My nose strut has been looking a bit low. The mechanic recommended, a while back, nitrogen to prevent moisture from getting into the strut.

What's the best place to get nitrogen, without bugging the mechanic every time I need a little shot in the strut, which isn't often?

Is this going to be spendy for a tank and pressure gauge setup or are there off the shelf options?

Craig

My mechanic has it laying around. Takes maybe 5 minutes to put the strut where I want it once every few years.

Welder supply places have often dry nitrogen.
A Harbor Freight gauge and some finagling should work fine.

You might be able to get a Nitrogen tank and gauge at your local welding supply store. My guess is that you only need the smallest tank they have. Should last you a while.

I'll have to check out the welding supply store and see how much these things run. It would be nice to be able to have the flexibility to play with different levels and, maybe pump it up a bit if I know I'm going into someplace rougher or with taller weeds.

It's true, I shouldn't have to fill very often. It had a bit added about 6 months ago but ended up being a little less than I wanted. Seems like the old 150 would need a squirt every 9 months to a year.

Thanks for the info though. I was hoping someone would say I just need to go down to my local Home Despot and pick up a six pack of Nitrogen-in-a-can!

u know, any shock rebuild center, fox,walkerevans and such will have nitrogen in bottles, we use it all the time in our sled/dirt bike shox. most bigger dealers of our sort will also have it in portable form, probably rent u the tank and etc pretty cheap....FWIW...jo

I use a mix of 79% nitrogen and 21% oxigen. That is not exact but pretty close. I find it everwhere.

Tim

qmdv wrote:I use a mix of 79% nitrogen and 21% oxigen. That is not exact but pretty close. I find it everwhere.

Tim

What the F is "oxigen"????

i believe that the real reason they used nitrogen, and not air, is that nitrogen is un-affected by temperature....jo

Dont forget all that green house CO2 in your percentages.

There are at least 2 good reasons to use nitrogen over regular air. Nitrogen(N2) molecules leak through the walls of tires 3-4 times slower than Oxygen (O2) molecules because N2 is a larger size. N2 also contains no moisture or water vapor like compressed air does so there is not corrosion taking place. Check out the inside of a tubeless aluminum rim that has had regular air for a long period. Nitrogen is cheap compared to corrosion, which is free.

I had to remove the engine from my 701 at a hangar 90 miles from home one time. I used the hangar owner's nitrogen bottle for pressure with a step down regulator to run an impact wrench. It was pretty slick since no compressor or electricity was at the hangar.

The regulators are common in the motorcycle world. K&L and Motion Pro have them for around $150.00. I forget how much nitrogen is, I have rebuilt about 30 shocks on my bottle and it is still almost full.

is that nitrogen is un-affected by temperature.

All gases expand and contract as a function of temperature and pressure. On cold mornings the pressure will be lower than hot afternoons. If you inflate your tires to 20 psi at sea level and fly to 5,000 ft they will be firmer as well.

Dirt Strips explanation is dead on for why N2 is better vs anything with Oxygen or moisture.

Cheers,

TD

They make a permanent fix for this. Its called a C 180

dirtstrip wrote: Nitrogen(N2) molecules leak through the walls of tires 3-4 times slower than Oxygen (O2) molecules because N2 is a larger size.

You meen that if I use air (79% nitrogen) in my tires, all I have to do is wait a month or so, refill the tires and do this a time or two and presto chango I have almost all nitrogen in the tires. I just love this forum cus of all the handy info I get.

Tim

Here's an article from Consumer Reports where they filled a bunch of tires and set them aside for a year to see how much difference there is between air and nitrogen.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2 ... ogen-.html

Bottom line: not much. For a strut, most of the "container" is made out of metal, and likely impermeable. The area of the elastomer seals would be very small, so I doubt the difference for a strut would be significant.

tom

More to the point: If your nose strut really NEEDS to be re-inflated that frequently, GET THE NOSE STRUT SEAL FIXED!!

These things shouldn't leak so much that you should feel like you need a bottle of anything to re-inflate.

Take a piece of heavy rubber hose, that is approximately the inside diameter of your nose strut, cut off a section about 3 inches long, split it lengthwise, and wrap it around the lower part of the strut. Now, put a couple of screw type metal band-its around the hose to hold it in place.

Now you have a nice bump stop in the event that your nose strut loses pressure, and it will prevent "bonking" the nose strut till you can get someplace to pump up the strut.

As to the type of gas, READ the manufacturer's specifications. Always good guidance.

MTV

Talked to a local supplier and was quoted about $250 for small tank, hoses, & regulator. $18 if I should ever need a refill.
I probably won't put it on the top of my list of things to get.

I should have asked how much for a tank of helium. That would be a lot of fun to bring to fly-ins or talking to ATC.

The whole nitrogen thing in my opinion is a good revenue generator for tire shops who use it. Whoever thought that one up is laughing all the way to the bank.

I, however, have started pumping it into my crankcase after flights for a quick pickle.