posted 11-18-2004 07:41 PM                  

Another cool thing is this Ingersoll-Rand www.irgaragesolutions.com nitrogen generator I have. People don't realize how corrosive the air is--it's especially bad for a car's aluminum wheels. A lot of times, when you see old aluminum wheels, they're pitted on the inside. If you fill the tires with pure nitrogen, the wheels stay like new. Also, the pressure of a nitrogen-filled tire doesn't rise or fall like one filled with air. Put 32 psi in your Corvette tires, go out and do a few burnouts, and now you have 38 psi. But nitrogen won't do that. It stays where you set it. The nice thing about this Ingersoll-Rand nitrogen inflation system is that it's a generator, so it extracts the nitrogen right out of the air--for free. You don't have to call a guy to bring a huge tank of nitrogen. I'm running nitrogen in everything now.

For whole article, see:
http://popularmechanics.com/automotive/sub_coll_leno/2004/9/clean_green/index.phtml

posted 11-18-2004 08:26 PM                    

quote:

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Originally posted by GRROWL:

For whole article, see:
http://popularmechanics.com/automotive/sub_coll_leno/2004/9/clean_green/index.phtml

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posted 11-18-2004 08:36 PM                  

Toys

posted 11-20-2004 11:42 PM                  

I still feel the flaking is caused by bad prepping on the inside portion of the rims at the time of plating. Notice the outside portion of the rim isn't flaking.

posted 11-21-2004 07:22 AM                  

Let me weigh in on this a little and see if my Metallurgical Engineering classes at OSU (Go Bucks!) help.

Air is 78% nitrogen. Nitrogen is used in jet airliner tires as well as some lasers because it dissipates heat efficiently. That is why the pressure stays stable after driving a nitrogen filled tire.

Pitting is the result of a galvanic reaction in metal. Essentially the wheel becomes a battery and wherever electrons move away from point to go to another place you form a pit (or rust). That is why you see deposits on corroded aluminum rims because that is the aluminum going back to its original oxide state.

My guess the ONLY benefit from using nitrogen to prevent corrosion is that if it is put in the wheel in a VERY DRY state (very low moisture content) it limits the amount of galvanic corrosion that can occur. Nitrogen by itself is USELESS in preventing corrosion. Corrosion needs a path for electrons to flow and moist air in tires can provide this path. If the installer traps any water between the bead and rim, all bets are off.

The pitting we see on chrome wheels is simply from poor preparation by the manufacturer on the inside of the wheel barrel! Want to limit wheel damage on a Prowler? Keep the inside of the wheel clean and dry!

Kevin (licensed Professional Engineer - Ohio and PROUD Prowler owner)

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Kevin A.
Black '99
Mostly stock - Borla Exhaust, Tom Mills Bumper Removal Kit, F/R mud flaps, Chrome Shiftknob and Chrome Shifter Bezel.
Non-stock permanent grin on my face when driving!
Pet? A Cat - a Black Cat of course!

posted 11-21-2004 07:43 AM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by butchcee:
http://www.autosite.com/garage/repairqa/ques129.asp

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posted 11-21-2004 09:10 AM                  

GRROWL - what is the cost to add this unit to home air compressor?

posted 11-21-2004 10:19 AM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by ALLEY CAT:
Very interesting guys, thanks.

GRROWL - what is the cost to add this unit to home air compressor?

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quote:

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Originally posted by butchcee:
GRROWL, I remember when I was running real mag wheels(magnesium), and I had to varnish the inside of the rims so they would hold air because of the porous casting running a tubeless tire.

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AC, I haven't priced it - don't have any room left in my garage. From it's appearance, and the statement that it "may be within the means of some car clubs to share one", I figure it's HIGH.

Butchee, I had that suspicion that the aluminum's porosity contributed, but not the personal background to reach the conclusion. That's why I put it out there like I did - Thanks - you tied it all together (at least for me).

posted 11-23-2004 08:42 AM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by ed monahan:
It does come in contact with the inside surface. It does not cause the flaking of the chrome on the outside or visible part of the rim. I was not trying to state that.
The corrosion is on the inside, non-visible, part of the rime. Not on the barrel of the rim. The edge of the inside of the rim gets corroded, causing a bad seal where the tire and the rim meet. Ironically, Sandy's tire is still losing air since they did not take it apart and clean the corrosion around the seat of the valve stem. It needs to be redone.

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A quick fix is to remove the stem partially and gob silicone on the threads...then screw the stem back on. Worked great on my one leaky rear tire after all 4 wheels were replaced but the o-ring seals were not replaced!

posted 11-29-2004 11:24 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by Black Tie 161:
A quick fix is to remove the stem partially and gob silicone on the threads...then screw the stem back on. Worked great on my one leaky rear tire after all 4 wheels were replaced but the o-ring seals were not replaced!

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posted 11-30-2004 03:40 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by Gary C:
Went to Costco and asked about this
they only refill twice which doesn't
get all the air out, it takes 5 times,,,
I know this because I run it in my racecar

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Actually, the mathematics state that you can NEVER replace all of the air since the remaining air is an asymptotic function that may APPROACH zero, but never reach it. 5 refills is probably the practical optimum and I would guess leaves only a couple percent of the original air remaining. If you know what percent a single refill accomplishes, it's an easy matter to calculate what it will be after 2 refills, or 5 refills, or whatever.

def: as·ymp·tote
A line whose distance to a given curve tends to zero.
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[Ultimately from Greek asumpttos, not intersecting : a-, not; see a-1 + sumpttos, intersecting (from sumpiptein, sumpt-, to converge : sun-, syn- + piptein, to fall; see pet- in Indo-European Roots).]
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asymp·totic (-ttk) or asymp·toti·cal adj.
asymp·toti·cal·ly adv.