I discovered a thing!

[Burgerman]

I have 5 powerchairs. 2 in my room, and 3 in the kitchen. Once a month its a pain in the ass to check all tyre pressures.

Even with tubeless, in the rears, and tyre puncture sealer in all 20 tyres, there are always at least half that have dropped pressure very significantly. The odd one is really low too.

So as an experiment I replaced all 20 valve cores. A month later and a small improvement generally. So it made me think...

I ordered 20 alloy valve caps. With a rubber sealing ring. And re did all pressures and fitted them. And 1 month later most of the tyres had lost literally nothing I could measure. With the odd exception. So a huge improvement.

They are black annodised with sealing ring from amazon. With a smear of silicone grease on the threads.

[Burgerman]

Cores, I got 2 packs. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09ZDV8W2C
Valve covers, I needs 4 packs. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BJVSCCF4

[shirley_hkg]

I have another discovery.

Low tyre pressure leaks more easily . I inflate mine to 26psi , and they last up to 6 months.

[Burgerman]

Well a lower pressuse leaks through the same sized hole in diret proportion to pressure. BUT the more pressure there is, the longer it takes to go down!

But some of mine take 6 months or longer. Some dont seem to lose any. I think it depends on how porus the tyre or tube. Or the valve...

I also think that a quick check with an easy to use pump, like mine, is not much of an issue monthly.

I have a BMW tyre pump, fitted with a simple push on tyre valve adapter. Like a fuel station. And I also added a 4S lipo battery of 4Ah that used to power my quadcopter. So that gets charged yearly via PL8...

It makes it self contained, push on, and go. So fast and easy enough for anyone/carer to do.

[shirley_hkg]

I found these caps do help, when pressure is low (≤20psi).

[shirley_hkg]

A super nice DIY product.

BOSH control board.
Metal pump.
2x21700 cells (9800mah)
Type C recharge port.

@£40.

[Burgerman]

Heres my old BMW pump. Its much more powerful and faster. And better made internally. But is overkill for a powerchair. A bit industrial for the job.

Added a better push on connector as its easier than screwing onto a tyre valve.
Added an old quadcopter battery... 5.2Ah, 5S and 14.8V so its a bit too high. But been working that way for years. So far no prob. Fast! Noisy though. Well made pump so no problem.
Battery is connected via an anderson, OR a XT 60 so I get 2 choices for power. Charged with a PL8 like everything else. Its just stuck on with a hot glue gun. Sticky pads also work. Been this way for at least 7 years. Charged almost never.

Cost me nothing as its all just left over parts other than the amazon tyre valve hose/connector. I borrowed it from a relatives long gone BMW.

This has 5x 5.2Ah cells in its lipo 25C pack. So much more voltage and stored energy. Is 25C so the 15A draw at 16V doesent even tickle it. Its a large casting, grease packed, proper bearings etc. No slowing down at high pressures! Can easily do all 4 tyres from flat to full on a car. But its overkill really.

So all self contained. Just grab it and go! Its easy to knock up a DIY self contained tyre pump! What are others using?

[fishinjunky]

Im thinking about doing the same on my tires. How difficult are the cores to replace on a inner tube?

if i didnt replace the cores and just used the caps im worried the caps will cause galvanic corrosion an weld from being different metals. Are stock cores in inner tubes brass?

[Burgerman]

Grease them. Oily metal does not corrode. Or silicone grease keeps the water out. Same thing, no corrosion.

They are black annodised with sealing ring from amazon. With a smear of silicone grease on the threads.

Replace cores? Trivial, anyone that can use a small screwdriver can work a valve core "driver" too.

[Arima]

One of my van tires has a slow leak. This has worked okay so far.

https://www.amazon.com/Inflator-Compres ... D_BwE&th=1

[Burgerman]

Put a small amount of puncture seal in it. And the other 3 while at it. No more slow leaks.

[Jayde1976]

them caps do work well but if you use them outside all year round they can corrode but if undoing them every month they are good. but can just put a little coper grease on the threads to stop them corroding
that pump burgerman use is the same as fitted on land rovers, jaguars and a lot of fords. btw did own JLR many years ago as did ford.