Advice: inflating wheelchair tyres

[ciphergoth]

A recently wheelchair-using friend is finding that a bicycle pump doesn't seem to fit her wheelchair tyres, and they are slowly getting flatter and flatter. She mentions that she once had the tyres inflated from the compressed air at a garage, but I know that if I take the chair to a garage they will have no idea what to do or whether I'm in danger of blowing the tyres up. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks!

Comments

Pump fittings

[stefanc.livejournal.com]

There are 3 types of valve on standard pneumatic tyres, 1. Schraeder (on cars, bikes bicyces, wheelchairs etc.) 2. Presta ( on bicyles and wheel chairs), 3. Woods (on bicycles mainly, usaully older British cycles and Asian). Number 1 should fit most tyres and is the one in service stations. When you look at the end of the cycle pump fitting it has a cross and wider diameter thread. Numbers 2 and 3 have the same thinner diameter aperture and no cross. To inflate a Presta valve tyre, you must un-screw the vale top until no more and then inflate, after which you should care screw it bach in to the vale without pushing down on it (which will let air out insead). Cycle pumping by hand until hard should be utterly safe on wheelchair tyres. Good luck. A cycle pump should work on wheelchair tyres as the pump has a one way rubber valve allowing you only to infate, not deflate the tyre.