How To Use An Air Compressor At A Gas Station

How To Use An Air Compressor At A Gas Station

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To check your tire pressure, and add air as needed, you will need to know how to use an air compressor at a gas station. Ideally, you may have some means of inflating your tires and adding air in your car at all times, but if you don’t have your own air compressor or pump with you, most (if not all) gas stations will have an air compressor you can use.

Most stations will let you use their inflator for a small fee, or even for free – but in almost all cases, you will have to air up your tires yourself. Here’s a handy guide on the right way to air up your tires, using one of those types of air compressors​.

How to Check Your Tire Pressure

The best way to make sure that your tires are at their ideal pressure is to check them before you take your vehicle out. Sometimes, though, life gets in the way, and the only reminder you get about your tires is when that tire pressure sensor light on your dashboard turns on.

A tire pressure indicator turning on in the middle of a drive is not the worst of emergencies – there are far worse ways for your dashboard to light up, and you can be thankful that it’s not the oil light or the check engine light. But in any case, it’s still a good idea to stop at a convenient place and check it out.

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​Underinflated tires wear faster and might affect the handling of your vehicle. It’s also detrimental to the fuel efficiency of your car as well, and more importantly, tires that don’t have enough air in them are at a higher risk of blowing out.

Tires can get underinflated when they get cold, since cold air shrinks and lead to a dip in tire pressure. Sometimes they get underinflated enough that your tire pressure indicator gets tripped off.

In that case, check your tires to see if they look good. If there seems to be no leaks or any similar problems, you can try driving for a few minutes to let your tires warm up. If the tire pressure indicator does not turn off, then your tire may need to be brought up to the correct pressure by adding a bit of air.

1. Park Your Vehicle Near the Air Compressor Pump

Park your car in such a way that you can easily reach all your tires using the hose from the air pump. That means parking your car close to the pump in such a way that the front wheels and rear wheels are both accessible from the pump, while also leaving you enough room to walk in between the pump and your vehicle.

2. How to Look For the Recommended Tire Pressure

Your vehicle has a recommended tire pressure that takes into account the weight needed to safely carry your vehicle’s frame, even under maximum load. You will usually find these recommendations printed in the door frame when you open your car door, in a trim tag inside the door jamb.

You may also see them in the glove compartment cover, or in the fuel lid. In any case, you will also find these figures listed in the car owner’s manual, too.

Check the recommended tire pressure, and take note if your front tires need to be at a different pressure compared to your rear tires. Take note, also, that the recommended tire pressure for your vehicle is not the same as the figure printed on the tires themselves. The numbers printed on the tires indicate the maximum tire pressure they can take, which is more than what you want for driving.

3. Check Your Tire Pressures with a Tire Gauge

Ideally, you are checking your tire pressures after you have driven your car around for some time – maybe two to three hours, to give the tires enough time to warm up to their regular pressure. A warmed-up tire that has spent a few hours on the road will usually read 2 to 3 PSI higher than a “cold” tire that’s been ​in the garage.

You will need a tire pressure gauge, and you may already have a pencil type one where the plastic insert shoots out to indicate the tire pressure. A dial gauge (or a digital tire gauge) will give you a more accurate reading, and these upgrades will not cost you all that much.

To measure the tire pressure with a tire gauge, first you will need to unscrew the valve stem cap on your tire. Keep those in your pocket so you do not lose them. Then press the end of the tire gauge to the tire valve stem to make your reading.

If you can hear the air leaking out, then you may not be pressing on to the gauge hard enough – push the tire gauge into the valve stem until you can hear the hissing stop.

Then read off the indicator of your tire gauge, which will be in PSI, or pounds per square inch. Remember the recommended tire pressure you read off of your car door jamb or owner’s manual earlier?

Check your readings to compare, and take note of which of your tires are underinflated. If your tire is not underinflated, then screw back the tire valve cap and move on to the next tire.

If a tire is underinflated, then keep the valve stem cap in your pocket. This helps keep you from losing them and also helps you keep track of how many tires you will need to re-inflate at the pump.

4. Add Air to Your Underinflated Tires Using the Air Compressor Pump

Add money into the gas station pump and push the button for air (if equipped) when you’re ready to add air, and do it only after you have a good idea of which tires need to be reinflated, and by how much.

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​You will have a limited time to use the pump until you need to add money again, so make the most out of it.

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​Sometimes you can ask the attendant working inside the store if they can turn the compressor on for you for free. This works well if you are getting gas or buying something else, seeing as how you are a paying customer.

Press the air hose into the valve stem of each tire, and slowly add air. Again, if you can hear a lot of air leaking out, then you may not be pressing the pump hose to the valve hard enough (or the air pump hose may have a leak). Press the air hose into the tire valve harder until you have a good seal and the hissing stops.

Be careful not to overfill your tires with too much air. If you do overfill your tire, you will have to bleed some of the air out. To do so, you need to find the thin metal pin at the center of the valve. You will have to press on to this valve with a small thin tool, like a screwdriver.

Some tire gauges will also let you bleed air from a tire valve, as well. If your tire gauge does not come with a tool to press on to a tire valve pin, then you can use the tip of your car key or a similar object in a pinch.

While bleeding an overinflated tire, press down on the metal pin until you can feel the air shooting out of the valve. Once you feel that you have bled out enough air, lift the screwdriver or tire gauge off of the metal pin to let the valve close once again.

You may check using the pump gauge if your tire is at the correct pressure, but many gas station pumps may have gauges that are damaged or poorly calibrated. It’s often a good idea to verify your reading using your own gauge, to make sure that you have inflated your tire with just the right amount of air.

After adding air to each tire and ensuring that you have the right pressure, put back the tire valve caps, so you don’t forget! Screw the cap on firmly.

Put back the air pump hose so it’s out of the way, and so that it’s ready for the next person who needs to use it.

5. Back on the Road

Hopefully, you have your air tire pressures sorted out and at their recommended PSI ratings.

Keep an eye out on your tire pressure sensor for a while. If it turns on again while you are driving, then one of your tires may have developed a leak – you may have a sharp object embedded in one of your tires, and they may need to be patched.

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About the author

Ryan

I have been in construction nearly my entire life and have a fascination with tools and love when they make my life easier. Match that with my "research addiction" and you create something like this website!

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