A tire pressure monitoring system will save you a lot of money.
In recent years, trucking companies’ revenues have been falling, and the prices of spare parts, including tires, have risen significantly. About 30 thousand rubles is the most ordinary “budget” tire 22.5-inch diameter. But someone who is accustomed to premium brands now pays up to 90 (!) thousand rubles per cylinder … Save, extend the life of tires – this idea has now captured the minds of foremen and owners of ATP.
One of the factors that directly affect tire mileage is pressure. And most importantly, this technical parameter, in contrast to the human factor (grinding the sidewalls of the tires to the curbs, dashing turns of the truck with side sliding and black marks on the pavement) is controllable. The main task is to prevent (minimize) runs with low tire pressure. This not only reduces the service life of the latter, but also increases the rolling resistance, and hence the fuel consumption. For fleets with hundreds of rolling stock units, and even more so for multi-axle and dual-tire tires, the operation of tires at strictly standard pressure can bring savings of several million rubles a year.
As you know, the simplest way to control pressure (kicking with a boot before a flight) is suitable mainly for four tires of a light-duty van at a price of 5 thousand rubles per cylinder. On large-tonnage mainline road trains, automated control systems have proved their due efficiency, moreover, with wheel pressure sensors (a simplified method for detecting a flat tire by the difference in the readings of standard ABS rotation sensors is yesterday). But even among the manufacturers of full-fledged tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS), there are companies with a different approach to informing the driver.
Most, including eminent Western suppliers of TPMS, are limited to a control light on the instrument panel. That is, if something caught fire that did not burn before (check engine or check tires), the instruction advises the driver to go straight to the service.
A more intellectually advanced system is offered by the Krasnoyarsk company Acceptum-Engineering. Yes, it was our Russian manufacturer that went even further than simple import substitution and offered a product that is significantly superior in quality to the “replaced” ones.
The inner wheel module is attached to the disc with a clamp
The EVA PRO hardware and software system takes into account not only the values of pressure and temperature inside the wheel, but also the ambient temperature. This allows you to detect an air leak (for example, with a small puncture), even if the tire in motion has warmed up and the pressure has increased – recall, any gases expand with increasing temperature. On most other TPMS, the indicator will simply go out – the temperature of the punctured tire has increased, the pressure has returned to the tolerance limits. And when the tire is completely flat, it will be too late …
Display accurate pressure and temperature readings
The EVA PRO system displays pressure and temperature readings inside the wheel on a separate, included in the kit, display. The processor constantly calculates the recommended pressure value and compares the data from the wheels on the same axle. In case of deviation from the recommended value, as well as in case of a large pressure difference in adjacent dual tires, the frame of the position corresponding to the wheel in the diagram will be highlighted in red. With a significant deviation – the position will turn red over the entire area – it’s hard not to notice, and a text notification will appear on the screen and an audible alarm will turn on. You can turn off the “alarm” only by inflating the tire to the recommended pressure – that is, after repairing it.
Thus, it will not be possible to ignore the problem, especially since the program not only sends all the data to the personal account of the fleet manager, but also ranks all the cars on the list. At the head of which will be cars with the most “phlegmatic” drivers who are not particularly worried about fuel economy and tire mileage.
Viktor Kochergin, head of the convoy of Keramzit Plus LLC, Novosibirsk:
“The cars of our company are used for the transportation of grain crops in the regions of the Siberian Federal District. There are about two dozen road trains with 50 cubic meters dump semi-trailers-grain carriers in the park. Tractors – two-axle Scania and Volvo. We have been using EVA PRO tire pressure monitoring systems for more than two years. Initially, we purchased sets for seven road trains: 12 wheel modules for the entire coupler, plus monitors and main blocks. During operation, the system has shown its effectiveness – due to the timely detection of a pressure drop, it was possible to save about a dozen tires from destruction. In the future, we plan to equip other road trains of our fleet with this system.
We chose the wheel sensors for internal location – they are reliably protected from water, dirt and other external influences. During tire fitting (and we already had to replace tires after natural wear), there was no damage to the sensors installed in the recess of the rim. The latest generation of EVA PRO kits – one of which we recently purchased – includes already upgraded wheel sensors with elastic antennas, they are even more resistant to accidental tire bead pressure.
