat-bike.com/2015/05/trail-pump-shootout/

 

[Warren]

217 pumps to get to 7 psi in a bike tire? I think I would have a stroke getting a motorcycle tire up to rated pressure with the hand pump. Maybe better than nothing but I am going to trust my electric pump.

 

[Coyote Chris]

217 pumps to get to 7 psi in a bike tire? I think I would have a stroke getting a motorcycle tire up to rated pressure with the hand pump. Maybe better than nothing but I am going to trust my electric pump.

Yeah, that was very odd.....since it took me with my mini-pump less than 800 pumps and 6 minutes to go from 15 psi to 28 psi on a motorcycle front tire....
So, I ordered the high volume pump for alittle experiment....calculate the pump volume of the mini pump and the HV pump, then do the 15 psi to 28 experiment again.

Frosty is much better at math and physics than I am but it would stand to reason that this would be linear. For instance, if it takes 100 pumps to put in 5 psi into a tire, then it should take another 100 pumps to go up to 10 psi, but you might have to work a bit harder to pump. This is born out by the guy on youtube that found for each CO2 canister, His motorcycle tire gained roughly 5 psi

With the abject failure of the fix a flat can to provide any air to a tire, my modus operandi is goiing to change. Electric pump first, the CO2, then Handpump.

Over the last five years, I have tested roughly 5 electric pumps. Now that it is Spring, its a good time to get those five e-pumps out of their cars and bikes and do their Spring test. (And charge up their mini- jump packs)

 

[ARKNT]

I believe that it will take more pumps as the tire pressure increases. The pressure/volume relationship (Boyles law) may be a constant but the pumping of a tire complicates things a little.
With 0 psi in the tire the total pump volume goes into the tire, raising the pressure. Once the tire has pressure in it the pump must build up to that pressure to open a check valve before any air enters the tire, effectively lowering the volume of the pump.
I see some more experimenting in your future.

I carry some co2 and an electric pump. Mostly I hope I never need them.
Brad

 

[junglejim]

Chris, I think any good red-neck who knows his way around black powder could rig up an ignitor with a small and caluclated charge of black powder that would inflate a tire instantly when directed into the tire valve. Such a device could be much smaller than a bike pump too. And it would probably have good spectator value as well (from a distance). The R&D might be painful though. Go have a beer and think about it.

 

[Frosty]

...

I carry some co2 and an electric pump. Mostly I hope I never need them.
Brad

I mostly hope that I don't have to borrow Chris' stuff.

 

[junglejim]

I mostly hope that I don't have to borrow Chris' stuff.

We all hope for that Joe. But I'm sure it would really make his day if Chris could bail you out with his "stuff".

I just carry an electric pump and it has worked fine for me (once for me and several times for others). One time was for a bicyclist in Alaska with no pump.

 

[Frosty]

We all hope for that Joe. But I'm sure it would really make his day if Chris could bail you out with his "stuff".

I just carry an electric pump and it has worked fine for me (once for me and several times for others). One time was for a bicyclist in Alaska with no pump.

LOL ... He absolutely would bail me out. I carry a 12v pump and various plugs/tools. We ride in places without cell phone coverage or frequent traffic. We try to anticipate what we would need to MacGyver the way to appropriate support.

 

[Coyote Chris]

Chris, I think any good red-neck who knows his way around black powder could rig up an ignitor with a small and caluclated charge of black powder that would inflate a tire instantly when directed into the tire valve. Such a device could be much smaller than a bike pump too. And it would probably have good spectator value as well (from a distance). The R&D might be painful though. Go have a beer and think about it.

You are a prodigy! (I cant spell geneous)
I think I will install a Coffman starter on my bike. It should work.....What could possibly go wrong?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffman_engine_starter

 

[Coyote Chris]

I believe that it will take more pumps as the tire pressure increases. The pressure/volume relationship (Boyles law) may be a constant but the pumping of a tire complicates things a little.
With 0 psi in the tire the total pump volume goes into the tire, raising the pressure. Once the tire has pressure in it the pump must build up to that pressure to open a check valve before any air enters the tire, effectively lowering the volume of the pump.
I see some more experimenting in your future.

I carry some co2 and an electric pump. Mostly I hope I never need them.
Brad

Very true Brad, as I pointed out in my experiment X1. At 15 psi, it was nothing to pump my mini-pump....once I got to 28 psi, it was becomming work. Experiment X2 comming up.
Though the High Volume pump I have ordered from the same company is 11 inches long instead of 9, it has a small stand and a small T handle so you can pump it like a regular
old time bicycle pump.

There is an old law of engineering called Gumperson's Law. "If anything can go wrong, it will."
The corallary is "If you are not prepared for a situation, it will happen."

Looks like not so nice weather next week...time to try my five electric air pumps out.....
I forgot to ask Frosty to help me design a jump pack tester...which would be basically a big wire wound resistor to suck current out of the pack and check the voltage drop/internal resistance of the pack.
Here is one for 20 bucks
https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-BT-100-Battery-Load-Tester/dp/B000AMBOI0/ref=sr_1_6?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1491191924&sr=1-6&keywords=car+battery+tester

 

[junglejim]

think I will install a Coffman starter on my bike. It should work.....What could possibly go wrong?

Good idea Chris, just incase your battery and jump packs go dead.
Go ahead and install one. I'll hold your beer - and stand over here.

 

[Coyote Chris]

OK, got my Planet bike CO2 inflator....I opted for the metal bodied one.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Planet-Bike-CO2-Zeppelin-With-2-16g-Air-Inflation-Red-Bicycle-/291925769562?hash=item43f821bd5a:g:8ZwAAOSwirZTv0dK

It pretty much works as advertised (see video below) with a few caveats.....
It inflated my NT tire from 25 psi to 30 lbs for one cartridge. This jives with what other folks on youtube have said....
The way it works is this. There is no pin in the fitting to depress the shrader valve stem core. The CO2 pressure will do that for you. (852 psi) Just screw it on the valve stem,
screw on the cartridge briskly, and firmly, although there was little or no leakage doing this on my test, and open the red valve. The CO2 will enter the tire within a second or two.
Close the red valve and unscrew the spent cartridge and put on another. Repeat. Once on the valve stem, the "T" top will swivel without loss of air.
As others said in Amazon reviews, there is a bit of leakage around the red valve ...not much but you can hear it....after the cartridge is empty and before you close the red valve.
Pluses. Its small and its quick......minusus....it will cost you six bucks to fill your tire...with a hand pump, it will take you 15 minutes...about like earning $24/hour after taxes....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXe62Gqpkyc

(Dang....I cant combine a Coffman starter and an air inflater....An NT needs power to the computer to start.....)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65qrzgbTTcQ

 

[Coyote Chris]

OK! The last tire pump came in! See my report, Tire pump comparo shootout! The bottom line is the Lezyne blew away the competition by blowing up the front tire from 15psi to 30 psi in two minutes flat and 150 pumps.
Even the Slime e-pump took 5.5 minutes to do that.....