To: Hillarys Gate Cult
It stops most all slow leaks. Please explain why? Is it because pure nitrogen contains no water vapor?
34 posted on
06/17/2003 10:40:06 PM PDT by
Paleo Conservative
(Do not remove this tag under penalty of law.)
To: Paleo Conservative
Actually, it's because N2 contains no oxygen. Room air contains ~21% O2. The O2 combines with the rubber in the tires, forming a solid oxidized rubber dust. This process:
(1) reduces the amount of gas available to keep the tire full (since the O2 is no longer a gas)
(2) causes the tire to fail.
N2 doesn't react with rubber (or with anything else, for that matter, under the conditions found inside a tire), so it stays in gas form, and the tires last longer.
Water vapor is also theoretically bad for the inside of tires, since it allows microorganisms to grow in the tire, but vulcanized rubber is apparently toxic enough to the little buggers that this is generally not a problem.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson