Compressed Air - Out of Order

Wishbone Ash

I like to do a weekly check on the tyres but it seems that nearly all of the filling stations in my area, either have no air or have "out of order" signs. One station, which does have air, has a "Free Air Here" sign! :rolleyes: I presume that, to cut costs, some stations are unwilling to continue to purchase or maintain compressors?

I realise that the margins on fuel are getting slimmer but it seems that the shop is getting too much priority. When I was a youngster I used to work in a 'service' station. As well as dispensing fuel we also checked oil, water, battery levels and air pressure. Washing a dirty winscreen/lights was considered a normal part of the service. Now, when I walk in to hand €80 for a fill of diesel, I get "just the diesel is it?" as if I should be buying wine, flowers, magazines etc. also.

Anyway, is it just me or has anyone else noticed the demise of the humble airline?

colm_mcm

Some places are charging for it!

Wishbone Ash

colm_mcm wrote: »

Some places are charging for it!

:eek:

(Colm - are you confusing charging with the deposit system in which you have to insert a Euro to get the airline but get it back when you hang it up properly. Blakes Cross Service station have that system)

NBar

In the Uk all the service stations on the motorways require payment for air and water

colm_mcm

I'm pretty sure I've seen places charging for air.

wet-paint

I know for a fact I'd have never pumped the tyres in my bike had I not lived beside an Esso when I was a buck, and I doubt I'm alone.

IrishRover

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

:eek:

(Colm - are you confusing charging with the deposit system in which you have to insert a Euro to get the airline but get it back when you hang it up properly. Blakes Cross Service station have that system)

Never seen a deposit system one, but have seen a fair few where you have to pay for the air. The system is something like 1 min for 50 cents or 3 mins for a euro - something like that anyway.

For years I've noticed garages not bothering to maintain these services at all.

Wishbone Ash

IrishRover wrote: »

For years I've noticed garages not bothering to maintain these services at all.

Yes, you always have to treat the guage with a pinch of salt!

IrishRover

I'm not even talking about gauges not being calibrated or something like that, more like you go to pick up the thing out of the puddle of water and oil that's on the ground near it where the last person kindly left it, try to untangle the line and then the thing falls off the hose... or you go to press the lever and either nothing happens, or it falls off, or you see that there is a cut in the hose and all the air's escaping out of there, etc...

macnab

I have worked in a petrol station lately and have seen people driving over air lines and even petrol pump lines. When you have to shell out €60 for a new air line fitting maybe 2 times a week (worst case) it becomes a low priority. When you are making about 3 cent profit per litre you need to sell about 2000 litres to earn €60. Thats a lot of your profit wiped out by one careless driver and believe me no one offers to pay for repairs.

Victor_M

I thought it was a legal requirement for a filling station to provide free air and water, sure if it wasn't none of them would have it at all.

blastman

I think I had a moan about this not too long ago. I have one tyre in particular that, despite several attempts, will not stay up and needs to be pumped every 1-2 weeks. At one stage I could not for the life of me find a sandwich bar with a working air pump. I do take the point though that people get what they deserve and muppets that drive over them should have them forcibly inserted into their person and be inflated to double the recommended maximum pressure.

Gran Hermano

I think it's a case of what we used to have as service stations
turning into fuel and grocery retailers. Forecourt grocery retail
is one of the biggest growth sectors in retail and the emphasis
has shifted away from providing any motor related service.

I had the misfortune of having a slow puncture recently and had to
visit a half dozen 'garages' before I found one with a compressor.

I now keep an air-compressor I bought in Argos in the boot.

5500

In my local statoil its always on the blink and you find yourself drivingto 5 different places looking for one that works(same thing happens with atm machines!)

Anyways i asked the manager in the statoil what the story was and he said people keep stealing the actual inflation bit and that sooner or later there going to stop providing the service because of this.

IrishRover

Irish people have never been very civic minded. I suppose we get the services we deserve.

legs11

simple solution is to buy your own inflator, and lob it in the boot.

no tangled wires, no grease on your hands, no leaking air........

IMO if you want aything done in this new era of irish culture you need to get it done yourself and not depend on others...(ie like depending on a working compressor!)

Esel

Agree with legs11. Carry a pump and good gauge (your own gauge ensures pressure readings are consistent).

With my own pump, I have never had to change a flat tyre, as the vast majority are caused by slow punctures and re-inflating will get you going again, allowing you to have the puncture repaired at your convenience.

