Lowest cost Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems - solving frustrations

[MartinClem]

cawe are excellent , have been using forebears and support is very good. fridge, batteries and tyres all in one display. but I went second valve and external.

[Jonatan]

A friend has a CAWE system and one of his sensors is now faulty after 3 years. Has been quoted R2500 to replace the one sensor. So has dumped the CAWE and has gone the R400 route at Takealot.

I also lost a 5 year old sensor at the carwash the other day. Replaced it in 5 minutes from the spare set I bought originally. Always suggest buying the Takealot cheapie in pairs. For R800 you get a working system and a lot of spares.

[MartinClem]

A friend has a CAWE system and one of his sensors is now faulty after 3 years. Has been quoted R2500 to replace the one sensor. So has dumped the CAWE and has gone the R400 route at Takealot.

I also lost a 5 year old sensor at the carwash the other day. Replaced it in 5 minutes from the spare set I bought originally. Always suggest buying the Takealot cheapie in pairs. For R800 you get a working system and a lot of spares.

thei ngauge / cawe website says 475 for 1 , 1800 for 4.

[Jonatan]

thei ngauge / cawe website says 475 for 1 , 1800 for 4.

Checked with my friend. He is confused!

[Hendel1986]

Mine performed well on our trip to Namibia, but after a few days at between 0.8 and 1.0 bar, they are under reading by 0.2 bar after inflating again to 2.5 bar which is my normal tar pressure.

Before they over read by 0.1 bar, which was a bit more acceptable for me

Could it be the batteries? Still running on the original ones.

[Hendel1986]

Mine performed well on our trip to Namibia, but after a few days at between 0.8 and 1.0 bar, they are under reading by 0.2 bar after inflating again to 2.5 bar which is my normal tar pressure.

Before they over read by 0.1 bar, which was a bit more acceptable for me

Could it be the batteries? Still running on the original ones.

No one else encountered this issue?

[Reispret]

Mine performed well on our trip to Namibia, but after a few days at between 0.8 and 1.0 bar, they are under reading by 0.2 bar after inflating again to 2.5 bar which is my normal tar pressure.

Before they over read by 0.1 bar, which was a bit more acceptable for me

Could it be the batteries? Still running on the original ones.

On our recent Namibia trip one of our sensors' battery just died and sent no more signal. We bought another one at a pharmacy in Springbok and it was working again. Now, afterwards, the battery of the main unit swelled up and stopped working. We still need to check if it will work from the vehicle lighter plug, but there is already the dashcam and chargers running from that point.

[Gungets Tuft]

On our recent Namibia trip one of our sensors' battery just died and sent no more signal. We bought another one at a pharmacy in Springbok and it was working again. Now, afterwards, the battery of the main unit swelled up and stopped working. We still need to check if it will work from the vehicle lighter plug, but there is already the dashcam and chargers running from that point.

If that's a lithium battery and has swollen up I'd be getting it out of my vehicle chop-chop. That's not a rupture you want anywhere, least of all in your vehicle.

Edit - I've ordered one of these from Takealot. If it works for a year at least I'll see the benefits.

https://www.takealot.com/external-so...-/PLID95472043

[Hendel1986]

If that's a lithium battery and has swollen up I'd be getting it out of my vehicle chop-chop. That's not a rupture you want anywhere, least of all in your vehicle.

Edit - I've ordered one of these from Takealot. If it works for a year at least I'll see the benefits.

https://www.takealot.com/external-so...-/PLID95472043

Exactly the same as mine

[PaulWW]

Mine performed well on our trip to Namibia, but after a few days at between 0.8 and 1.0 bar, they are under reading by 0.2 bar after inflating again to 2.5 bar which is my normal tar pressure.

Before they over read by 0.1 bar, which was a bit more acceptable for me

Could it be the batteries? Still running on the original ones.

Question if I may - do you have to run yours with location on to get them to read the tyres?

If so how did you go about getting them to work cross border until you got a local sim card?

Mine only seem to work if location is on.

[Hendel1986]

Question if I may - do you have to run yours with location on to get them to read the tyres?

If so how did you go about getting them to work cross border until you got a local sim card?

Mine only seem to work if location is on.

Mine is not the Bluetooth type that syncs to your phone.

Just a receiver unit plus the caps

Others here might have an answer

[Gungets Tuft]

If that's a lithium battery and has swollen up I'd be getting it out of my vehicle chop-chop. That's not a rupture you want anywhere, least of all in your vehicle.

Edit - I've ordered one of these from Takealot. If it works for a year at least I'll see the benefits.

https://www.takealot.com/external-so...-/PLID95472043

Got it delivered, did the basic setup at my desk after and initial charge of the receiver. As is the norm, the first sender - front left - went fine, registered straight away, raised false hope. Then three badly threaded valves where I can't get the sender units to fit on. Flippen frustrating, going to have to throw myself at the local HiQ for 3 new valve stems. And never let a pump jockey touch my tyres again, they'll mangle everything.

Unless someone has a good way to re-tap valve threads, but they look a little puny for remediation.

