Tire Pressure Sensor Fail - RV-Dreams Community Forum

MAYBE2021 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Tire Pressure Sensor Fail

vannchan · RV-Dreams Family Member

First, think of where you would put them now if you had them and were going to store them, then look somewhere else.

arcaguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Someone makes the o-rings for TST, who I don't know who, but if you have access to a set of dial-indicator calipers you can measure the OD of where the o-rings sit and then measure the thickness of the cross-section of the o-ring and I'm betting someone on the Internet can supply them. You might want to check out these folks. Don't know anything about them just found them on a search. www.theoringstore.com/index.php Just my two cents.

Dutch · RV-Dreams Family Member

I found replacement O-rings for my TST sensors at a True Value hardware store that had a wide variety of them in small segmented drawers. Ace hardware stores usually have similar selections too.

MAYBE2021 · RV-Dreams Family Member

vannchan wrote:
First, think of where you would put them now if you had them and were going to store them, then look somewhere else.

Story of my life. My wife tells me if I think our destination is left, we should always go right.

MAYBE2021 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for the input but, miraculously, I found the original box and- in the box as advised- there is a plastic bag with replacement o-rings. I’m going to clean-up the faulty sensor and replace all four batteries and o-rings. I’ll keep you posted.

I’ll keep those o-ring source suggestions in mind. There is always something broken that can be fixed with a 10-cent o-ring.

MAYBE2021 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Don't know why I didn't think of this sooner, but I now recall that when I took my first trip using this TPMS I went through several heavy rain storms and that same sensor stopped working for a period then came back on line. I even posted about it piggy-backing on one of Ronc's posts: https://rv-dreams.activeboard.com/t63783210/tpms-success-story/

I think there is a very good chance this sensor's o-ring was defective from the beginning. I'm writing TST to see if they will warranty that sensor; they'er $50.00 each. I'll let you know what they say.

Steve

MAYBE2021 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Update:

I emailed TST with my story and was told they would replace the defective sensor. About a week after mailing my defective sensor to them, I received a new sensor in the mail. Nice customer service.

I am a little concerned about the quality of the o-rings though. I went ahead and replaced the o-ring and battery on the other three sensors and found that when I unscrewed the caps all three o-rings fell out in pieces. So all four o-rings appeared to have deteriorated in just over a year. Has anyone else experienced this?

Steve

LarryW21 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Interesting report. Thank you for sharing.

RonC · RV-Dreams Family Member

I also have the TST 507 TPMS ... FWIW ... I replace each battery in every sensor (along with the O ring) every year. Just part of routine maintenance.

-- Edited by RonC on Tuesday 6th of November 2018 09:06:58 PM

MAYBE2021 · RV-Dreams Family Member

RonC wrote:
I also have the TST 507 TPMS ... FWIW ... I replace each battery in every sensor (along with the O ring) every year. Just part of routine maintenance.

-- Edited by RonC on Tuesday 6th of November 2018 09:06:58 PM

Yes, I'm going to have to put that on my maintenance schedule.

But I'm curious: 1) Do you get your o-rings from TST?, 2) Are the o-rings deteriorated and falling apart when you unscrew the sensor cap? That's what really surprised me; how bad all the o-rings looked after 14 months of part-time service. In a former life I was a mechanic and I have never seen o-rings deteriorate in that short a time.

Steve

arcaguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Steve,

I'm with you. I don't think that the o-rings should deteriorate within a year or so. Like you I've seen o-rings last a long time, sometimes decades.

RonC · RV-Dreams Family Member

I do get my O rings from TST. They are the water seal between a twist on cap and a stationary body. Doesn’t surprise me that they would be “one and done”. Mine aren’t crumbling, but they look in bad enough shape that they probably wouldn’t water seal anymore.

arcaguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

I'm thinking that a very light coating of silicone grease on the o-rings may alleviate some of the galling and likely add to their sealing ability. Just at thought.

RonC · RV-Dreams Family Member

arcaguy wrote:
I'm thinking that a very light coating of silicone grease on the o-rings may alleviate some of the galling and likely add to their sealing ability. Just at thought.

You are probably right ... sounds like a good idea, but the O rings are not very expensive so I just consider them a consumable.

MAYBE2021 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Yes, the o-rings probably should last longer but, for me, the real take away here is that TST stood behind their product. There are many companies out there that will look for any excuse to not warranty their product. Their customer service was great.

Steve

dianneandsteve · RV-Dreams Family Member

I’ve had the TST since 2012 and never had a corrosion issue but those o-rings always crumble. IMHO it’s because you‘ve got to stretch the hell out of them to get them on then they become too thin. Why not just a larger o-ring that slips on easily? I’ve always had great service from TST.

Safe travels!