Filling with nitrogen

"scott moore" wrote in message
. ..
Hi,

I am considering purchase of a nitrogen fill system. I don't have power
at my tiedown, and filling the tires with a 12 volt portable compressor
is a pain due to having to park the car near the tire, move to the
other side, etc. I figgured a nice nitrogen tank system would give me
a power free solution and fill the tire with the best possible kind
of gas.

I found a fill system online:

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...trogenTire.php

My only question is why it says "no struts". That would seem to me
to be one of the best uses of this system, that I can top off my
strut, which is forever going low (on a Cessna). Is there a reason
for this restriction, and is there a system that can do struts?

Thank you.

Scott Moore


Nitrogen for tires? Isn't that kindof expensive?

I have a cordless air compressor. Rechargeable. Has a built in light.
Clearly designed for emergency car use. I love it. I think I bought it at
K-Mart and I have no idea how much I paid. I just Googled and saw prices
ranging from $40 to $60. Mine has been pumping away for about 6 years now. I
use it for the airplane, the car, the boat trailer, bicycles, no name it. It
has A/C charger and a cigarette lighter adapter for recharging.
-------------------------------
Travis
Lake N3094P
PWK

J. Severyn wrote:
"scott moore" wrote in message
...
Jay Masino wrote:

May I ask, where did you get the high pressure setup for struts?

Scott Moore

This works just fine for struts:
http://www.aircraft-tool.com/shop/de....aspx?PageNo=1

John Severyn
@KLVK



ok, I'm a bit confused here. Does it take 1,500 PSI to fill a strut? On
an ordinary Cessna 172?

Does the strut have a special fitting? Different from a tire fill valve?

Thank you.

Scott Moore

Fly wrote:
Expensive.
My set up costs:
Bottle of Nitrogen is about $100
A set of victor guages that the refirgeration guys use is about $110. 0-600
PSI on the low side.
$13 for the gooseneck to fit the schrader valve and $25 to have a long
hi-pressure hose made.

Keep in mind that it a takes high pressure to force the schrader's needle
valve open.

Kent Felkins
Tulsa

Ok, today I got the nitrogen bottle, it was about $100 for 40 (liters?).
The regulator is high side is 0-4000 psi, low side 0-200 PSI. Is this
enough, or do I need to exchange that, and what pressure is required?
Standard pressure hoses, as I am sure you are aware, are only good
up to 200psi.

Thanks for all the hints.

Scott Moore

"scott moore" wrote in message
...

ok, I'm a bit confused here. Does it take 1,500 PSI to fill a strut? On
an ordinary Cessna 172?

Does the strut have a special fitting? Different from a tire fill valve?

Thank you.

Scott Moore

If you can get the aircraft weight off the strut, it can be filled with an
ordinary pump.... The fitting is a standard Schrader valve. (but a high
pressure version)

For instance: the 152 strut is filled with 5606 with the nose strut deflated
and the valve removed. Then the valve is inserted and all aircraft weight is
taken off the nose (tie down the tail). Then the strut is filled to 20 PSI.
Then the tail tie-down is removed (gently) and the nose wheel brought to the
ground.

I believe the 172 is the same.....but do not have a 172 maintenance manual
handy to check the exact pressure.

So you are correct, the high pressure pump is not needed for the 172 nose
strut.

However you will need the high pressure pump to inflate struts if the
aircraft weight cannot be conveniently taken off the gear as the required
pressure is above most standard shop air pressures.

John Severyn
@KLVK

J. Severyn wrote:
"scott moore" wrote in message
...
ok, I'm a bit confused here. Does it take 1,500 PSI to fill a strut? On
an ordinary Cessna 172?

Does the strut have a special fitting? Different from a tire fill valve?

Thank you.

Scott Moore

If you can get the aircraft weight off the strut, it can be filled with an
ordinary pump.... The fitting is a standard Schrader valve. (but a high
pressure version)

For instance: the 152 strut is filled with 5606 with the nose strut deflated
and the valve removed. Then the valve is inserted and all aircraft weight is
taken off the nose (tie down the tail). Then the strut is filled to 20 PSI.
Then the tail tie-down is removed (gently) and the nose wheel brought to the
ground.

I believe the 172 is the same.....but do not have a 172 maintenance manual
handy to check the exact pressure.

So you are correct, the high pressure pump is not needed for the 172 nose
strut.

However you will need the high pressure pump to inflate struts if the
aircraft weight cannot be conveniently taken off the gear as the required
pressure is above most standard shop air pressures.

John Severyn
@KLVK



Thanks, that's a good clarification.

Scott Moore

-----Original Message-----
From: Fly [mailto:fly at Tulsaconnect.com]
Posted At: Monday, December 04, 2006 5:28 PM
Posted To: rec.aviation.owning
Conversation: Filling with nitrogen
Subject: Filling with nitrogen

....

Keep in mind that it a takes high pressure to force the schrader's
needle
valve open.

The needle on the Schrader valve is opened with the center post of the
hose end, not from high-pressure in the hose. The fill adapter depresses
the valve stem.


Kent Felkins
Tulsa

The needle on the Schrader valve is opened with the center post of the
hose end, not from high-pressure in the hose. The fill adapter depresses
the valve stem.


You have one of those fancy $30 adaptors that the turbine guys use.
Most common for GA lights planes is just the gooseneck by itself.
I started to explain about the tee-post adaptor but left it alone.
I think Aircraft tool supply carries them...
Kent

Ok, today I got the nitrogen bottle, it was about $100 for 40 (liters?).
The regulator is high side is 0-4000 psi, low side 0-200 PSI. Is this
enough, or do I need to exchange that, and what pressure is required?
Standard pressure hoses, as I am sure you are aware, are only good
up to 200psi.

Seems it takes 200-300 psi. to open the schrader...
What plane you have?
Kent

Fly wrote:
Ok, today I got the nitrogen bottle, it was about $100 for 40 (liters?).
The regulator is high side is 0-4000 psi, low side 0-200 PSI. Is this
enough, or do I need to exchange that, and what pressure is required?
Standard pressure hoses, as I am sure you are aware, are only good
up to 200psi.

Seems it takes 200-300 psi. to open the schrader...
What plane you have?
Kent



C-172.

Scott Moore

Ok, I'm showing in the $400's to get that high. The regulator I got, a
victor 0871-0044, 5-125 psig is $146.

http://www.toolfetch.com/Brand/Victo...ng/Regulators/

What I am going to use this for is to fill tires and service the strut
at my powerless tiedown location. The price difference covers that
the strut pump costs:

http://www.aircraft-tool.com/shop/de...x%3fPageNo%3d1

Besides I assume also having the correct fittings I need for the
scheader valve.

So it seems the way to go is stay with the low pressure system I have
for tires, then use the strut pump to multiply pressure to get that
done, which is a less frequent event.

Have I missed anything?

Scott Moore

Fly wrote:
Expensive.
My set up costs:
Bottle of Nitrogen is about $100
A set of victor guages that the refirgeration guys use is about $110. 0-600
PSI on the low side.
$13 for the gooseneck to fit the schrader valve and $25 to have a long
hi-pressure hose made.

Keep in mind that it a takes high pressure to force the schrader's needle
valve open.

Kent Felkins
Tulsa