Which digital tyre pressure gauge?

[TazLondon]

I currently have two digital tyre pressure gauges. One is a cheap Halfords one that I've used for over 12 years. It is easy to use and, most importantly, forms an airtight seal over the tyre valve instantly. However, I'm not sure it's even remotely accurate.

The other is a top-end Michelin one - the one that is teardrop shaped, made of metal and is big and heavy. Whilst it's supposed to be very accurate and is built like a tank, I have never been able to use it properly as it simply won't seal properly over the valve, so lit et's out air whilst in use. Hence, I can never get a true reading and always end up,having to pump up up the tyre as so much air is lost in trying to read the pressure.

So, I'm looking for a good quality tyre pressure gauge that is very easy to use, forms a seal on the valve instantly and doesn't require military precision to position it on the valve and is very accurate.

[Mike335i]

I have a £20 jobbie from Sainsburys and a trusty pen style gauge. Check the old fashioned way and it seems the cheapo inflator is actually fairly accurate.

How do you know yours isn't?

[TazLondon]

Sometimes I don't get the same readings if I try two or three times in succession with the very old one that I have.

[WaferThinHam]

I get those £10 Halford key chain ones. Accurate enough (0.1 psi) and go on forever. The only problem is I keep losing them. I must have a drawer full of them somewhere.

[kambites]

In my experience you're better off regularly buying cheap ones than getting an expensive one and expecting it to last. Even the best of them go out of calibration after a while, especially if they get knocked/dropped, and even the cheap Halfords ones are good enough for setting pressures on a road car when new.

Have you tried putting some sort of grease around the seal on the Michelin one that you already have?

Edited by kambites on Friday 7th October 07:41

[Riley Blue]

I bought one of those plug in electric compressors from Halfords, the sort where you can set it to inflate to a particular PSI and then it stops. I checked it against an expensive pressure gauge used for motorsport; it was spot on.

[trialsta]

I have one of these:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/topeak-d2-smart...
Does the job very well and fits both valve types with a quick slider switch

[TazLondon]

I've had a bit of success this morning with the Michelin one I've hardly ever used in 8 years! I was frustrated that it wouldn't work properly on one of my previous cars (an Alfa). It's this gauge here:

http://www.racshop.co.uk/car-maintenance/tools/mec...

I bought it back in 2008. I like the display as it's very easy to read and it can store values from front and rear tyres. Anyway, it never worked for me on the Alfa as the tyre valve stems were very floppy so as soon as you attached the nozzle to the valve, it just moved around all over the place.

On the new car the tyre valve stems are rigid so I can get a good stable seal and can read the pressures more easily. Hence, I can probably stick with this. It eats batteries though, even when it's not being used!

[TazLondon]

trialsta said:

I have one of these:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/topeak-d2-smart...
Does the job very well and fits both valve types with a quick slider switch

That's quite a good one. I might buy one for my road bike.

[DoubleSix]

Looking for a premium, high quality guage.

Digital prefered but not essential - quality and accuracy is the priority

Any suggestions?

[darreni]

Look at the longacre ones, Demon Tweeks sell them.

[DoubleSix]

They look top notch thanks.

Is there a trade off with the digital kind? (what do the pros use?)

[s m]

Might be worth a read?

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/85...

[darreni]

I went for this one;

https://www.competitionsupplies.com/longacre-delux...

It’s great to use, a lovely bit of kit.

[DoubleSix]

s m said:

Might be worth a read?

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/85...

Load of junk.

Thanks though...

[DoubleSix]

darreni said:

I went for this one;

https://www.competitionsupplies.com/longacre-delux...

It’s great to use, a lovely bit of kit.

Looks great, torn between that and the digital version...

[darreni]

Personal preference I’d guess.

[s m]

DoubleSix said:

s m said:

Might be worth a read?

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/85...

Load of junk.

Thanks though...

The good thing about the test is they’ve verified the accuracy of them all

I’d never be that sure some of the expensive ones were any more accurate than the Halfords key ring cheapo in the absence of verification - often seems to be the case with a lot of tested stuff.

I’m sure they look nicer though

[dhutch]

darreni said:

I went for this one;

https://www.competitionsupplies.com/longacre-delux...

It’s great to use, a lovely bit of kit.

Similar the bluepoint one I've got, don't know exactly how accurate it is but it appears repeatable and is easy to use and read, can't find one for same now but didn't pay mad money for it.

https://store.snapon.com/Dial-Type-Pressure-Gauges...

Daniel

[jamei303]

If this isn't expensive enough for you I'll sell you one for a grand:

https://www.pcl-online.com/dac51c-digital-tyre-pre...