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1. What's all the fuss
about numbers?
When Nitrogen machines claim 95% or 97% or 98% or even 99%...
is there a difference?
Some generator salesmen would like
you to think that Nitrogen is Nitrogen. That there is no difference
between "shop generated" Nitrogen and the Nitrogen delivered from a tank.
FYI, here are the facts....
During research and testing conducted by major car and tire manufactures,
purity became the number one issue. Ford went so far as to say... "It is
the issue!".
The air we breathe is about 78% pure Nitrogen, the problem is it contains
about 20% oxygen and that O2 causes a tire to lose pressure and
actually deteriorate. One test series showed a noticeable difference
in the "rubber belt package", between tires inflated with a high purity of
nitrogen (96% and above) and those inflated with regular air. Note
that this was after only 3 weeks of exposure to the two different gases!
Bottom line, tires must contain an absolute minimum of 96% pure nitrogen
to deliver desired benefits to the consumer!
So that means any Nitrogen filling system, generator or tank, will
work... Right?
To determine the answer, it’s important
everyone understands the following facts...
1. All used, new and even flat tires contain a certain volume of "normal"
air.
2. Just inflating them with Nitrogen will not produce the recognized
minimum Nitrogen
saturation threshold of 96% purity.
3. Tires must be inflated and purged multiple times with dry Nitrogen to
dilute and remove the largest volume of air and moisture.
Additionally, be aware the best "generators"
produce Nitrogen that is only 97% to possibly 98% pure and that's only
when they are new or are running with new filters. On the other hand, a
GWR tank system supplies 99.99% or purer Nitrogen, day after day, month after
month, year after year.
Are you saying tanks are the only way to
get the benefits of Nitrogen? A few percentage points
couldn’t make that much difference?
Since generators produce Nitrogen that is less pure than that delivered
from Nitrogen cylinders, tires could require three purges to reach or exceed the
threshold of 96% pure Nitrogen. Can you afford to do that, are three
purges practical in a modern shop? Not only will three purges
significantly extend the customers’ time in your bays, it will result in
33% to over 75% more energy and maintenance costs to produce the additional Nitrogen.
Because GWR Nitrogen Filling Stationstm utilize
cylinders that deliver 99.99% pure Nitrogen to the tire valves, only two
purges are requires to reach and exceed the threshold of 96% pure. That
means much less electricity, zero compressor wear and no expensive filter
or membrane changes.
It can’t be over emphasized how important
purity really is! As a note, not all Nitrogen generators are as pure
as the ones mentioned above. Some low-cost, "get on the bandwagon before
its to late" generators, produce Nitrogen that is only 93% to 95% pure!
You've seen them, the ones that fall into the $4000 and $5000 price range.
Actual tire tests with purity meters have seen fill numbers fall into the
low 90% range, this is almost laughable when you realize those shops paid $5000 for
"97%" machines.
To sum things up, it is impossible to remove all ambient air from a tire
regardless of the number of purges. Secondly, the purity percentage of
"any" system, generator or tank, will be diluted by 2% to 4%. Bottom
line, it is impossible for tires inflated by generators to ever achieve
the 96% purity threshold necessary to provide customers with the promised
benefits of driving on Nitrogen. (I.E. A 96% generator will only produce a
tire with 92% to possibly 94% Nitrogen concentration... below the 96%
threshold minimum! On the other hand, GWR's tank based Nitrogen
Filling Stations(tm) offer 97% to 98% in the tire
consistency, with no fluctuation).
The laws of physics don’t lie, we can’t say the same for the claims made
by the big name generator systems.
Please note that we have not even taken into
consideration the purity deterioration of generators as their membranes
and filters become clogged with oil and water from standard shop
compressors. Unless you plan on spending $1000’s for high tech dryers and
refrigeration systems for the air, you are going to see your generator
drop in purity and run longer each and every day you use them. We
have already sold GWR Filling Stations(tm) to customers that sent
back their name brand generator, when the purity dropped and their
electricity bill went through the roof.
...more coming, please come back.
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