In addition to the main function of “rescuing” a tire worth 30-40 thousand rubles (as you know, with a critical pressure drop, it can simply explode on the go), the pressure control system also allows you to avoid delays in the delivery of goods. On cars with Eva Pro, we almost never have to replace a punctured tire on our own, because at the first sign of a pressure drop, the driver sees it on the monitor and immediately plans to drive to the nearest truck tire service. Where to remove and disassemble the wheel will be using a pneumatic wrench, tire changer and other professional equipment. A full repair with the elimination of damage will take much less time than installing a spare tire on the side of the road, which means that the cargo will be delivered to the recipient on time. In addition, the EVA PRO system shows the driver the temperature in the wheel, which also helps to detect a malfunction in time – for example, overheating of a sticking brake mechanism or failure of the hub bearings.
Igor Ivashkin, individual entrepreneur, Krasnoyarsk Territory
“Our company has six long-haul road trains with Volvo FH tractors and refrigerated semi-trailers and low loaders. The latter have dual 17.5-inch wheels, which makes it very difficult to check tire pressure in the traditional way. Getting to the inner wheel valve with a hand gauge is not easy, and it is unlikely that drivers will do this, as expected, before every long-distance flight. This means that the risk of premature failure of expensive tires is high. The solution to the problem was found in the installation of an automated tire pressure monitoring system. In our region, such specialized equipment is produced by the Krasnoyarsk company Acceptum-Engineering – we decided to try its EVA PRO kit. The system was installed on the first road train more than three years ago as an experiment. Seeing the positive effects, four more kits were ordered and to date we have five out of six hitches equipped with EVA PRO sensors and monitors.
On 22.5-inch wheels of tractors and refrigerated semi-trailers, pressure and temperature sensors are installed inside the wheels and fixed to the disks with special clamps. Such sensors are not suitable for 17.5-inch wheels of low-bed car carriers – they will interfere with tire mounting. I had to install external sensors – they are screwed onto the valves instead of caps.
In general, the system works without failures, the batteries of the sensors are still native, no other parts of the system had to be replaced. In isolated cases of minor malfunctions – for adjustment or just a scheduled inspection – the manufacturer’s service department specialists came.
During the operation of pressure monitoring systems, we have already saved several tires by detecting through damage in a timely manner. A red warning label lights up on the monitor installed in the cab, and the driver immediately sees in which particular wheel the pressure has dropped. Having stopped and inspected this tire, he often detects damage or a foreign object sticking out of the tread visually. But even if outwardly everything is fine, the driver goes to the nearest tire shop for diagnostics and repairs. If the pressure has dropped critically – as a rule, a rather large cut is visible on the tire – you have to raise the axle with a jack and put the spare wheel on.
An additional function of the EVA PRO system – tire temperature monitoring – can also be useful in case of brake malfunctions. And in this case, it is possible to call in the service in advance and avoid accelerated wear of the pads and discs.
About company
The company “Acceptum-Engineering” with its head office and manufacturing plant in Krasnoyarsk was established in 2015 and started developing a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS). With the involvement of experienced specialists in robotics and radio engineering, a prototype wheel module with pressure and temperature sensors was developed, and its operation was tested along the entire length of the road train without the use of additional radio signal amplifiers.
Wheel Module Prototype Board
In 2017, a prototype set of in-house equipment was installed on a Volvo FMX dump truck operating in a coal mine. In subsequent years, the TPMS, which received the name of the EVA PRO hardware and software complex, was constantly improved, and in 2019 the operation of many sets began at enterprises with large fleets of commercial vehicles. At the same time, the EVA PRO project became a resident of the Skolkovo Innovation Center. At the end of 2020, second-generation hardware and software systems were launched into a series.
The evolution of sensors for 2017-2018
Author: Anton Utkin
Photo: manufacturer
Advertising/LLC “Acceptum”/TIN 2465135283/erid 4CQwVszH9pSXqzsPR8D
