Are tpms sensors accurate?

[Casarolls]

Has anyone had their hand held gauges calibrated? They are notoriously inaccurate. Mechanical or digital (just because it's digital doesn't mean it's accurate). Read the documentation, most say accuracy is +/- 2psi (some are closer). Gauge could be +2 and the TPMS -2.

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[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Used the digital gauge to get all to 49.0 psi. (expected it to get colder soon)

Jump in car and drive and they're all showing 46

Too many variables. Off the shelf retail gauges are not terribly accurate to begin with. Then you have temperature, ambient and tire temp. Plus, iirc, the driver display info isn’t based on realtime data of each TPMS. The information displayed is based on wheel rotation and calculation based on known parameters (like tire size). This is why there is no pressure data until you’ve driven a bit. It’s not at all unusual for displayed data to be different from what you get with a stand alone tire gauge.

My first reco is start with a solid and consistent data point. Invest in a 4-tire inflation kit. Such kits will inflate all 4 at the same time and equalize pressure among them. These kits tend to include a pressure gauge. Whether you choose to go by this gauge’s reading or the compressor’s… just pick one and stick with it consistently. If you go off-road, you can use the kit to air-down too. Second reco is to not sweat small discrepancies between all 4. In real world use, it’s not unusual to see different pressures at each tire. What matters is detection of puncture or sudden or drastic pressure drop, so you can react and take appropriate action.

If you’d rather not invest in a 4-tire inflation kit, invest in a good tire gauge (like this) and try to inflate all 4 as close to one another as you can and in same session, in same stable “cold” conditions; i.e. not soon after driving or even while parked in sun where each tire is subjected to different amounts of exposure. And always use the same gauge. Many variables are involved, so it’d be moot to introduce more by not using the same gauge.

 

[YellowR1T]

FWIW, my sensors seem to run a couple of pounds lower than the digital gauge I normally use.

Likewise

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