QUESTIONS:

  1. You offer a range of TPMS units, which one do I purchase for my specific vehicle application?
  2. What is the difference between internal and external transmitters, and is one superior to the other?
  3. How long can I expect the transmitter batteries to last?
  4. Your external unit is a sealed design, where others allow replacement batteries. What's the advantage?
  5. Doesn't having to replace the entire external transmitter cost far more than just replacing batteries?
  6. What pressure ranges do your various types of transmitter allow.
  7. I see TPMS being advertised as completely wireless, what does this actually mean?
  8. The Signal Booster for the Multi-Tow is optional, why is it not necessary for every vehicle?
  9. How will the weight of the transmitters effect my wheel balance, and will external transmitters harm my wheels?
  10. How do you secure external transmitters against theft?
  11. What is the warranty offered on your products?

ANSWERS:

1. Which is the best unit for your specific needs.

For those with passenger vehicles wanting to exclusively use internal transmitters, the Pressure Safe Professional is your choice. This will continuously monitor up to five positions at once on a large, multi coloured screen. This unit needs professional fitment, as tyres need to be removed and rebalanced for transmitter fitment, and the monitor needs permanent wiring into the vehicle. The advantage of internal transmitters is a longer battery life as the transmitter itself is larger, but great care needs to be taken with fitment of replacement tyres as they can be easily damaged by untrained operators. This unit is designed to be fixed into the vehicle long term for an Original Equipment look.

Our Pressure Safe Multi Tow is an industry leading solution to monitor anywhere from four to eleven wheel positions at once, with the ease of external transmitter fitment. Convenience is the major factor when considering this product, as it allows the system to grow with your needs. You can purchase a four set to monitor just the car or caravan, then purchase extra transmitters as necessary to monitor every wheel position at a later stage. These transmitters can even be attached to airbag suspension if necessary for the enthusiast. This system requires absolutely no hard wiring, and is powered by either 12 volt adaptor or AA batteries. It can be easily transferred from vehicle to vehicle, and a Signal Booster is an option if necessary. The Pressure Safe Motorcycle will continually monitor both front and rear tyre pressure and temperature with external mounted transmitters, and the hard wired monitor has exceptionally low current draw to reduce power consumption to an absolute minimum.

Our Pressure Safe Truck and Trailer range can cover any combination of vehicles on the road, systems are available in both 12 and 24 volt for local and imported vehicles, while you can choose from a variety of hard wired monitors to best suit your needs. All transmitters are long cycle external units, proven tough with fleets Australia wide. You can choose to monitor just your prime mover, extra trailer or use our smart booster to monitor a fleet of interchangeable truck/ trailer combinations. All truck systems come standard with a signal booster unit and will even record alarms for fleet control use. Please contact us with your individual requirements.

When the mining and earthmoving sector require nothing but 100% dependability, Pressure Safe Mining and Earthmoving has the answers. We already supply both Xstrata and Sandvik Mining with solutions in the world's toughest climate, the Australian outback, and have specialised systems for any application. Please contact us for more information regarding these. Our Pressure Safe Bus system allows the use of our external transmitters and hard wired display to notify the driver direct, or world leading fleet management technology that can monitor the vehicle as to arrives back to the depot, completely wirelessly, to a dedicated pc and give you daily statistics on tyre pressure for every bus in the fleet. Please contact us to discuss how this technology can be used from one bus to your entire fleet.

2. We supply systems with both external and internal transmitters, so please allow us to explain the difference between them.

There is a great deal of misinformation regarding either the positive or negative attributes of internal or external transmitters, please let us take a moment to explain to you the difference. As we sell both types, and have our own tyre stores we are in a position to give you an unbiased view! In fact, both types of transmitter have now been around for some years. Internal transmitters are widely used by new vehicle manufacturers to meet the demands of mandatory TPMS on new passenger vehicles in the USA. Both Europe and China are also soon to follow with the mandatory fitment of these devices. As they allow for the device to be hidden inside the wheel itself, the owner sees nothing but the normal valve stem through the wheel. As this is installed at time of manufacture, and the display is usually integrated through the vehicles in dash display, it is referred to an OEM installation.

