Dial type vs. Pen type tire gauge

**Taurus** · January 23rd, 2007 05:36 PM

It doesn't make any difference whether they are pen, dial or digital, just make it sure they are properly calibrated to the correct readings.

**vinj** · January 23rd, 2007 06:25 PM

Originally Posted by 2Dmax

pen-type for me. but buy a branded one. ung made in US or japan. ung mga dial type is just a coil spring inside. sa kin is stainless steel ung casing and plastic-type ung slider. very consistent ung reading. handy pa..

Ditto... concentrate more on the brand/make rather then the type. I use a pen-type gauge made in the USA (the brand slips me now) and it's been working quite well for the past two years.

**j_avonni** · January 23rd, 2007 06:31 PM

I don't know which is more accurate. But I've been using the dial type. I bought 1 in 1989 and I'm still using it.

**NazQ** · January 23rd, 2007 07:18 PM

pen type ang gamit ko, freebie lang. though hindi ko alam kung gano ka accurate, mejo ini-estimate ko na lang. kasi pag nagpahangin ako sa caltex, +2 psi yung sa dial type na ginagamit nila. yung sa shell (digital) -1 psi.

**mikey177** · January 23rd, 2007 08:32 PM

What brand of dial type gauge can you guys recommend? I'm currently using one marked "Stetho-gauge" or something like that (it's about a year old already and still doing well). It's metal and it comes with a lockable plastic case.

**restituto** · January 23rd, 2007 08:51 PM

I use dial type since 1998. Haven't encountered any problem. Just preserve your gauges by releasing the air on the gauges after you takenote of the readings. Lately, I have read this article in the net:

[SIZE=3]Lies, damn lies, and tyre pressure gauges.[/SIZE]

Whilst on the subject of checking your tyres, you really ought to check the pressures once every couple of weeks too. Doing this does rather rely on you having, or having access to a working, accurate tyre pressure gauge. If you've got one of those free pencil-type gauges that car dealerships give away free, then I'll pop your bubble right now and tell you it's worth nothing. Same goes for the ones you find on a garage forecourt. Sure they'll fill the tyre with air, but they can be up to 20% out either way. Don't trust them. Only recently - since about 2003 - have I been able to trust digital gauges. Before that they were just junk - I had one which told me that the air in my garage was at 18psi with nothing attached to the valve. That's improved now and current-generation digital gauges are a lot more reliable. One thing to remember with digital gauges is to give them enough time to sample the pressure. If you pop it on and off, the reading will be low. Hold it on the valve cap for a few seconds and watch the display (if you can).
Generally speaking you should only trust a decent, branded pressure gauge that you can buy for a small outlay - $30 maybe - and keep it in your glove box. The best types are the ones housed in a brass casing with a radial display on the front and a pressure relief valve. I keep one in the car all the time and it's interesting to see how badly out the other cheaper or free ones are. My local garage forecourt has an in-line pressure gauge which over-reads by about 1.5psi. This means that if you rely on their gauge, your tyres are all 1.5psi short of their recommended inflation pressure. That's pretty bad. My local garage in England used to have one that under-read by nearly 6 psi, meaning everyone's tyres were rock-hard because they were 6psi over-inflated. I've yet to find one that matches my little calibrated gauge.
One reader pointed something else out to me. Realistically even a cheap pressure gauge is OK provided it is consistent. This is easy to check by taking three to five readings of the same tyre and confirming they are all the same, then confirming it reads (consistently) more for higher pressure and less for lower pressure.
One last note : if you're a motorcyclist, don't carry your pressure gauge in your pocket - if you come off, it will tear great chunks of flesh out of you as you careen down the road....

**restituto** · January 23rd, 2007 08:59 PM

Originally Posted by mikey177

What brand of dial type gauge can you guys recommend? I'm currently using one marked "Stetho-gauge" or something like that (it's about a year old already and still doing well). It's metal and it comes with a lockable plastic case.

Oh yah! i'm using this too...since 1998 and its still doing well.

**acenie** · January 24th, 2007 11:23 AM

me also US brand Pen Type, still ok up to now..

**j_avonni** · January 24th, 2007 11:31 AM

Originally Posted by mikey177

What brand of dial type gauge can you guys recommend? I'm currently using one marked "Stetho-gauge" or something like that (it's about a year old already and still doing well). It's metal and it comes with a lockable plastic case.

I think this is the brand of my tire gauge.

**cengrtecs** · January 24th, 2007 07:21 PM

Kung pang personal lang na gamit mo, pen type na lang. Tama sila, bili ka lang ng medyo mahal US or Japan made. Yung Japan made ko, ang tagal ko nang ginagamit, nakailang palit na ako ng sasakyan, ayos pa rin. Mas accurate pa nga kaysa sa mga gasolinahan. Pressure gauges sa mga gasolinahan, palagi sira. Ingatan mo lang. Wag mong ihahalo sa mga ibang tools.

Ngayon kung marami kang sasakyan, maganda yung dial type, depende rin sa brand. Ingatan mo rin para tumagal.

Be practical!