[Jonatan]

Got it delivered, did the basic setup at my desk after and initial charge of the receiver. As is the norm, the first sender + front left - went fine, registered straight away. Then three badly threaded valves where I can't get the sender units to fit on. Flippen frustrating, going to have to throw myself at the local HiQ for 3 new valve stems. And never let a pump jockey touch my tyres again, they'll mangle everything.

Unless someone has a good way to re-tap valve threads, but they look a little puny for remediation.

My local tyre shop replaces a valve without removing the wheel or tyre. R30 and 2 minutes. Ask around for somebody like that in your area.


https://youtu.be/FthJtLXWX5w?si=A3aDDEGFP1d506bT

[Gungets Tuft]

My local tyre shop replaces a valve without removing the wheel or tyre. R30 and 2 minutes. Ask around for somebody like that in your area.


https://youtu.be/FthJtLXWX5w?si=A3aDDEGFP1d506bT

Boet, where I live neighbours on the two areas worst hit by the KZN riots. Leaving tyres on cars is unheard of around here.

But, I suppose the local HiQ is my best bet, small, franchise owner, likely to be more helpful.

[Jonatan]

Boet, where I live neighbours on the two areas worst hit by the KZN riots. Leaving tyres on cars is unheard of around here.

But, I suppose the local HiQ is my best bet, small, franchise owner, likely to be more helpful.

It helps to select new valve stems where the valve pin sits a little below the outer housing. Makes it easier to screw sensor on.

[Sneaky Pete]

So had a long road trip planned for Easter weekend without towing. Needed new tyres. I was very concerned when they removed / exchanged 2 of the new tyres, as they were not running straight (my OE rims are perfect). Got 4 x balanced. Got 2 x of the 4 TPMS sensors reading again (a bit of a schlep - small buttons big fingers!). This is a week before we leave. I had 4 x new Goodyear Wranglers fitted. I not do a lot of km anymore so it was a lot of money to hand out. Did day to day driving around and all good.

Left home at first light on Weds 16th to miss Easter traffic. Overnight with friends in Kuruman, then onto Namaqualand. Cruising down N14 / Krugesrdorp highway I say to wife it is reassuring to have TPMS with new tyres. 10 minutes later the TPMS starts screaming. L/H front. I immediately suspect false alarm. I do not want to be stuck on this highway at early hours. Quick visual check by wife in open area while I watch out for trouble with engine running and it still looks fine.Then "the believe in your instruments" logic kicks in! So I stop at next garage and yes now visually we can see deflated and gauge confirms deflated. No visual nails / holes. Cannot see or hear anything. TPMS pressure also low but sitting watching is constant and not dropping as it was when travelling. . We decide to go back to Centurion and tyre dealer who fitted them a few days before. Arrive as they are opening for business. I explain and wheel is removed and tested in water. No leaks. Nada. Remove tyre from rim. No visible fault. Fit back on rim and test - all good. Fit tyre back on left front. Now like 3 to 4 hours later. One hour later, near Coligny and yes you guessed it - TPMS starts screaming again. Now I trust it without doubt. Put my foot down to make it to next Co-op garage (Biesiesvlei?). Pump the tyre up and can visually see the gunk they put on sealing area slowly oozing out under pressure. It now appears that this leak is only happening after tyre warms up after about an hour. Cold it is fine. Pump up and put my foot down again to make it to a tyre centre we see in next town on Google. Put spare on and complete 2600 km without any more problems. The problem tyre (now spare) with TPMS fitted shows no loss at all.
Get back to Centurion and return to tyre fitment centre. I had marked area on tyre and rim where it was leaking. Tyre removed and checked very closely again. Again, nothing, zilch nada visible. I am now wondering if an invisible fault does not lie within the bead that causes the leak but only once the tyre warms up. I will have watch it carefully on my next long trip. Has anyone experienced anything similar?

I wish to emphasize that without my TPMS I would most likely have destroyed the tyre, plus put myself and the wife at risk with a flat tyre in a dangerous area. With a destroyed tyre I would also have had no recourse with dealer.

[Kalahari Safari]

What are "dangerous areas"?

Are you considering SA roads dangerous or afraid of what?

[Sneaky Pete]

What are "dangerous areas"?

Are you considering SA roads dangerous or afraid of what?

The N14 / Krugersdorp (plus some other freeways) have become a problem with the road being spiked from time to time particularly in low light conditions. Motorists who have stopped have been robbed and / or assaulted. A motor cyclists beknown to my son had a breakdown and was murdered. My other son was on his way home after working late at night and suffered damage from an obstruction he never saw on the empty freeway. He never stopped at the scene to investigate and fortunately was able to continue to a safe area from which I recovered him. Stopping in such areas is a risk I am not willing to take.

[Alberto]

after my mishap in namibie 2 yrs ago due to 2 tyres lost ,one could be saved if i had the monitor ,i bought the tyrecare tpms ,tested it on our trip past dec in the eastern side of namibie ,had a slow punture near gobabis ,the tyre shop repaired it with a mushroom plug in the inside ,

bought the cawe tpms for my nissan xtrail,,after the insident in namibie ,my wife insisted to get one ,there she saw that it was not a nice to have item ,all my tyres are the interal one's and the best of all it shows the battery life of the tpms too ,so no guesing there