Tyre pressure monitor system (TPMS)

[Sundowner]

I was browsing through EBay the other day and came across the tyre pressure monitoring system unit. It consists of solar TPMS monitor and 4 sensors which screw onto the tyre valve which connect to the monitor via WiFi. It gives out the tyre pressure reading andd the tyre temperature. The system pairs automatically it sends out an alarm when tyre pressure is low or tyre is overheating. I think it is a great little device. On Ebay search for TPMS .... Mine cost me about 50 bucks. I am going to get another one for my caravan.


Happy motoring

Baz

[benckj]

Good idea. Many of us have been running a TPMS for years.
Recent thread about these and which ones are best.

https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=67090&highlight=Tpms

Jim

[Turorit]

I've been running an ebay $35 'solar' TPMS since March. All was going well up until a couple of weeks ago when the left front tyre sensor stopped sending. I suspect its a dead battery in the sensor but it doesn't have nice way to pull it apart. Ebay seller did not respond to my message, as expected.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/TPMS-Solar-Wireless-Tire-Pressure-LCD-Monitoring-System-w-4-External-Sensors/133024550027?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

[Dicko1]

I've been running an ebay $35 'solar' TPMS since March. All was going well up until a couple of weeks ago when the left front tyre sensor stopped sending. I suspect its a dead battery in the sensor but it doesn't have nice way to pull it apart. Ebay seller did not respond to my message, as expected.



https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/TPMS-Sol...72.m2749.l2649

Check out this you tube clip. Shows how to replace the battery..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d5iTvA4vts

[Turorit]

Check out this you tube clip. Shows how to replace the battery..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d5iTvA4vts

Cheers, I've seen that video before but my tyre sensors are a slightly different shape/size, the plastic seam looks like it is glued/welded. I'll have another play around when I get time

[Ian H]

The eBay listing says it includes a battery replacement tool which looks like a spanner of some sort. Did you get that with the kit ?

[Turorit]

Update: I found the spanner that came in the box & swapped the front L & R sensor batteries around, the TPMS still read 00 on FL. Thought that was a little strange, so turned the TPMS on & off. All sensors were then reading 00, so I took it for a drive, unscrewed/rescrewed each sensor, still read 00.

A trip to Jaycar, 4x new 1632 cells & I have 4 working sensors again. It seems that for several weeks at least, the TPMS has just been displaying the last received values from the sensors before their batteries went flat. The included cells lasted ~6 months, no idea how old they actually were, I'm interested to see how long Jaycar's 'eclipse' batteries last.

[nj swb]

It seems that for several weeks at least, the TPMS has just been displaying the last received values from the sensors before their batteries went flat.

Seriously? So what would've happened had one of your tyres actually gone flat while the sensor battery was flat?

Arguably, you could have noticed that the tyre pressure hadn't changed for weeks, but you didn't - that's OK, you bought a system to warn you of tyre pressure problems, why should you need to watch them that closely? In the US all new vehicles are required to have a TPMS as a safety system - what's the point of a safety system that doesn't "fail safe"?

Sorry, but your TPMS is not fit for purpose. Don't replace the batteries again - replace the system with a real one.

[Pwoffey]

Gotta agree with nj swb. That's pretty bizarre behaviour for a safety system. My TPMS (Safety Dave) gives an annoying audible beep and shows blank tyre pressure and temperature readings on a tyre when its sensor battery runs out. Admittedly it did set me back a bit more than $35.....

[Dicko1]

Gotta agree with nj swb. That's pretty bizarre behaviour for a safety system. My TPMS (Safety Dave) gives an annoying audible beep and shows blank tyre pressure and temperature readings on a tyre when its sensor battery runs out. Admittedly it did set me back a bit more than $35.....

Same here...no pressure means the annoying beep!

[Turorit]

Seriously? So what would've happened had one of your tyres actually gone flat while the sensor battery was flat?

Arguably, you could have noticed that the tyre pressure hadn't changed for weeks, but you didn't - that's OK, you bought a system to warn you of tyre pressure problems, why should you need to watch them that closely? In the US all new vehicles are required to have a TPMS as a safety system - what's the point of a safety system that doesn't "fail safe"?

Sorry, but your TPMS is not fit for purpose. Don't replace the batteries again - replace the system with a real one.

Buy cheap, buy twice!
Its certainly a bizarre behaviour. I'm not sure how good your memory is, but I certainly cant remember the exact order of pressures between day to day drives, ignoring change in hot/cold pressures.

The TPMS manual does state it will alarm when the sensor battery is going flat & show a symbol on the screen. Obviously this didn't happen. I wonder if it'll be any different with the new batteries, time will tell.



On my recent trip to the flinders, innamincka and birdsville, I aired up & down enough to know that the sensors were all working ok. TPMS is the least of my worries as a daily drive, I'm never too far from home. I'm not planning any big trips for a while, I might save & invest in a better TPMS before the next trip