Most Accurate- Digital Tire Gauge ?

427HISS · Feb 4, 2018

I'm getting older, need more light and a magnifying glass to read anything !
So, I'm wanting a very accurate digital,....tire gauge. Like we all know, just because a tool is expensive doesn't mean it's better.

This brand and model number has over 4,800 reviews with a 4 stars or 5.
They also have pretty good mechanic tools. I have a few and their ver nice.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0037V0EW8/?tag=atomicindus08-20

EOC_Jason · Feb 4, 2018

I got one at the auto parts store, I think it was a green slime digital gauge. It only shows in half-psi increments... i.e. 60.0, 60.5, 61.0 which is somewhat irritating because my TPMS also shows pressure but only whole digits and depending on how close it is sometimes it will be 60 while the other side is 61...

On a side note, besides an accurate gauge, is there some device that doesn't cost a ton where you can set a specific pressure to have it fill your tires so they are all equal?

fordnut85 · Feb 4, 2018

EOC_Jason said:
I got one at the auto parts store, I think it was a green slime digital gauge. It only shows in half-psi increments... i.e. 60.0, 60.5, 61.0 which is somewhat irritating because my TPMS also shows pressure but only whole digits and depending on how close it is sometimes it will be 60 while the other side is 61...

On a side note, besides an accurate gauge, is there some device that doesn't cost a ton where you can set a specific pressure to have it fill your tires so they are all equal?

4 cheap air hoses going into a manifold with a Schrader valve on it would do the job and could probly be built for $40.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

EOC_Jason · Feb 4, 2018

fordnut85 said:
4 cheap air hoses going into a manifold with a Schrader valve on it would do the job and could probly be built for $40.

Yeah after doing a bunch of googling I found a high-end digital one that is way out of my price range. Then I found some cheaper ones similar to how you described... Then I found a video of a guy that made his own:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=_g2oNpZ6f14

Any nice digital tire gauges with 0.1 PSI accuracy? Or are they all basically just 0.5 ???

Paycheck · Feb 4, 2018

Picked up one at Advance Auto that had a bigger screen. Good for old fahrts.

KM223 · Feb 4, 2018

Buxton. That should end this thread.

Snakebyt · Feb 4, 2018

https://www.tooltopia.com/astro-pne...ka9AKtTe9tGaNHThla1kSXnAMmDRh9dRoCNhwQAvD_BwE

I have this exact one, but mine is badged blue point and i paid way too much for it, bit i use it several times a day and never had a problem

BukitCase · Feb 4, 2018

My wife was given one about 15 years ago by a drug rep at the hospital she worked - it's still going strong, .1 psi resolution, and I've never had it open to see what battery it uses !!

I had to sort thru about 8 pages on Amazon before I found one that would read in .1 lb. increments - I wouldn't call it accurate, but it WILL let you FOOL yourself :bounce:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00139YMUQ/?tag=atomicindus08-20

"Gauge accuracy is +/- 1% plus 0.5 PSI" - so, 1% of 30 psi is .3 psi, + .5 psi... so you can RESOLVE .1 psi, but it's only accurate to .8 psi - hmmmm... Steve

ricleh · Feb 4, 2018

Intercomp Racing digital pressure gauges

ddawg16 · Feb 4, 2018

I'll take the mechanical any day.

Don't need batteries....don't fall out of calibration.

As for accuracy? Unless you're going to compensate for barometric pressure and temperature, mechanical is more than accurate enough

FigureItOut · Feb 4, 2018

I have this Longacre one, was about $40. It reads in 0.2 increments. It was the best (by listed specs) that I could find when I was looking and had budgeted about $60.

C.L S2000 · Feb 5, 2018

http://www.astrotools.com/3-5-digital-tire-inflator.html

This is the inflator I use as its rated to be 0.1 psi resolution for TPMS systems.

anndel · Feb 5, 2018

C.L S2000 said:
http://www.astrotools.com/3-5-digital-tire-inflator.html

This is the inflator I use as its rated to be 0.1 psi resolution for TPMS systems.

+1, Had it for over a year and it's awesome. I too need big numbers before I have to bust out my reading glasses.

EOC_Jason · Feb 5, 2018

I like that Astro one, except one thing with the specs bothers me...

Resolution: 0.1 PSI

Accuracy:
0 - 58 psi +/- 1.2 psi
59 - 174 psi +/- 2.0 psi

Why bother giving .1 PSI on the gauge if you can't guarantee that accuracy?

CobraRed · Feb 5, 2018

EOC_Jason said:
I like that Astro one, except one thing with the specs bothers me...

Resolution: 0.1 PSI

Accuracy:
0 - 58 psi +/- 1.2 psi
59 - 174 psi +/- 2.0 psi

Why bother giving .1 PSI on the gauge if you can't guarantee that accuracy?

That range is just showing it meets the ANSI standard and is a prerequisite to sell a tire tool, nothing more. It's like buying a spray gun and it's says >65% transfer efficiency, because it has to.

