Tire Pressure Gauge Stopped Working
 

Everyone knows most tire gauges (and other products) are made in China, no matter what name is on them. So after very little use, the Slime brand gauge stopped working completely by not holding the needle until you read it and push the pressure release knob to start again. Any recommendations? Thanks.

I think I'm having some deja vu. Last year some time, I got in a heaping argument over teaching fellow Clyde riders about using their thumbs and hands to "gauge" pressure so they don't need a gauge. One of my arguments was that half the time, most common riders had gauges that didn't go to 100 psi.

You prove my point again. Yet, on the Clyde forum I felt like I was the lone guy in the wilderness advocating self-reliance by intuition derived from guided experience first with some type of gauge.

In your case, I recommend you tried a different brand of gauge, or use one built in on a floor pump. They're all made in similar factories probably from China so we have no clue how accurate they are. But chances are you'll get one this time that might last longer... cross your fingers.

Some decades back I made bourdon tube gauges for bikes. I never used a valve, so you had to read it while on the bike. I only stopped when my vendor who had been making gauges in PA for over 100 years, moved production of the most generic gauges to the orient (first Taiwan, later China).

The OPs gauge was made by or for Meiser in Chicago. Odds are the check valve in the OP's gauge is frozen open, or dirty so it doesn't seal. You can unscrew the entire assembly form the body of the gauge and take that apart (it's a simple mechanism) and probably fix the valve. Otherwise you might see if Meiser will sell you a replacement for the valve assembly.

BTW- Gyozadude is right, gauges are most acurate at the central third of the scale, ie, from 35-65 on a 0-100psi gauge, with fall off towards the ends. Also repeated use to the top 5% of the scale can fatigue the tube, leading the gauge to read high permanently. Bike tire gauges should be 0-160psi, or 0-200psi.

Thanks for the great info. I use to gauge my tires by feel, but was afraid of adding too much air and blowing them. My Bontranger tires max is 60, and I could believe how much more air I needed even after the tires being super tight when I finally started gauging them. Also FB I tried taking just the top part off and it still didn't work. I'll just chalk up a $5.95 loss. Yes I think I'll get a better quality from the GH Meiser and Company gauge. Thanks a bunch guys. Stay safe.

I gave up on analog gauges for the same reasons already expressed- poor quality. Despite the country of origin, the digital gauges I have had have been reliable and accurate.

-SP

OP; Don't know how you gauge the gauge as having "stopped working completely".

It still measures the pressure and displays the value on the meter's dial.

Why not read the PSI before you yank it off the valve?