The advantages of internal transmitters are extended battery life, as the battery unit within the transmitter housing is far larger than an external transmitter housing. For example, the average internal transmitter weighs 28 grams, the average external transmitter weighs 8 grams! The other advantage is of course the vehicle maintains an original factory look with stylish alloy valves. However, when fitted as an aftermarket item, you must have the transmitters and display professionally installed, and the wheel must be rebalanced due to the transmitter weight. Trouble can occur when fitting or removing a tyre onto a transmitter equipped rim, if extreme care is not taken, the transmitter can easily be destroyed.

With external transmitters, achieving the smallest possible external dimensions and weight are critical, especially in the passenger car market (this is of course irrelevant with trucks and mining equipment!).. Where external transmitters come into their own is that they are completely installed by the user, with no wiring or rebalancing required. Just screw on the cap, power up the monitor, and go! Adaptability to other uses is also a key factor. They can easily be transferred from one vehicle to another, they can be removed and swapped when tyres are rotated (no reprogramming) and can be extended to run far more positions than internal systems. You can also place them on airbag suspension, or literally anything that has a car tyre valve. Also, when not in use on trailer positions for example, simply unscrew them to save battery power. For a great percentage of customers who want to monitor multiple positions without hard wiring to their vehicle, the external transmitters are the preferred choice. As you can see, both internal and external transmitters have been designed to accommodate a specific purpose, to argue the validity of which is best is just rubbish. In fact, the next generation of OEM transmitters will be embedded directly into the tyre, negating the entire internal assembly all together.

3. Yes, there is a difference in battery life!

As mentioned above, external transmitters by their very nature must house the complete assembly, including battery, circuit board and RF transmitter in the smallest housing possible, depending on their application. With the transmitters used on the Multi Tow for passenger vehicle and trailer applications, the expected nominal battery life is three years. Bear in mind that as these are pressure switch activated, any transmitters you have on trailer/ caravan wheels can be removed when not in use to preserve battery life. When moving to our larger truck and trailer transmitters, due to their larger size the battery life on these extends out to a nominal five years. Internal transmitters, with the ability to use a larger battery, will give you a nominal lifespan of eight years. Please note that all transmitters, either internal or external, are subject to fluctuations in battery life. This can depend on many factors, including frequency of alarms, climatic extremes and other factors.

4. The advantage of a sealed external transmitter.

External transmitters come in two basic designs. One allows you to keep the transmitter and replace the battery, the other seals the battery within the transmitter housing and is a disposable unit once the battery is exhausted. This is referred to as a sealed transmitter, and this is what we supply. While many people think that it is far cheaper to just replace a battery, there are many other factors that need to be taken into consideration to show that this is not necessarily the case . A sealed transmitter has fundamental advantages that are unarguable. Due to the very nature of their sealed design, they are completely impervious to water, dust, mud or salt ingress. They also have no moving parts or battery terminals that can vibrate during rotation causing failure. The housing is actually strong enough to drive over with a family car and continue to work. Consider that with a battery replacement transmitter, you must unscrew the cover, exposing the O ring that seals the internal components. Over multiple exposure, water, dust, mud and salt ingress is far more likely. Remember that in all heavy industry, including mining and truck fleets, all transmitters are sealed. Why? Because failure is not an option.

5. Doesn't it cost more to replace the entire transmitter?

Here we prefer to let the calculator do the talking! If you consider that the purchase of any TPMS device is a long term investment in your vehicle and personal safety, you should always look at the cost over the long term. While you might assume that the higher cost of a replacement external transmitter means a greater overall cost, this is in fact not the case. Together with a lower initial outlay, and a 20% discount on transmitters to existing customers, we are confident of your price comparison. Remember that you must factor in much greater frequency of battery replacement with alternative transmitters. Most importantly, account for the many advantages of a sealed transmitter as referred to above.