Del2005

/\ /\ /\ /\

I agree with the last few posters. Buy you're own compressor and keep it in the boot. Most people don't give a damn about something that isn't theirs so treat them like sh!t. Was using the air in a garage recently, I was waiting for someone and too lazy to open boot. There was a family beside me who used it first, then dumped it on the ground, I used it then hung it back in it's place and I got mad looks off them.

tech77

blastman wrote: »

I do take the point though that people get what they deserve and muppets that drive over them should have them forcibly inserted into their person and be inflated to double the recommended maximum pressure.

:D

esel wrote: »

Agree with legs11. Carry a pump and good gauge (your own gauge ensures pressure readings are consistent).

With my own pump, I have never had to change a flat tyre, as the vast majority are caused by slow punctures and re-inflating will get you going again, allowing you to have the puncture repaired at your convenience.

Esel, Which compressor would you recommend (aldi/Lidl/Argos?).
I was always wary they'd give dodgy readings so never got around to getting one but hopefully as you say that isn't true.

Del2005

tech77 wrote: »

:
Esel, Which compressor would you recommend (aldi/Lidl/Argos?).
I was always wary they'd give dodgy readings so never got around to getting one but hopefully as you say that isn't true.

They are all roughly the same, if you want to get a proper reading then you'll need to pick up a seperate pressure gauge. But some of the new digital compressors may be accurate.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

colm_mcm wrote: »

Some places are charging for it!

They've had to start charging because of Inflation.

Stephen

My local statoil's (where I used to work many moons ago ) air line is always wonky - usually holes in the hose or the guage not reading anything at all etc. The Shell down the road from them has a system that retracts the hose whenever the user is finished with it so that it won't get damaged by gobsh1tes driving over it - and this seems to work quite well.
The statoil has a couple of buckets of water and watering cans on the forecourt that are always bloody empty. There's a tap beside the air line that frustratingly only dribbles out a tiny flow of water making it take about half an hour to fill a bucket :mad:

I'm guessing this is also due to inconsiderate ****holes that would just leave it running at full blast.

Jumpy

Esteban Dirty Moose wrote: »

They've had to start charging because of Inflation.

I want this person horse-whipped.

Oh god, it burns....

IrishRover

tech77 wrote: »

Esel, Which compressor would you recommend (aldi/Lidl/Argos?).
I was always wary they'd give dodgy readings so never got around to getting one but hopefully as you say that isn't true.

I got one in Halfords for about €40 which you set to your desired pressure and it cuts out when it reaches that preset pressure. You can use either psi or bar units of pressure. I would say it is accurate to less than 0.5psi

1275gt

Hey wishbone dude, I bought a cheap halfords compressor for this very reason. I like to keep an eye on pressures every couple of weeks, I live in the centre of dublin and drove to 8 garages a couple of weeks ago and they were all on the blink. With the rate that garages are dissapearing in the city centre, I think im gonna have to build a petrol tank on the back seats

dak

Some garages do offers on plug in compressors...........seem to remember seeing a garage selling them fo 15/20 euro if you purchased 20 euro worth of fuel or something like that!

tech77

Del2005 wrote: »

They are all roughly the same, if you want to get a proper reading then you'll need to pick up a seperate pressure gauge. But some of the new digital compressors may be accurate.

Thanks.

tech77

IrishRover wrote: »

I got one in Halfords for about €40 which you set to your desired pressure and it cuts out when it reaches that preset pressure. You can use either psi or bar units of pressure. I would say it is accurate to less than 0.5psi

Nice one.
Thanks.

Esel

tech77 wrote:

Esel, Which compressor would you recommend (aldi/Lidl/Argos?). I was always wary they'd give dodgy readings so never got around to getting one but hopefully as you say that isn't true.

I have two! #1 is the €4.99 one from Aldi - it's fine, just be sure not to land your foot on the pumps when using it or you'll damage it. It has a gauge built in, which I found to be accurate. #2 is an electric one, handier and more compact. Various types available, expect to pay €15 to €30 depending on quality (gauge or not, torch/flasher or not). I also have a digital gauge, but reckon once you compare the built-in gauge with a few in garages and know how it reads, you'd be OK with that.

Alun

Del2005 wrote:

But some of the new digital compressors may be accurate.

Don't fall into the all too common trap of assuming that just because something's got a digital readout that it's more accurate than something with an analogue readout. It may be more precise but not necessarily more accurate .. two completely different things.

Wishbone Ash

Thanks for the replies lads.

I must get one of those mini -compressors. I didn't get one before now as I used to hear people referring to them as "micky mouse...."!