Community Forums

JCM · 12-06-2014, 04:33 PM

I have read everything I could on tire sensors. I have had a set of tire sentries for 10 years (had to replace 3 transmitters ) over the years but the company is now out of business and their main WEAKNESS was that they wouldn't tell you if one of the sensors had died or the battery had died.
The receiver unit was small and fit well into a dash (2 inch hole).
Is there any units out there that. Will notify you of a dead battery or a dead sender?
Fit on a dash and will run off of a 12 volt connection - instead of a cig lighter- therefore turn on when you turn on the ignition.
I don't care if they have a rechargeable battery.
Have backlighting and will scroll through all the tires.
Any suggestions?
Thanks.

Pds47 · 12-06-2014, 04:44 PM

I have the doran it will tell when a sensor is not responding, what the tire pressure is on all tires and is wired to come on when the key it turned on. The only bad thing is non replaceable batts. IT will fit up to 18 wheeler

MSHappyCampers · 12-06-2014, 05:41 PM

Check out the TireTraker system. I bought one with 10 sensors and the range extender for the bedroom closet, and have been pleased. It has the cigarette lighter connection, as I suspect they all do, but you could cut off the plug and wire it direct!

1. It was the least cost I could find at the time with 10 sensors

2. The sensors are the "cap" type, not flow-through, so there's not much chance of air leaking from a valve stem

3. The batteries are low-cost and user replaceable

4. It's easy to program

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

Luv2go · 12-06-2014, 06:10 PM

Tire Safeguard also has an indication when the sensors don't transmit. Their latest sensors all have low cost replaceable batteries, they have a choice of flow thru and cap-type sensors. It has back-lighting and can be set up to scroll thru all the tires, easily selectable between with and without toad.

The display I have is about 1" by 2.5" rectangular like in the picture below, it is wired to a receiver that can be hard-wired to battery and ignition. The newer ones seem to be all-in-one units but they may be able to get you the older type of unit.

I bought this system in 2008 for the flow thru sensors, I did have some trouble with early leaking sensors (quickly replaced by Tire Safeguard) but not with the latest replaceable battery sensors I purchased as the old ones batteries died.

UFO Pilot · 12-06-2014, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luv2go

Tire Safeguard also has an indication when the sensors don't transmit. Their latest sensors all have low cost replaceable batteries, they have a choice of flow thru and cap-type sensors. It has back-lighting and can be set up to scroll thru all the tires, easily selectable between with and without toad.

The display I have is about 1" by 2.5" rectangular like in the picture below, it is wired to a receiver that can be hard-wired to battery and ignition. The newer ones seem to be all-in-one units but they may be able to get you the older type of unit.

I bought this system in 2008 for the flow thru sensors, I did have some trouble with early leaking sensors (quickly replaced by Tire Safeguard) but not with the latest replaceable battery sensors I purchased as the old ones batteries died.

Same system I have, another big plus is no repeater required.

jones47172 · 12-06-2014, 06:15 PM

The TireMinder will not fit in the panel but has a nice display that can be arranged to intuitively show which tire is at fault. The batteries are user replaceable and the display is charged via USB connection - the charge lasts days. It will alert should a sensor loose communication, should a tire pressure fall below or go above what you programmed, or should a tire temperature go too high. Each tire can be programmed with whatever pressure wanted. I use it on a Palazzo pulling a Mini Cooper with a dolly. All 10 tires are monitored.

Fred Cooper · 12-06-2014, 07:28 PM

I had a Tire Sentry for years so I know what the display was like and that it fit in a 2 inch round opening. I'm now using the TST 507 system and like it. The display is not round, but is very close to the size of the Tire Sentry. You will not be able to mount it inside the 2 inch round hole, but you could fill in the hole and surface mount it in the same location. You can program the high and low pressure alarm points for each axle, and it displays temperature also. Also temp alarm that can be programmed.

The monitor comes with a cigar lighter plug, but I cut that off and hard wired mine. It will also run for weeks on the internal battery. With 12 volt power, it will turn on the display when 12 volts is applied, and turn off the monitor when the 12 volt power is removed.

It does have a low battery alarm (for the tire transmitters) that works well also. The tire transmitter batteries are easily replaced, and are not expensive.

Since you specifically asked about an alarm if the tire transmitter stops working, I'll address that also. The display will obviously let you see if you never receive the transmitter for a specific tire. If it receives the signal from a transmitter, and then loses that signal, then it will continue to display the last known pressure and temp for that tire for about 60 minutes before it will sound an alarm.

Here's an example. When I'm not using it in the motorhome, I move the monitor to the toad. If I turn on the monitor before leaving home in the toad and it begins to receive the tire transmitters from the motorhome, it will continue to display those results even when I drive out of range of the motorhome tire transmitters. About 60 minutes after driving out of range, the alarm will sound. I've had two different RV'rs confirm that their TST system works this way also.

Although I don't like not getting an immediate alarm IF one of the tire transmitters failed, it's the way it works. In my opinion, the odds of (1) the tire transmitter failing and (2) that tire having a problem on that leg of the trip are fairly remote. I'll catch the bad transmitter on the next leg of the trip because part of my routine is to verify all tire pressures on the monitor before moving the rig. I'm not aware of how the other TPMS systems work if a transmitter fails. Maybe some of the other posters will reply about this.

