TPMS TST507 Loss of Signal Delay Time

Steven@147

T&S RV Adventures
Site Sponsor
RV LIFE Pro
Joined
May 11, 2017
Messages
2,894
Location
Texas Domicile
[MENTION=42104]Hoopy Frood[/MENTION], Here you go.

Test Simulation - Loss of tire sensor signal for a TST507 TPMS system 5 years old manufactured @ 2018- 2019. Simulating the loss of a TST507 TPMS tire cap sensor, Tire coming off the RV, or Spare tire with a cap sensor falling out and rolling away. Specific tire tested - RV Spare Tire with cap sensor. Total of 5 RV tires programmed into monitor, every 5 seconds monitor switches to display the next tire data.

Test Steps-
1) Let the monitor update and currently displaying the spare tire cap sensor information - pressure and temperature of the spare tire. 102 PSI at 80*.
2) Start Timer - Take the monitor and walk away from the RV. - simulating complete loss of the sensor or tire coming off RV and flying away.
3) At 10:47:55 Spare tire data stopped displaying - No Alert - Just stopped reporting.
in
4) With monitor in hand walk back toward RV. As soon as monitor is in transmission range of spare tire cap sensor, spare tire information reappeared, No Alert, just started displaying spare tire data again. Total time to walk back beside the RV @ 5 minutes.

Simulation Test Results -
Well I guess, if you lose a tire with a sensor, or just the tire sensor, or the battery goes dead in a sensor, or the monitor is out of range of the sensor transmission, the monitor just stops displaying a tires information. It will redisplay tire data information when the monitor is back in transmission range of the tire cap sensor. No Alerts

What that tells me is that it took almost 11 minutes for the monitor to realize that tire cap sensor wasn't there any more. Through that 11 minutes, every rotation through displaying the 5 tires, the spare tire information was old displaying 102 80. Only after almost 11 minutes did the monitor update the tire information. What if you had 10 tires programmed into the monitor, how long would that take?

Now realize, once the monitor has updated and displaying tire cap sensor data, that is different than just removing a tire cap sensor from the tire to like add air, the monitor will "Alert" at the next rotation of that tire.

There is wonkiness in their programming.

Seems to me there should be some kind of alert like - "Tire Signal Loss". Since it takes 5 seconds for the monitor to switch to displaying the next tires data, and the monitor knows how many tires are programmed into it, In my case with 5 tires being monitored, the max it should take to alert "Tire Signal Loss" is 25 seconds.

Now I don't like this situation with the TST TPMS tire monitoring system, but I can't see spending another $275 right now for another system.
Oh well, now I know.
 
Last edited:
[MENTION=42104]Hoopy Frood[/MENTION], Here you go.

Test Simulation - Loss of tire sensor signal for a TST507 TPMS system 5 years old manufactured @ 2018- 2019. Simulating the loss of a TST507 TPMS tire cap sensor, Tire coming off the RV, or Spare tire with a cap sensor falling out and rolling away. Specific tire tested - RV Spare Tire with cap sensor. Total of 5 RV tires programmed into monitor, every 5 seconds monitor switches to display the next tire data.

Test Steps-
1) Let the monitor update and currently displaying the spare tire cap sensor information - pressure and temperature of the spare tire. 102 PSI at 80*.
2) Start Timer - Take the monitor and walk away from the RV. - simulating complete loss of the sensor or tire coming off RV and flying away.
3) At 10:47:55 Spare tire data stopped displaying - No Alert - Just stopped reporting.
in
4) With monitor in hand walk back toward RV. As soon as monitor is in transmission range of spare tire cap sensor, spare tire information reappeared, No Alert, just started displaying spare tire data again. Total time to walk back beside the RV @ 5 minutes.

Simulation Test Results -
Well I guess, if you lose a tire with a sensor, or just the tire sensor, or the battery goes dead in a sensor, or the monitor is out of range of the sensor transmission, the monitor just stops displaying a tires information. It will redisplay tire data information when the monitor is back in transmission range of the tire cap sensor. No Alerts

What that tells me is that it took almost 11 minutes for the monitor to realize that cap tire sensor wasn't there any more. Through that 11 minutes, every rotation through the 5 tires, the spare tire information was old. Only after almost 11 minutes did the monitor update the tire information. What if you had 10 tires programmed into the monitor, how long would that take?

