Tire Pressure Monitors
I was reading about your rig setup in your profile and several things are of interest. You use the Tire Minder TPMS-i10-10 and I would be looking at the -06 for the bus. One of the many things I am trying to wrap my head around is advantages to Regular vs Flow Through vs Internal transmitters. I worry about theft and "bad actors" as I have had someone diddle with the inexpensive regular set I have added onto my Toyota Camry. Which do you use... and if the Flow Through, do they seem to be sturdy enough if hit by brush?
How has the brand been for you as well, any issues with the product or things to be careful of?
Anyone else use using a TPMS please chime in as well. I would expect most of us to be using or considering them at this point. I put them on the Camry after a Ferry worker said "Do you know your tire is totally flat" It was in winter, and never realized it was not the snow causing the strangeness. Oops... So for sure I am putting a set on the Bus.
Howdy Alan. Long time no see. I also use the Tire Minder i10 system. The sensors do have small lock nuts or rather “jam” nuts that lock the sensors on the valve stems. The kit comes with a small wrench for the nuts. Someone would have to loosen the jam nuts in order to take the sensors. It also comes with a small signal amplifier. I wired ours at the underside of the front of the fifth wheel, (Under the front storage compartment), and have never had any false readings or dropped signal from any of the 4 sensors like I did with our old TPMS set up. I felt that the flow through sensor system would extend out past the edge of the tire rims and possibly get bumped and break a valve stem or destroy a sensor. You can manually set the alarms to sound off at the low pressure limit, temperature limit and I think a high pressure limit that you would like and it has an alarm for rapid tire pressure loss that is preprogrammed in. I have had ours installed for 3 years and haven’t had any issues. I do change the lithium sensor batteries every summer but my brother-in-law has the same setup for two years now and hasn’t changed them and they are still working fine. We aren’t full time rv’ers though. Hope this helps.
I have really enjoyed having the i10 and have not had any issues with them. I wish they had the flow thru when I was purchasing my set. It makes it easy to add air without going thru the process of taking the unit off to fill the tire and then reconnect the unit. As Craig mentioned, the nice thing about it is programming it to monitor low and high pressure. I'm able to see PSI for the rig and my toad to ensure that I don't have a blow out. On the few occasions when I had high temperatures, I pull in to a rest area and take a break while tires cool down. I highly recommend getting Tire Minder TPMS. If your interested you can call Danielle @ 727-463-6522. She is excellent customer service rep and very helpful.
Quote from Craig P. on 2024-05-08, 10:34 pm
Howdy Alan. Long time no see. I also use the Tire Minder i10 system. The sensors do have small lock nuts or rather “jam” nuts that lock the sensors on the valve stems. The kit comes with a small wrench for the nuts. Someone would have to loosen the jam nuts in order to take the sensors. It also comes with a small signal amplifier. I wired ours at the underside of the front of the fifth wheel, (Under the front storage compartment), and have never had any false readings or dropped signal from any of the 4 sensors like I did with our old TPMS set up. I felt that the flow through sensor system would extend out past the edge of the tire rims and possibly get bumped and break a valve stem or destroy a sensor. You can manually set the alarms to sound off at the low pressure limit, temperature limit and I think a high pressure limit that you would like and it has an alarm for rapid tire pressure loss that is preprogrammed in. I have had ours installed for 3 years and haven’t had any issues. I do change the lithium sensor batteries every summer but my brother-in-law has the same setup for two years now and hasn’t changed them and they are still working fine. We aren’t full time rv’ers though. Hope this helps.
Yes, sorry about that.. I have been so busy with things since Sept 2023 when I decided to start another division for doing the website. I'm "retired" but seems I work more now than when I was with big corp. The website took a lot of thinking, testing and stuff, but I think we are pretty good (always open to suggestions). But because of it I have not worked on my Rig at all. Just starting to catch up (like seeing your email to me just last night) Weather here is gorgeous, and I can get back to working on the Bus body.
I have the jam nuts installed (and tight) on the Camry, but someone obviously was at the sensor when I was in a "not so great spot" on the mainland. I have been considering the internal units, but of course they require the tire shop to get inside to replace the battery.. and that's not cheap. We have a great company here Les Schwab Tire Center (540 stores in US) that really stands behind their work and products, with very fair prices and financing - but 6 big wheels is 6 big wheels LOL
Good feedback on the Flow Thru, it is my concern as well with them getting bumped as they seem to stick out a fair amount. But with them it is easy to Air Down / Up for road conditions, which I see as their best benefit.
I would not worry too much about the batteries, the sensors are very intelligent and if they are not in motion, only draw a tiny standby current. Grin, being an electronics guy (amongst other things) first thing I did was open up one of my new sensors for the Camry and test that on my Fluke VOCM. Even those cheap ones have an accelerometer to wake them up. So I only plan to carry spare batteries to replace as needed. Lithium coin cells have a good shelf life, and are available all over the place too. I suspect that the Dash unit is intelligent enough to alarm for low battery / failed sensor as well. My cheap ones don't, but it's just a bit of programming to do it.
Your feedback helps a lot, but I am curious as to why the i10 system. I have been looking at their website and they have a bunch of other units as well, but the i10 keeps coming up in conversation.
Quote from Richard R. on 2024-05-09, 9:01 amI have really enjoyed having the i10 and have not had any issues with them. I wish they had the flow thru when I was purchasing my set. It makes it easy to add air without going thru the process of taking the unit off to fill the tire and then reconnect the unit. As Craig mentioned, the nice thing about it is programming it to monitor low and high pressure. I'm able to see PSI for the rig and my toad to ensure that I don't have a blow out. On the few occasions when I had high temperatures, I pull in to a rest area and take a break while tires cool down. I highly recommend getting Tire Minder TPMS. If your interested you can call Danielle @ 727-463-6522. She is excellent customer service rep and very helpful.
Excellent, good to know, and appreciate the feedback on the CSR at Tire Minder. I have been reading the manual for the unit, and it seems very easy to program. My cheap set on the Camry also does a lot, but the interface sucks.. and it is convoluted to program = to be expected at $39. Which I suppose is why so many folks have trouble with it. But for the Camry it is OK.. tiny solar powered display that I tucked in the upper left corner of the windshield. I would not trust it with a big rig though, and the Tire Minder display head is not all that large.