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How NOT to Inflate Your Tires
Written by Chloe on Tuesday, June 9, 2009
I’ve had my Quickie GPV for almost six months now, and I’d not done anything to make sure my tires were at the correct pressure. They were definitely on the squidgy side. It seemed like taking care of this should be a trivially easy Sunday afternoon task. I was wrong.
I had a list of things to do after I cooked the Sunday lunch. First I redressed, rebandaged, and resplinted my partner’s right hand. Then she went to bed for the afternoon. Little did I imagine I could possibly need help with the afternoon chores. After doing the dishes, I turned my attention to the wheelchair tires.
I already had the foot pump out of the car ready to go. Ah yes, there’s the first problem: FOOT pump. I can’t use a foot pump; I’m supposed to have paraplegia! Alright, maybe I’ll just pretend for a little while that I don’t have paraplegia. But there’s another problem. I’m very nearsighted. Without glasses or contact lenses I can’t focus on anything more than about three inches away from my eyeballs. So yes, I’m wearing glasses today, but I still can’t read the pressure gauge down by my feet if I’m standing up.
Okay, I’ll lie on the floor to do it, and use my hands. That way I can still be paraplegic too. The next problem is that I have to figure out how this pump works. I’ve never used it before and it came with no instructions. There’s an obvious plastic lever close to where the air comes out of the pump. It must do something. But what? I look at the picture of the pump on the box. It’s just the pump, not attached to anything. The picture shows the lever at right angles to the position it is in on my pump. I’m guessing that this must be some kind of lock. You put the nozzle on the valve of the tire, then you flip the lever. That locks it on, right?
The first step must be to change the position of the lever to that shown on the box, since that’s apparently the unattached configuration. I try pushing the lever to how it is shown in the picture. I push harder. It breaks off. Lovely! I can already tell I am going to have SUCH fun this afternoon.
My right thumb is pretty strong, so eventually I’m able to switch the lever anyway. I have the wheels off the chair. I want to try to keep things simple. The complexity of the task already seems to be getting out of hand. I stick the nozzle on the valve and try switching the lever back. I can’t do it, it’s way too stiff without the main part which has broken off. I try pumping anyway. The air just hisses out.
Next idea: WD 40. After putting some on the lever joint, I am able to switch it back to the original position. Then I need to switch it back again, of course, before putting the nozzle back on the valve. Then I switch the lever yet again to lock it. Now I try pumping. The air just hisses out as before. The nozzle is not locked; it comes right off.
Maybe the lever is supposed to work the other way around? I try it. Bingo! It’s locked on! Now I try pumping again. Success! Air is finally going into the tire. I already checked on the tire that the pressure is supposed to be 75 psi. I keep pumping. By the time I get to 60 psi I simply don’t have the hand and arm strength to go any further. Okay, 60 psi it is. I unlock the nozzle and take it off. Air hisses out of the tire for a second or two before the valve snaps shut. Shit! I lost quite a bit of air there.
I compare the two tires. The one I haven’t worked on yet is a LOT more squidgy. I bet it doesn’t even have 15 psi. Maybe I’m a dumb-ass, but I didn’t know you had to inflate your wheelchair tires this often. For some reason I decide to try some WD 40 on the valve of the next tire. Everything goes well. As before, I am not able to get past 60 psi. This time the valve shuts immediately. At least I have 60 psi in one of the tires. I compare the two. Yes there is quite a difference; I did lose a substantial amount of air from the first tire. Time for an executive decision. The tires are both somewhat inflated. I, on the other hand, am feeling rather deflated; and fed up with the whole thing. I put the wheels back on the chair as is.
I am on the floor, and now need to do a floor to chair transfer. My experience is that they are more difficult than they look. I just get up and sit in the chair. Dammit, I HATE it when I do stuff like that.
I wheel into the kitchen to check the time, immediately noticing that the wheeling is MUCH easier with the extra air in the tires. This took well over an hour. It is by FAR the most difficult thing I have attempted as a wheelchair user. I had no idea that one needed an intensive training course in order to inflate one’s tires.
Okay, boys and girls, there HAS to be an easier way than this. Many of you have much greater wheelchair experience than myself. Throw me a bone please!
Tags: Paraplegia, Tires, Transfer, Wheelchair, Wheels
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8 Comments
2 On 9 June, 2009, Sean said:
Many petrol stations now don’t offer air pumps, or their pumps are limited to ~40psi, because they don’t put more in car tyres. If you’re lucky, you might find the right pump nearby. Another solution is to go to a bicycle shop and ask them to pump you up. They always seem interested by the chairs. Another solution yet is to acquire a little compressor specifically for that purpose. They sell them relatively inexpensive, and you can put up to 120psi. I haven’t spent the money on such a compressor yet, so often go visit the bike shop. My tyres ask for ~110psi. They rarely are pumped that high, usualy about 100psi. By now I know the feel when they get to about 75psi (they are squishy to pressure between thumb and tyre, they squeal a lot on polished surface, and it’s harder to push, though the ride’s more comfortable). The rate at which they deflate depends on the kind of riding I’ve been doing and how hot/cold it’s been.
3 On 9 June, 2009, Sophie said:
I guess I’m lucky in that regard, a lot of the petrol stations I went to were older buildings with relatively simple air pumps that they never replace.
My tyre pump attaches directly to the cigarette lighter in my car and runs off the car battery. It’s just the job. Can you not find something similar, Chloe?
Be careful of the old school air pumps at filling stations, the ones that “ding”. They can easily over inflate and pop this type of tire before the pump can start to regulate to the selected pressure. There are plenty of small scale air compressors available at the large hardware stores, but check to see if the cut off pressure of the pump can be set to the maximum rating of the tire, this would avoid overinflating. Otherwise, you have to shoot a little air in at a time and check the pressure with a guage until you get the hang of it.
Might be a bit expensive investment to only use a few times a year, unless you are really into adjusting to optimal tire pressure for the temperature and surface you are on.
The automotive type tire inflators are likely the cheapest, but you have to plug into a 12 volt source (cigarette lighter) to run it. Better ones have a pressure guage and an adjustment to shut the unit off once the desired pressure is reached. Most should be able to give 60 psi. No danger of popping the tires with these as they pump air so slowly that you have plenty of time to shut if off as you near the desired pressure.
BTW are wheelchair tires available in the common bike tire sizes and are they interchangeable? Or are they some oddball size you can only get from certain retailers? Are they all pneumatic?
6 On 12 June, 2009, Sean said:
@Ronald, most wheelchair tyres are not really compatible with bicycle tyres. Oddballs indeed. the usual WC tyre is 24″x1″3/8. I use 25-590 on my current chair. Other thing is that most bike tyres will mark surfaces, whereas wheelchair tyres are safer, especially on polished surfaces, wood, etc. Not all are pneumatic, but those are most comfortable ride. Solid tyres are better on chairs that stay indoor on thick carpets.
The local petrol station air pump does go up past 75 psi, but it costs 75 cents.
We found that we had one of those pumps that plugs into the car cigarette lighter. Alicia showed me how to use it. Umm, yeah, you probably figured out by now that I’m not brilliant at car mechanics. Anyway it was absolutely perfect for the job!
Thank you so much for helping me out.
8 On 19 June, 2009, Sean said:
@Chloe, you’re quite welcome. Just wait ’till you get the bill in the mail before you thank us ;)
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1 On 9 June, 2009, Sophie said:
Drive down to the local petrol station and use their air pump generator thingy to pump your tires up to the exact psi you need. No fuss and no guessing games.