Repair foot pump (for car tyres)

What valve/fitting is present on the part(s) you removed? I have an even older foot pump I inherited from my dad. I replaced the hose with some new high pressure hose, and fitted a schraeder 'head unit' bought from china; all is well. I am struggling to understand what else might be between the cylinder and the tyre.

J^n

Car tyre foot pumps are useless for bicycle tyres, but bicycle tyre track pumps are brilliant for bicycles and fine for car tyres, and have a pressure gauge.

So if you have bicycles, get something that does both. Otherwise, there are loads of electric inflators, I have one, but the bike pump is normally close to hand and hence quicker to use.

I have a couple of adaptors which convert a Presta type valve to Schrader & have never had any trouble using either with a footpump or a hand held battery pump (looks like a battery drill). Yes, there are other types of valve eg the old Dunlop/Woods/English or tubeless but if you have got those presumably you would have the correct fitting/adaptor for the pump.

Sorry, poor choice of wording. The hose has the head unit on one end and a metal threaded part on the other, the latter screwing into the cylinder of the pump itself.

I have looked at replacement hoses, both plain hose and with fittings already installed both ends, but looking at reviews, there seems to be a multitude of fittings at the cylinder, and I cannot see, just by looking, which size I require.

I suppose I could just buy one and if the cylinder end is wrong, just fit the one from the old hose. Possibly replace with crimp with a small Jubilee clip.

In message <10a5ujb$13rfe$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, wasbit snipped-for-privacy@REMOVEhotmail.com writes

To be honest I have no idea what the various fittings are called. The pump was purchased fifty years ago and has fitted the tyre valves of every car I have owned since. British, German, even Japanese.

Everything wears out after a while. I have an old (30+ years) electric tyre pump which gave up the ghost when I most needed it. The problem was that the grip onto the tyre valve just wasn't making a good enough seal, even with the lever pushed down hard. A foot pump I had but wasn't used much was better, but still didn't make a good enough seal. In the end I got a new electric pump:

That works well. What I found interesting was that it, and most of the pumps now available screw onto the tyre valve in the same way that the cover cap does, so making a much better seal.

The adapter for "car-type" valves pushes the valve in the tyre open when fitted by pressing on the pin, so there is usually/always another valve in the back of the adapter to stop the air going back into the pump. Is that stuck?

Certainly with adapters for car-type valves on bicycle pumps, the air will only go one way through the adapter.

Other types of valve may use the valve in the tyre to prevent back flow, with the valve only opening on each pressure stroke and closing on the return stroke.

Bicycle pumps don't have exit valves. Do car footpumps?

nib

And being much easier to fit than the angled clamp-on type, especially on fancy modern alloys.

nib

Probably the bit that attaches to the valve?

This has a hose barb, stick it in the hose, then jubilee clip, or a wrap of baling wire.

But poke around in the valve thing in case the bits have gotten stuck, they do that, particularly the Schrader/Presta/auto "fits multiple valves" ones...

I'd be reluctant to replace a reliable pump.

Thomas Prufer

In message <10a5vjq$12nfr$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, Jeff Layman snipped-for-privacy@invalid.invalid writes

Hmm. Thanks Jeff, that looks tempting.

In message snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net>, nib snipped-for-privacy@ingram-bromley.co.uk> writes

Quite possibly, or even probably. I have had a poke around, but without success.

In message snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, Thomas Prufer snipped-for-privacy@mnet-online.de.invalid> writes

I'll have another try.

My feelings exactly.

It probably came from Green Shield stamps or similar, but is a good, solid thing, and I would hate to bin it. Even if I follow Jeff's advice and go electric, I would still like to get the foot pump working again.

Use an electric pump. I still have my foot one - bought in the '60s - but a battery one is easier and a lot less effort.

I am not convinced that the 'non-return valve' part of the pump is in the 'head unit' you link to (I realise you are not saying this either...).

Could the fitting that screws into the pump at the other end of the hose be blocked somehow? Maybe that is where the NRV is sited, and it no longer works in either direction. I have wondered where this valve is situated otherwise. Is the hose long enough to cut that out and experiment?

(I have many bikes and track pumps; I keep one with a dual head unit in the back of the car for use with my folding bike, but still keep my old brass-cylinder foot pump for occasional use. Track pumps for car tyres are great though, and give you a nice bit of exercise...)

The problem with using a car pump for a bike is pressure. Car tyres are typically < 40 psi, bike tyres are typically > 40 psi, often much higher, 80-100 psi. This high pressure has ruined my car tyre pump hoses.

A good bike track pump will work with both Schrader and Pretsa valves.

In message snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net>, jkn

Certainly food for thought. I don't know where the NRV is either,

I had to Google track pump. Looks like something supplied with a Morris Minor :-)

Cars often come with 12V electric pumps these days. Just go on Ebay and you will find many second hand examples that were supplied with new cars but possibly still unused when the car was scrapped.

It's a standard term within cycling. When I had a slow puncture in my car tyre, occasional use of the track pump was a nice whole-body warm-up exercise...

Sometimes, just talking about a problem with others is enough to suggest a solution, so thank you all.

Removed the hose from the pump and inserted a wooden cocktail stick in the non head end. No resistance. Possible NRV with rubber flap?

Took just the hose and attached it to an inflated tyre. No air escaped from the non head end, so inserted cocktail stick again, in case NRV was operating. Nothing, so NRV must be at the head end, same with whatever damage has occurred.

Removed head end from original pump, same with modern pump (with split hose), swapped heads, re-crimped with pliers and tried on a flat wheelbarrow tyre. It worked!

Whilst I can see an electric pump will be great for the car, I do like the traditional foot pump. Apart from the day to day car, there is a Traveller here, two trailers and a wheelbarrow, all of which require a quick pump now and again, and the old foot pump is portable. Easier to move the pump to the wheel than the wheel to the pump. The modern car is the only one with a cigarette lighter, to power an electric pump.