Seems to me there should be some kind of alert like - "Tire Signal Loss". Since it takes 5 seconds for the monitor to switch to displaying the next tires data, and the monitor knows how many tires are programmed into it, In my case with 5 tires being monitored, the max it should take to alert "Tire Signal Loss" is 25 seconds.

Now I don't like this situation with the TST TPMS tire monitoring system, but I can't see spending another $275 right now for another system.
Oh well, now I know.
Well, your results were better than mine when it happened to me. We left the RV park, and after a while I noticed that five of the six tires with sensors were showing approximately the same pressure and temperature, but one was showing the same pressure and temperature as when we left the RV park. I thought that was pretty strange and slowed to pull off and check things out. As I slowed and started to pull over, the pressure and temperature on the odd tire changed to show the same readings as the other five tires. About an hour had elapsed from when we left the RV park to when I noticed the anomaly with the sixth tire. This all occurred before I had a repeater, and has not happened since. When I contacted TST about what appeared to be an excessive amount of time between loss of signal and an update, I was informed that this was entirely normal, and most TPMS systems worked the same. I did express my dissatisfaction with this information but there was little I could actually do about it.

But I do wonder if this particular issue was the reason TST started including the repeater with the purchase of the TST system. When I bought mine, the repeater was an extra cost option, now it is included.

Thank you for checking on this. More information is usually better than less. :)
 
Last edited:
Well, your results were better than mine when it happened to me. We left the RV park, and after a while I noticed that five of the six tires with sensors were showing approximately the same pressure and temperature, but one was showing the same pressure and temperature as when we left the RV park. I thought that was pretty strange and slowed to pull off and check things out. As I slowed and started to pull over, the pressure and temperature on the odd tire changed to show the same readings as the other five tires. About an hour had elapsed from when we left the RV park to when I noticed the anomaly with the sixth tire. This all occurred before I had a repeater, and has not happened since. When I contacted TST about what appeared to be an excessive amount of time between loss of signal and an update, I was informed that this was entirely normal, and most TPMS systems worked the same. I did express my dissatisfaction with this information but there was little I could actually do about it.

But I do wonder if this particular issue was the reason TST started including the repeater with the purchase of the TST system. When I bought mine, the repeater was an extra cost option, now it is included.

Thank you for checking on this. More information is usually better than less. :)

Howard - I had my repeater turned off for the test. LOL's:confused:
 
Since I installed the repeater that came with the system, it does seem to synch faster but is still not perfect.

Oldcow
 
This is a bit disconcerting - same system with the repeater. I had one tire's data disappear from the monitor on I-90 on the way to Elkhart after driving for hours. First time that has happened. This was in upstate NY and luckily close to a cell phone pull-off. Pulled in to check if I had lost a sensor or a wheel. Rapid air loss didn't display. But I manually checked the tire pressure anyway and it was normal. Reinstalled the sensor and it synced for the rest of the trip. I have to admit as I think back, I've inadvertently left the monitor on while driving away from the trailer and was surprised to see values remain for so long. But 11 minutes????
 
There are a lot of things TST and all TPMS systems don't alert. For instance, they will alert a rapid leak but not a sudden blowout (think running over sharp road debris and popping a tire). The will not alert when a mounted tire suddenly leaves with its wheel if at the time of departure air pressure and temperature were within parameters (gotta wait the logic function to reconnect fail - typically 3 or 5 'calls'). If you rapidly remove a sensor, like to fill, it won't notice a thing.

They will alert a fast leak and they will alert pressure and temperature out of parameters. They will even notify, eventually, when they cannot communicate with a sensor. In all, another tool but not a "guard." Still need visual inspections, checking mirror, and be alerts to funny sounds, vibrations, and trailer movements.

For the TST in particular, if you start experiencing random loss of signals when you haven't before, it's generally indicative of a need for a fresh battery. FYI - the childproof batteries (with the bitter coating) don't work well in them.

Mike Bensen is still with TST, VP now I believe, and a wealth of information about TSTs systems, the competitors', and the technology in general.
 
