Many types of gasses can be used for different purposed in tire
inflation.
Hydrogen - I think this is used mostly in movie production, as you may
have noticed on most movies almost any car crash results in an instant
explosion. Charging the tires with Hydrogen gas assists in this
explosion process. It is rumored that certain crime syndicates may also
use this technique for vehicles they wish to 'dispose of'.
Helium - we use this on almost every trip up to the repeater site. We
find that we can load the truck down very heavily at sea level, and it
is often all we can do to keep it on the ground once we get up to about
6,000 feet. It is a tremendous mileage booster, though we lost the
first truck when we unloaded at the repeater site and returned to find
the empty truck gone. Perhaps it was stolen.
Propane - this one is a bit tricky to use, but has its benefits. The
pressures must be kept quite low to avoid a liquid buildup inside the
tire. While the liquid quickly and smoothly coats the inside of the
tire, it can cause a blowout if the mixture is just right. Often for
camping, we fill up all four tires with as much as they can hold.
Sure... at that point we have liquid in the tires and driving is slow,
but when we get to camp we just pull a wheel off and connect it to the
lantern and we're good for a weekend.
Methane - similar to propane, though a bit trickier to get squeezed into
the valve stem, sometimes it isn't practical but after a few beers
trying to fill one up can be a real hoot!
Argon - one of the most abundant rare gasses, it is inert so it really
is not very entertaining. However, with some care, it can be used for
filling tires. Oddly enough, if you purchase 324,523,439 60 watt
incandescent light bulbs, you can gain enough Argon to fill 4 tires (not
those fat mud tires though).
Neon - another of my favorite inert gasses, we often use scour the
electrical contractors for old florescent lamps which contain free neon
gas. It's free, fun and reasonably safe.
Krypton - an all time favorite, but for obvious reasons it is reserved
only for superman. Krypton gas is 3 times heavier than air, so frankly,
it is too heavy to carry around in the tires.
Oh there are sooooo many more, but I've got to get out and check my Neon
pressure. I've got my technician extracting the precious gas from tubes
and the tire is almost full!
73 and happy gassing!
Daron Wilson, N7HQR
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