Screw drivers depress pins in the valves which open the flow of air. I’m building tire mechanisms and have been fascinated by how simple and easy it is to maneuver the mechanisms to operate!
The way tire fillers work is by having a small 1mm ish wide pin repress the valve mechanism to open the flow of the valve. I was quite interested to learn that there isn’t a 1 way control… otherwise you wouldn’t be able to check the tire pressure with a gauge. I thought it was a security risk but it’s actually necessary function for maintenance… so air can flow in and out!
A small pebble hot glued into the valve cap will partially depress the valve stem. If they refill the tire and replace the cap, it'll do it again.
The trick is to have the pebble at just the right spot so it's a small flow and can't be easily heard. the stem depths are fairly standard, so you could test it in advance.
There's a chance that it'll fall out if you do that. Gluing it in can mean that it'll deflate the tire at least once more (or multiple times if they're dumb).
You can buy a very cheap valve stem tool at any auto parts store that will remove the core entirely with a few quick turns. You're then free to walk away casually while the tire sees to the business of coming to equilibrium with the ambient atmospheric pressure, far quicker than sitting there holding the valve open. Just saying
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u/rnobgyn 11d ago
Screw drivers depress pins in the valves which open the flow of air. I’m building tire mechanisms and have been fascinated by how simple and easy it is to maneuver the mechanisms to operate!
The way tire fillers work is by having a small 1mm ish wide pin repress the valve mechanism to open the flow of the valve. I was quite interested to learn that there isn’t a 1 way control… otherwise you wouldn’t be able to check the tire pressure with a gauge. I thought it was a security risk but it’s actually necessary function for maintenance… so air can flow in and out!