There are a lot of things TST and all TPMS systems don't alert. For instance, they will alert a rapid leak but not a sudden blowout (think running over sharp road debris and popping a tire). The will not alert when a mounted tire suddenly leaves with its wheel if at the time of departure air pressure and temperature were within parameters (gotta wait the logic function to reconnect fail - typically 3 or 5 'calls'). If you rapidly remove a sensor, like to fill, it won't notice a thing.

They will alert a fast leak and they will alert pressure and temperature out of parameters. They will even notify, eventually, when they cannot communicate with a sensor. In all, another tool but not a "guard." Still need visual inspections, checking mirror, and be alerts to funny sounds, vibrations, and trailer movements.

For the TST in particular, if you start experiencing random loss of signals when you haven't before, it's generally indicative of a need for a fresh battery. FYI - the childproof batteries (with the bitter coating) don't work well in them.

Mike Bensen is still with TST, VP now I believe, and a wealth of information about TSTs systems, the competitors', and the technology in general.
I hate to disagree, but the TST system WILL alert after a blowout, I mean it's too late, but it will alert after the fact since there is no pressure. BTDTGTFT. And it will alert if you take off a sensor while the monitor is operating, and the sensor is connected.
 
Last edited:
I hate to disagree, but the TST system WILL alert after a blowout, I mean it's too late, but it will alert after the fact since there is no pressure. BTDTGTFT. And it will alert if you take off a sensor while the monitor is operating, and the sensor is connected.

Lol, Howard, we aren't disagreeing. Yes, once blown not during and definitely no crystal ball effect. I probably should have used "manually check pressure" as I do it all the time and can beat the 12s clock. Mike used to show this at the rallies too that it can happen.
 
Lol, Howard, we aren't disagreeing. Yes, once blown not during and definitely no crystal ball effect. I probably should have used "manually check pressure" as I do it all the time and can beat the 12s clock. Mike used to show this at the rallies too that it can happen.
Ah, I didn't know about the time limit. Nice to know.
 
I too am surprised how long it takes for the TST507 to alert after I left the trailer in the storage lot. Best I recall, it alerted about 5min after departing the storage lot. I suspect this is due to the “Retry” algorithm they built into the unit trying to avoid including the repeater with the original product offering. Mine came with the repeater and it has worked flawlessly.

My experience is that the unit does alert on a tire blow. Normally, I don’t “feel” the blowouts when they occur with my rig. Always good to know it was me so I don’t take needless evasive action to slow/leave the lane(s).

I will also say, my 5yr experience with TST507 has been a night & day difference with the 3yr experience with the TireMinder Bluetooth(connects to Phone) product. The battery life is better, the sensors work as expected and there are NO false alarms.

My three buds that have the TireLinc that was preinstalled in their Reflections have constant problems with the system loosing connection (power connection at the controller in the basement?). They are getting weary of continually having to go through the setup procedure.
 
Last edited:
I’ve driven the truck into the grocery store 8 miles away after setting up the camper and had no notification of the signal loss on all sensors. It’s a bad design, but none of them handle it well. My suspicion is that signal loss is a very common occurrence, and alerting on it results in excessive nuisance alarms.
 
I am kinda curious if the TPMS system from the big three (Ford/GMC/RAM) that you can put on the trailer operates the same with the delayed notification if anyone knows.
 
I am kinda curious if the TPMS system from the big three (Ford/GMC/RAM) that you can put on the trailer operates the same with the delayed notification if anyone knows.

Yes, there is still a delay with the direct TPMS systems from the Big3. However, they are generally shorter than the popular aftermarket. That said, last year AAA did a study and found they can be just as quirky.
 
No matter the short comings of the individual TPMS offerings, at least they do their primary jobs of alerting you of a low air pressure or a tire losing air, though it would be nice if they did everything we want.

Actually our TST507 does more than our RAM truck system. Our 3500 truck system is only a monitoring system, it will not alert you to anything. You have to actually scroll through the main speedo display and actually look at the tire display to see the air pressures. It does not alert the driver to a tire low pressure.
 

Try RV LIFE Pro Free for 7 Days

  • New Ad-Free experience on this RV LIFE Community.
  • Plan the best RV Safe travel with RV LIFE Trip Wizard.
  • Navigate with our RV Safe GPS mobile app.
  • and much more...
Try RV LIFE Pro Today
Back
Top Bottom