Which air gauge do you guys use?

Any quality gauge will serve you well.

Always use your gauge to check pressures, rather than someone else's.

That way, the pressure will always be consistant.

 

A few months ago I bought 5 gauges. The first was 3 bucks, just one of those gas station ones. The next was the same kind but 12 bucks, then I bought a 12 dollar digital gauge, then I bought a 60 dollar digital gauge, then I replaced my original 160 dollar gauge.

The cheapest one were off by 6 - 7.5 pound on all 4 tires.
The second cheapest was off by 6.5 - 8 pound on all 4 tires.
The first and cheapest digital gauge was off by only 4 pounds.
The 60 dollar gauge was off by 2 pounds.

My replacement gauge was of course on the money.

It depends on what your gauge costs. If I make 3 kinds of gauges, why would a $3 out measure a $12 one? It wouldn't. And my $160 gauge better work well for a long time.

 

Great info. Thanks!

 

The one on the air compressor I have that I top up and check with

 

I use the oil filled guage and I beleive this is what some Pro racers use too, It's analog not digital about 3" dia. It's oil filled because it absobs shocks from dropping, banging againts something without loosing its callibration, and realy is design for rugged use.

 

How do you KNOW which gage is "off"? Or are you assuming $'s= accuracy?

 

Besides quality, I look for a gauge with a range of maybe 0 to 50lbs , vs the 0 to 120 lbs type. The lower scale gives better accuracy.

 

Intercomp sells a fill/bleed/read (FBR) digital guage that accurate to 1/10 of a pound. It can be switched to read BAR, too. It's used in conjunction with a compressor.

IMO, it's the only one to use.

Buy quality, cry once.

 

I've used over a dozen different types. I've also done some testing, to see which have been the most accurate.

As a control, I used FIVE Longacre mechanical racing gauges - they come in different size heads, but all use the same design. Fabulous, easy to read (glow in the dark!), easy to bleed air, easy to use on hard to reach valve stems, etc. Absolute best.

Anyway, a few of us did a group buy, and I used five brand new ones to check against one another and against the rest of the gauges I own. The Longacre gauges were all within a fraction of a lb apart.

The cheap $1.50 gas station gauge was one pound off.

The two digital gauges were exactly on - very accurate, but a pain in the ass to use. One requires it to be held on until the beeping stops, about 3 seconds, annoying. The other requires it be powered on every time you do a read, and no easy way to bleed.

The accu-gauge mechanical, handheld, was easy to use and about 2 lbs off, but I dropped it once (bad for air gauges) and it's bounced around in my car for over a decade.

The gauge built into the cheap battery operated air compressor was about 5 lbs off!

Bottom line, Longacre gauges are great, are a good value for the money. But don't discount cheap gauges either.

vty,

--Dennis

 

I take all of my gauges to the 'Air Lab' quarterly, to have them calibrated to within +-.01bar of 0.