Anyone who owns one of these knows how accurate it is.

EOC_Jason · Feb 5, 2018

Ah okay.

Bretny · Feb 5, 2018

I have owned a slime brand one for about 14years now. Lived in my vehicles for most of it. Same batterys it came with. Reads down to 2psi and up to 60psi, thats all i really need it to do.
Dual foot tire chucks are a different story and a bit more inportant than just reading the pressure.

APEowner · Feb 5, 2018

ddawg16 said:
I'll take the mechanical any day.

Don't need batteries....don't fall out of calibration.

As for accuracy? Unless you're going to compensate for barometric pressure and temperature, mechanical is more than accurate enough

Actually, mechanical pressure gauges are more likely to be out of calibration than a digital one and the dial ones very sensitive to shock. However, for most usage they're fine.

redmondjp · Feb 5, 2018

APEowner said:
Actually, mechanical pressure gauges are more likely to be out of calibration than a digital one and the dial ones very sensitive to shock. However, for most usage they're fine.

And it is extremely difficult to find decent small mechanical gauges any longer - 99% of the ones available are Chinesium and are lucky to be within 25% accurate.

And the ones that are accurate are very pricey unless you buy them used. I use mechanical ones myself for checking tires, but I did calibrate them while working for one company that had a test bench for that purpose.

JBL · Feb 5, 2018

This is what most of the pro teams use:
https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/p...MIpIeRsteP2QIVTCaGCh1sZgYAEAQYBCABEgIg2_D_BwE

You get what you pay for.

WhiffySpark · Feb 5, 2018

Snakebyt said:
https://www.tooltopia.com/astro-pne...ka9AKtTe9tGaNHThla1kSXnAMmDRh9dRoCNhwQAvD_BwE

I have this exact one, but mine is badged blue point and i paid way too much for it, bit i use it several times a day and never had a problem

I have the bluepoint one as well. My buttons are different. I don’t think they’re the same

Citation · Feb 6, 2018

People seem to be confused about precision vs accuracy or why precision may be important even if the accuracy is off.

A gauge that offers high resolution can be useful in cases where the relative pressure of two things is important. So even if my accuracy is off I can tell that say moving the car into the sun increased the tire pressure by .6 psi.

For a road car the need to have such accurate pressure readings is very questionable. I helped a guy with his racecar. The tire pressure was under 20psi but he only spec'ed the pressure to .5 psi

Digital is nice and I recently got a cheap digital inflator of Amazon. Not high quality construction but I like it and it making tire checking a good but easier.

White Shadow · Feb 6, 2018

EOC_Jason said:
On a side note, besides an accurate gauge, is there some device that doesn't cost a ton where you can set a specific pressure to have it fill your tires so they are all equal?

I have one of these and use it all the time. Set the digital readout, turn it on, and it shuts off automatically when the pressure hits the set point. Actually, it overfills them by exactly 1psi, I suppose to make up for the pressure drifting slightly down and/or air loss when you take off the hose.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-18...P731/203060297

engineer2 · Feb 6, 2018

Check out the older threads on this topic
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=346693
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95602
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=327461

For passenger car tires ±1% or ±2% accuracy gauges are OK. Many mechanical gauges are 3%-2%-3% over their range. A couple of psi either way won't make too much difference for your daily driver. The main thing is to check them regularly. You'll find out from experience how often you need to air them up.

I've found most digital gauges have decent battery life. I personally avoid ones with coin cells though. Anything with a display backlight will use the batteries up sooner.

Showkey · Feb 6, 2018

CobraRed said:
Anyone who owns one of these knows how accurate it is.

As compared to what............. :lol_hitti

.............how exactly do they know this ?

CobraRed · Feb 6, 2018

Showkey said:
As compared to what..........................how exactly do they know this ?

As compared to your co-worker who has 10X more customers driving back in asking why their "tippems" light came on after service.

Todd.Brock · Feb 6, 2018

I didn’t just want a Tire gauge, I wanted and inflator as well. Just makes sense to me. I bought the Astro Pneumatic referenced above and I love it. Its super nice to use. Had it since spring time and sold my compressor two weeks ago so I can’t comment on battery life yet.

16again · Feb 6, 2018

FUNFER2 said:
I'm getting older, need more light and a magnifying glass to read anything !
So, I'm wanting a very accurate digital,....tire gauge. Like we all know, just because a tool is expensive doesn't mean it's better.

This brand and model number has over 4,800 reviews with a 4 stars or 5.
They also have pretty good mechanic tools. I have a few and their ver nice.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0037V0EW8/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Have this exact unit for last couple years. One of the excellent reviews is probably mine.

