Maintenance & Restoration

Meadowlark · 02-08-2025, 11:14 AM

Okay, I'm about to open a can of opinionated worms, which is what I want..

I had a digital tire guage, called a Slime.

While airing up tires yesterday, it started giving me wonky readings...the more air I put in the tire, the lower the air pressure shown!
The guage wouldn't make a good seal on the valve stem. But I can't believe the amount of air it allowed to lose was responsible for the decreasing PSI shown.

I figured, the batteries must be bad. How hard would it be to replace what I thought would be a single pancake battery?

Well, it was not as simple as I hoped.

The housing had six small screws holding it together.

I opened it up and two little round batteries FELL out. I realized I had to remove more screws that held a circuit board in place to access MORE batteries. When I did, those fell out, too, again, I have no idea how they were placed. In addition, two pieces of formed aluminum foil fell out of the wells the batteries were in.

Crisscrossed wires on one side of the circuit board had symbols, one had +3v the other +6v. But the batteries were all the same, 1.5 volts. No indication again if the batts were supposed to be in series.
ARRGH.

No indication whatsoever of which way should the batteries be placed. One + up and one - down? Both + up? or both - up? And how in the world did four batteries make contact through the circuit board? I didn't want to have to insert batteries, screw the plastic sides back together, hope the cheapo switch would work, only to find that the batts were put in wrong, over and over again until it stopped being broke.

It was just so weirdly designed. It was as if some microsoft programmer must have designed the whole thing. "make it so stupidly designed that the average user will just say oh to hell with this, I'll just buy another."
Kind of like dealing with Windows 11..........

I did some research and some videos showed my steps in opening the Slime unit, but none of them indicated precisely which way the 4 batts should be placed.

THe batteries were 1154F, how much they cost, I have no idea but amazon had the entire unit for sale for ten bucks. I bet my lunch four of the 1154s will cost twice that much.

So I did some more research and learned there are digital tire pressure guages that use..duh? triple A batteries.

Thus I am in the market for another digital tire pressure guage that one, is reliable, makes a nice tight fit on the valve stem, uses triple A's and doesn't need me to have three hands to handle.

Opinions -and experiences welcome!

AB1720 · 02-08-2025, 12:46 PM

Consumer Reports says these are good, and I can verify.
Accutire MS-4021B
Accutire MS-4400B
Prices are about 10-12 USD
The first one has a lighted display, but it's a little bit larger
...and I can't imagine any political comments will arise from this but ya never know!

-AB

jerrybob · 02-08-2025, 01:07 PM

Well......I recommend a regular old tire gauge with no batteries at all. They have worked well for many years...they are cheap, accurate enough, reliable and will get you down the road. As you know....I have a shop with a compressor....so I have a gauge similar to what the tire stores use...it works great. I carry the old pocket pen gauge in my glove compartment for use on the road.....they work great. My two cents!

Jon in AZ · 02-08-2025, 01:12 PM

A simple stick gauge has worked better and lasted longer than anything else I've used. Every time I cross-check it with a fancy gauge or the tire shop, it's right on the money. I know that goes against conventional wisdom, but that is my experience. Best thing is I can afford to have one in every vehicle so it's always handy.

Lynn Eberhardt · 02-08-2025, 02:41 PM

I think I've been using the same one for about 50 years.

Meadowlark · 02-08-2025, 04:34 PM

I do like the idea of the old fashioned stick guage.

Iowa Dave · 02-08-2025, 04:58 PM

We used stick gauges in the Standard Oil Station when I grew up and worked there with my dad. Every so often the Schrader gauge would start to leak by. The seals would wear out or get a nick in them. The auto parts store guy stopped by every week. My dad would order a little rebuild kit for about 35 cents and you would good to go for another year or so. I checked pressures on thousands of tires and fixed about 5 or 6 flats every night and on the weekends.

We put the nail, screw, piece of wire whatever gave the customer a flat in a big pickled pigs feet jar that my dad got from the beer joint when it was emptied
of those pink delicacies and it was washed out by me). There were two jars full of nails etc. when I went off to college in the fall of 1966. My flat fixing days were pretty much over then. Never liked those split rims on truck tire wheels. They could be killers.
Iowa Dave

Bill in Pittsburgh · 02-08-2025, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lynn Eberhardt

I think I've been using the same one for about 50 years.

Ditto I'm 74 and still have the same one my grandfather gave me when I bought my first car at age 14.

mary and bob · 02-08-2025, 06:07 PM

At the truck shop I worked in we used the larger stick type gauges. We were required to check them every week with a liquid filled master gauge that was in the shop air line. Retired now, I use mostly dial type gauges, my main one is a Hoonigan that has a short flex hose and holds the pressure reading until released. I still have several stick type gauges, various valve core tools, and tread depth gauges.

Iowa Dave · 02-08-2025, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mary and bob

At the truck shop I worked in we used the larger stick type gauges. We were required to check them every week with a liquid filled master gauge that was in the shop air line. Retired now, I use mostly dial type gauges, my main one is a Hoonigan that has a short flex hose and holds the pressure reading until released. I still have several stick type gauges, various valve core tools, and tread depth gauges.

And I hope a collection of valve stem caps. I can’t believe I’m the only guy with one of those. I use a big Acme stick gauge now. My wife’s uncle had it when he was an over the road driver for CRST. (Cedar Rapids Steel Transport).
Iowa Dave

mary and bob · 02-09-2025, 07:40 AM

[QUOTE=Iowa Dave;872263]And I hope a collection of valve stem caps.

Oh yes, huge collection of valve cores, valve stem caps both metal and plastic, and a bunch of the double check valve caps that let you check pressure without removing the cap. Those double check caps are a big time saver when checking tire pressures on a 18 wheeler.

jerrybob · 02-09-2025, 11:36 AM

I remember when I was a kid, you could fill up a flat tire with air for free. Now it's $1.50.
That's the price of inflation.

Meadowlark · 02-09-2025, 11:52 AM

Boooooooooooooo Jerrybob

(actually I love a good pun)

Meadowlark · 02-09-2025, 11:57 AM

RE: valve caps.

They seem to disappear when I've taken my SUV into the shop for a trip check or a tire rotation.
And I don't usually utilize the dealers.
But I was riding with my friend as we were pulling her horse trailer to a show, and she stopped at the dealer to have one of her tires checked. IT was low, so while I waited for the employee to check and fill them all (a dually) I noticed that there were brand new, metal valve caps all over the place. I must have picked up a dozen, only stopped because the tires were done. It was as if an employee had either dropped a whole bunch of them, or just got another from a packet when the one he was trying to install fell out of his fingers.
Now that's cheap!! (I prefer frugal.....)

Raz · 02-09-2025, 12:51 PM

I bought new tires and they replaced the plastic caps with metal. Unfortunately the caps reacted with the aluminum valve stems. Three of the 4 came off, but the fourth wouldn't budge. Liquid wrench, wd 40, nothing would loosen it. Ended up having to replace the stem and the pressure sensor attached to it.

Meadowlark · 02-09-2025, 03:26 PM

Whoops! I never thought of THAT. Thanks, Raz. I'll go out and check the caps.

Iowa Dave · 02-09-2025, 03:46 PM

You haven’t seen frugal till you meet two Bohemie brothers from Cedar Rapids. These boys will pick up any pop can that they come across for the nickel, ask the golf course guys if they can have the old flagsticks when they get replaced (garden and young tree stakes) , and a new Delco Remy 6 volt automotive generator for who knows what, that was in the garage when their dad passed away in 1967.