6. Pressure ranges for our various TPMS transmitters.

All Pressure Safe TPMS transmitters adhere to a specific pressure range, depending on the model you choose. Please see the range below for your particular application. Also take into account that while a high pressure reading ability sounds impressive, for passenger applications it is not only unnecessary but actually detrimental as it can increase variation in accuracy.

7. What does completely wireless actually refer to?

In the world of TPMS, the phrase 'completely wireless' can often be misleading. For example, all TPMS transmitters, regardless of type or brand, are wireless as they use RF to send the signal to the receiver. Does this mean when you buy a system claiming to be 'completely wireless' there are no wires attached? This of course depends on the display, or monitor. This is where the most confusion is caused as you may still have to 'hard wire' the display to the vehicle power. It is recommended that this be carried out by a professional. Other monitors have the ability to be powered by either a 12 volt adaptor or AA batteries, these are truly wireless as they can be used in a standalone mode and swapped between vehicles. We make a note on all of our systems as to what power source our monitors require.

8. Why a Signal Booster for our Pressure Safe Multi Tow is sometimes necessary.

Particular applications have shown the need for an RF Signal Booster, also known as a Repeater. Now available as an addition to the Pressure Safe Multi Tow, the internal mount signal booster has been developed specifically for use when the transmitter signal has been lost due to interference. This is prevalent in some large 4WD vehicles where interference is a known factor, and may apply to some larger caravan/ fifth wheel applications. This will generally fall into one of three categories: electromagnetic (EM), radio frequency (RF) or material component interference. We do not offer the Signal Booster as a standard part of our package for two reasons. First, it keeps the cost to a minimum. Second, and far more important, is that only a small percentage of vehicle combinations will require this extra component. We always suggest the customer purchase the Pressure Safe Multi Tow first, then if necessary you can come back and purchase the Signal Booster as an extra. If you have a particular application that you would like advice on, please contact us!

9. Transmitters and their effect on your wheels.

We can easily separate this into two distinct categories. With an internal mount transmitter, a professional wheel balance will ALWAYS be required after transmitter fitment. The reason for this is the weight of the transmitter itself, which is on average 23-28 grams. The tyre and rim assembly MUST be rebalanced to ensure that this weight is counteracted and you receive no vibration as you drive. Internal transmitters are actually bolted to the wheel by the valve stem itself, so there is no movement at all when correctly installed. When fitting new tyres, always take care to inform the tyre store that you have internal transmitters fitted.

External transmitters have been subject to some myths, we will give you the best advice we can here. As tyre professionals, with our own tyre outlets, we ALWAYS recommend that if you are intending to go off road and engage in heavy duty 4WD activities, the use of steel valve stems is a must. With a steel valve stem, you have no concerns about the transmitter 'rubbing' against the wheel on corrugated roads, for example. Please bear in mind, that an external transmitter for a passenger vehicle weighs only 8 grams.

It WILL NOT rip a rubber valve out of the wheel, nor will the transmitter be destroyed by 'banging' against a wheel at high speed. A simple test, if you can bend your rubber valve stem to touch your rim, the transmitters may possibly touch the rim at high speed. However, due to the laws of centrifugal force, this will not repeatedly 'bang' against the rim as has been claimed! The bonus is that due to the low weight of the external transmitters, rebalancing is rarely necessary, even with the most sensitive small FWD vehicles.

10. External transmitters and theft prevention.

This is a common question when customers first learn of external transmitters. We understand quite well that customers see these devices as a long term investment in safety, and want to make sure that they are not easily stolen. The most important piece of information is that each transmitter has its own unique 12 digit code, which is supplied to the owner in the warranty card. Without this individual 12 digit code, the transmitter is useless and cannot communicate with another monitor. To prevent random theft, a locking collar that secures to the valve stem is including for each transmitter position.

11. Warranty for our Pressure Safe range of products.

We are proud to stand behind our products with a 12 month manufacturer's warranty. As we are an Australian owned and operated company, we have stock in Australia and do not have to return products to an overseas supplier for warranty approval. Naturally, this warranty covers product defects only, and does not cover either intentional or unintentional abuse outside of the specifically designed purpose of the product. You will find our full warranty terms in the 'useful download' section of the website.