Ever find something that wasn’t really a big deal, but you got pretty excited about it anyway? Me too. Found this fun tire inflation air chuck kind of by accident, and works great! So, just for grins, I decided to make a quick video and let you see it as well.
If you’re not familiar, the device on the end of an air hose used for inflating tires (and other things) is called an Air Chuck. They come in a variety of different sizes, shapes and configurations, but they all do basically the same thing. These are for use with a Schrader style valve (typical with most tires on less expensive bicycles, cars and over-the-road vehicles). Don’t forget trailer tires! Here it is in action.
Video Of The Cool New Tool
Sorry about the less than stellar video quality. That’s what happens when you’re excited and just make the video yourself. Oh well. Please forgive the shakes, misdirection, and unscripted jabber. I was excited, what can I say?
The concept of a latch-on air chuck is not new. There are lots of such devices around with a spring clip or something. Even the straight in capture style is not new. The image here is a different variety, but it doesn’t function as smoothly, and it’s quite a bit larger. Anyway, I like this new one because it’s so compact, and it seems to flow better than other chucks — meaning faster. Also, it’s so simple to plug on and it just does it’s job.
I fiddle with trailer tire pressure a lot (especially to minimize empty trailer bounce). I like to make sure the inflation pressure is right for the load I expect to carry. Anyway, this will come in really handy — both for filling — and for deflating. To deflate, just stick it on without the air hose attached and it does the rest. No more sticking a screwdriver in there to press the little valve stem! Very cool.
Air Chuck Acquisition
On a whim I dropped into an industrial air compressor place in Denver. I asked a lot of questions about consistency of technology in over-the-road vehicles. This place specializes in equipment for mechanics and especially for tires of all sizes. While I’ve always assumed Schrader valves are the standard, until then, I’ve never had it confirmed. Now you know too — Almost all vehicles on the road use a Schrader valve for filling the tires.
There are some big tires that use a larger, high flow valve, but those are the really big tires like on earth moving equipment. I’ve seen those, but did not know that they are not on road vehicles. So, I asked about chucks to fill the bigger semi-truck tires and he showed me several options. This one is just cute and cool at the same time, so I bought it. This will fill a bunch of car, truck and trailer tires in the future.
Yep, something new to add to my air tools.
Update:
Per the question in the comments below, this air chuck is a Haltec CH-340 Lock-On Safety Air Chuck. It was purchased at a Truck Tire Service Center. I would imagine they are pretty common.
Now, after using it for a while, I continue to be quite happy with the performance. It does what I need, and it’s really easy to use. Also, as a side note, I also designed this device in on a tire filling machine we designed and built for one of our clients at Synthesis.
Just for fun, I did a quick Google search to see what similar products are around. That search yielded the Milton S-696 – 1/4″ FNPT Kwik Grip Safety Air Chuck which is similar. Additionally, something else similar (so it appears) is Milton 1496 – 1/4″ FNPT Kwik Grip Safety Air Chuck. I don’t know anything about the Milton products, so I can’t recommend them, but it’s worth knowing they exist.
Solutions!
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Please visit the Customer Submissions Page and let us know about your cool shop Solutions! Great ideas from you will help everyone that visits the Mechanical Elements website.
Thank you, in advance, for contributing. Have a wonderful day.
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