Propane tank converted to air bladder... any comments?

[patrick_g]

In case you were not joking and dont know. They make a device for setting the bead on tires when you cannot get them to set normally.

I have seen a tire inflator that used a fair sized air bottle with large diameter plumbing, an oval nozzle, and a quick opening valve. They took the valve core out of the stem and attached a self holding tire inflator chuck to the valve stem and used the "blow hard" device to blow air past the bead into the tire, temporarily expanding it and nearly seating it. The temporary contact of the bead to the rim allowed the rush of air from the valve stem to add enough air to hold the bead in place.

This was a mechanized version of the field expedient of making a small scale fuel air bomb by putting gas, ether, or whatever into the tire and throwing matches at it till you got an explosion that popped the tire onto the bead. This feul air bomb approach was a standard trick a while back in the Baja racing venue and is used currently in Mexico at tire shops when a tourniquet around the tread doesn't force contact of the bead to the rim. At least that is how they put the tires on my motor home down in Baja.

The propane bottle looked to have a similar arrangement, albeit with a smaller tank.

Pat

 

[gemini5362]

I have seen a tire inflator that used a fair sized air bottle with large diameter plumbing, an oval nozzle, and a quick opening valve. They took the valve core out of the stem and attached a self holding tire inflator chuck to the valve stem and used the "blow hard" device to blow air past the bead into the tire, temporarily expanding it and nearly seating it. The temporary contact of the bead to the rim allowed the rush of air from the valve stem to add enough air to hold the bead in place.

This was a mechanized version of the field expedient of making a small scale fuel air bomb by putting gas, ether, or whatever into the tire and throwing matches at it till you got an explosion that popped the tire onto the bead. This feul air bomb approach was a standard trick a while back in the Baja racing venue and is used currently in Mexico at tire shops when a tourniquet around the tread doesn't force contact of the bead to the rim. At least that is how they put the tires on my motor home down in Baja.

The propane bottle looked to have a similar arrangement, albeit with a smaller tank.

Pat

It is not something I have seen done very often only a couple of times. I am probably not remembering it correctly but there is a device that looks very similar to his homemade tank device. If I remember right it has a curved lip on it and fits on the outside of the wheel. YOu fill it full of air and then put it in place and turn a ball valve releasing a large volume of air into the tire. It is used when they cannot get the bead to seat correctly. It works exactly as you described above but did not go in through the valve step but instead went in under the edge of the tire. I believe that is how it worked but been years since I saw it. I cannot remember the product name.

 

[patrick_g]

Gemini, Sorry if I wasn't clear but the device I described shot the air in beside the bead just as you say. The connection to the valve stem was made with a regular self holding tire chuck. They removed the valve core to get a higher rate of flow. The blast from the tank you describe just temporarily expands the tire to contact the rim. The air going in through the valve stem takes over and finishes the job. You turn on the air flow to the valve stem before you give the rim the big blast so that if it "catches" even for an instant the flow from the stem will hold it and complete the job.

The DIY rig in question sure looks a lot like one of these devices.

Pat

 

[Mighty Dodge]

That's exactly how I use my tank/inflater. I've used it successfully on rims up to 16".

 

[gemini5362]

I thought I submitted my response so if it comes up twice I apologize.

Mighty dodge your idea looks useful and is a lot cheaper than buying one.

Patrick I understood what you meant. The one that I saw used does not go through the valve stem it goes directly onto the rim under the tire. Here is the URL for that device. Cheetah Bead Seater: Eagle Equipment Notice the price on it. 350.00 plus freight. There are some on EBAY the one that I saw was 100.00 plus 28.95 freight. To be honest I could buy a new propane tank and make the changes Mighty Dodge did for less money than buying one.

 

[patrick_g]

Patrick I understood what you meant. The one that I saw used does not go through the valve stem it goes directly onto the rim under the tire. Here is the URL for that device. Cheetah Bead Seater: Eagle Equipment

This Chetah is essentially the same as the one I saw. Of course, there is no part of the Chetah that involves the valve stem, that is a separate operation if you want to improve your success ratio. Just giving the tire a big blast of air may or may not give a seal that will last till you hook up a chuck and finish the inflation. By removing the valve core and hooking up a self holding (or threaded type) chuck and turning on the air flow BEFORE giving it the big blast of air is a much more for sure method. I'm not saying you can't use the Chetah type system alone, just that you will have more success with it in the combination approach.

With the motor home tires I installed in Mexico, the combo method got all but one tire seated and we had to resort to the fuel-air explosion to get that one. I don't think the air blast alone would have ever seated that one and may not have done the rest without airing the valve at the same time. Not all tires are so hard to deal with and there are probably plenty that could be handled with just the blast.

The price seems a bit steep so it is not unlikely that you could make one for less even buying a new propane cylinder. You'll get better results if you cut the tank out to accept a 2 inch pipe fitting to be welded in place and eliminate the bottle neck caused by the small threaded opening in the tank.

Pat