I can say that the TST system has been much more reliable than my old Tire Sentry. Before every trip, I'd have to "tinker" with at least 2 of the transmitters to get them all working again. So far, the TST always works first time.

Their customer service gets very high ratings also. I'd buy this one again.

Fred

JCM · 12-07-2014, 08:36 AM

Thank you for the informative reply. Does your unit need a antennae that sticks up on the dash and how is it for receiving the toad signals (40 foot motorhome)?
I agree about your comments in that one had to check the tire sentry sensors frequently but it did save my "but" 2 times over the years. It is too bad the company has disappeared.

Fred Cooper · 12-07-2014, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCM

Thank you for the informative reply. Does your unit need a antennae that sticks up on the dash and how is it for receiving the toad signals (40 foot motorhome)?
I agree about your comments in that one had to check the tire sentry sensors frequently but it did save my "but" 2 times over the years. It is too bad the company has disappeared.

Yep...I'd probably still be using the tire sentry if they were still in business. It did alert me to a problem several times. There are people looking for parts so you can probably sell the remainder of your Tire Sentry system on the internet.

The TST unit has a short antenna on the side of the monitor. Look at the link below and scroll down to see a picture of the monitor.
TST 507

The monitor is shown in the picture sitting on a "base" that allows it to sit on top of the dash. I am not using the "base" and simply used velcro to place the monitor where I wanted it.

My unit came with the repeater, and I installed the repeater in an upper cabinet on the rear wall of my 38ft motorhome. The repeater gets it power in my installation from the clearance light circuit because that is what was most convenient. I always have the headlights (and therefore clearance lights) on when driving so my repeater is always on. With the repeater, there is no problem receiving all 10 transmitters on the motorhome and toad. I haven't tried it without the repeater. If you want to see a picture of the repeater, when on the link above, click the "accessories" item on the left and then scroll down on that page.

Fred

tomwalt · 12-07-2014, 09:46 AM

The TST alerts you to what you are asking and is able to be wired to allow the ignition switch to power it on/off. This is how I wired mine and it works well.
P.S. TST also has the option to be powered on via it's internal battery (for many hours) - this is very handy for pre-trip testing of tire pressure so you don't have to turn the ignition on.

JCM · 12-07-2014, 11:00 AM

Thanks for the replies. This is what I have been looking for. The battery life seems short but --. I have to look at one - at FMCA Palm Springs in January - to see about fitting to my dash. I probably will need a repeater since my rig has so much steel. I find that walke talkies work to the front of our rig but not to a rig behind.
Thanks again.

Fred Cooper · 01-16-2015, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred Cooper

.....some text deleted.....
It does have a low battery alarm (for the tire transmitters) that works well also. The tire transmitter batteries are easily replaced, and are not expensive.

Since you specifically asked about an alarm if the tire transmitter stops working, I'll address that also. The display will obviously let you see if you never receive the transmitter for a specific tire. If it receives the signal from a transmitter, and then loses that signal, then it will continue to display the last known pressure and temp for that tire for about 60 minutes before it will sound an alarm.

Here's an example. When I'm not using it in the motorhome, I move the monitor to the toad. If I turn on the monitor before leaving home in the toad and it begins to receive the tire transmitters from the motorhome, it will continue to display those results even when I drive out of range of the motorhome tire transmitters. About 60 minutes after driving out of range, the alarm will sound. I've had two different RV'rs confirm that their TST system works this way also.

Although I don't like not getting an immediate alarm IF one of the tire transmitters failed, it's the way it works. In my opinion, the odds of (1) the tire transmitter failing and (2) that tire having a problem on that leg of the trip are fairly remote. I'll catch the bad transmitter on the next leg of the trip because part of my routine is to verify all tire pressures on the monitor before moving the rig. .....some text deleted

Fred

I want to be sure I did not give bad info in my above post. I did some experimentation today as I changed batteries in my TST507 transmitters. As documented earlier, if the transmitter "goes out of range (too far away for the monitor to receive)", then you will not get a warning until 1 hour has passed. Today I simulated what happens if the battery goes completely dead. I removed the cover from a sensor then reinstalled it without the cover, and after it had been registered and displayed on the monitor then removed the battery. I got an immediate alarm. I repeated this test again with the same results.

So, what I think happens with a dying battery is that (1) you will get a low battery warning and (2) when the battery becomes dead, you will get an alarm. This is very different than what happens when the sensor (transmitter) goes out of radio range.

Fred

JCM · 01-17-2015, 08:53 AM

Well I bought a set with the repeater and got it installed yesterday. I will get to try it out next week when I drive over to Quartzite. So far I am impressed.

Snomas1 · 01-18-2015, 07:15 AM

I bought the TST system and don't use a repeater and can read all 10 w/ the toad included. I am having trouble w/ one inside dually that is going down to 76 lb in 3 days and am still trying to figure out what is wrong. TST is working w/ me to figure out what is the problem.
I traveled 1200 mi on this trip w/out the sensor on that tire. I figure I'm pretty safe w/ being able to read 9 tires anyway.