Very good
unit that I keep in my Jeeps gear bag. Checked it against 3 other units and it's spot on. Have an expensive dial unit that reads 2 lbs high. :willy_nil

Jsf721 · Feb 6, 2018

I have this exact unit and it works great until it cold outside. Now it cuts off after 30 seconds and nowneee near the correct set point. Took it back to HD. New one worked perfectly on my car in the garage. Purposely release air and the unit worked as designed. Went outside to the car in 12 degree weather and it would it reach the set psi. Would not fill tires at all ! I raised the psi to 50 hoping to get it from 28 to 34 and it stopped after 30-45 seconds well short of 34. Frustrated I checked it with my stick gauge and it was at 30-31. Several attempts and I gave up. Great concept poor execution. I’m back to my cig lighter air pump.

White Shadow said:
I have one of these and use it all the time. Set the digital readout, turn it on, and it shuts off automatically when the pressure hits the set point. Actually, it overfills them by exactly 1psi, I suppose to make up for the pressure drifting slightly down and/or air loss when you take off the hose.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-18...P731/203060297

ddawg16 · Feb 7, 2018

Sorry, but I'm still at a loss as to why anyone would want a digital.

All it's going to do is make you stress about the wrong things. Your tire pressure gauge does not have to be that ******* accurate. Changes in air temp and driving pretty much null out any 'perceived accurate' tire pressure readings.

tym · Feb 7, 2018

ricleh said:
Intercomp Racing digital pressure gauges

Yup! Pricey, but the industry standard.

Found that both of my cheapie digital gauges read exactly 1PSI higher than the Intercomp gauge, so they had excellent precision, but accuracy--not so much.

zorrox · Feb 7, 2018

motion pro tire gauges are the highest quality. I used to do motorcycle road racing where having exact PSI was very important and they are what everybody used.

I have a mechanical but they also make a digital now.
https://www.amazon.com/Motion-Pro-08-0468-Digital-Pressure/dp/B006LAD61S/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1517981781&sr=1-1&keywords=motion+pro+digital

KM223 · Feb 7, 2018

You’ve obviously never looked at or used a Buxton. That’s high quality and the best.

Tonyuk · Feb 7, 2018

I would just get the one in the first post from amazon,

You only need a basic pressure gauge to be so accurate, a few psi off wont make any real difference.

Bighead38 · Feb 7, 2018

Tonyuk said:
I would just get the one in the first post from amazon,

You only need a basic pressure gauge to be so accurate, a few psi off wont make any real difference.

Ehh it depends what your doing. For me being off 2 psi would be no big deal. For a guy racing motorcycles at 200 mph that 2 psi could make a big difference.

When you hear nascar teams make a pressure adjustment how much are they changing it and how much of a difference does it make?

Tonyuk · Feb 7, 2018

Bighead38 said:
Ehh it depends what your doing. For me being off 2 psi would be no big deal. For a guy racing motorcycles at 200 mph that 2 psi could make a big difference.

When you hear nascar teams make a pressure adjustment how much are they changing it and how much of a difference does it make?

Very true, but i heavily doubt the OP is racing anything.

Citation · Feb 7, 2018

zorrox said:
motion pro tire gauges are the highest quality. I used to do motorcycle road racing where having exact PSI was very important and they are what everybody used.

I have a mechanical but they also make a digital now.
https://www.amazon.com/Motion-Pro-08-0468-Digital-Pressure/dp/B006LAD61S/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1517981781&sr=1-1&keywords=motion+pro+digital

That looks like the same gauge head that's featured on many low buck Chinese made gauges and inflators.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006LAD61S/?tag=atomicindus08-20

This is like the inflator I bought. Again similar gauge and seems to work nicely
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006LAD61S/?tag=atomicindus08-20

jgromada · Feb 7, 2018

i think that Tekton one in the first post is a generic one Tekton rebranded as their own. I have one exactly like that but I couldn't tell you what name was originally on it.

johninct · Feb 7, 2018

ddawg16 said:
Sorry, but I'm still at a loss as to why anyone would want a digital.

All it's going to do is make you stress about the wrong things. Your tire pressure gauge does not have to be that ******* accurate. Changes in air temp and driving pretty much null out any 'perceived accurate' tire pressure readings.

When you get older, it is harder to read a gauge. Also, I have both the Snap-On highly accurate aluminum tire inflator and tire gauge, but by looking at it the wrong way, I can be off a few psi, so I never use them.

White Shadow · Feb 7, 2018

Jsf721 said:
I have this exact unit and it works great until it cold outside. Now it cuts off after 30 seconds and nowneee near the correct set point. Took it back to HD. New one worked perfectly on my car in the garage. Purposely release air and the unit worked as designed. Went outside to the car in 12 degree weather and it would it reach the set psi. Would not fill tires at all ! I raised the psi to 50 hoping to get it from 28 to 34 and it stopped after 30-45 seconds well short of 34. Frustrated I checked it with my stick gauge and it was at 30-31. Several attempts and I gave up. Great concept poor execution. I’m back to my cig lighter air pump.

I haven't had that issue with mine. I've used it several times in very cold weather without any issue. Maybe you somehow got two lemons in a row?

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