Planet Bike Air Kiss CO2 Bicycle Inflator woes

[PeteJack]

It was light and just the thing for my road bike until I got a flat. When I came to use said inflator and screwed in the CO2 cartridge it wouldn't pierce the membrane on top of the cartridge. I thought it may have been my wimpy grip so I went into a nearby machine shop and tried putting the head in a vise and using pliers to turn the cylinder - still membrane intacta.  I ended up having the missis rescue me.

Am I doing something wrong with this infernal device? or have I just got a bad 'un?  Should I switch to some other brand?

[DaveB]

I don't have that particular inflator but I do have a couple of Planet Bike's "Red Zeppelin 2" inflators which are similar but use a rotating valve handle instead of a lever to control the CO2 flow.  The first (and fortunately only) time I've had to use one of them it worked perfectly so Planet Bike inflators can work. 

There are two possible reasons for the failure you experienced:

1) The inflator is indeed defective.  The piercing needle is too short or the female threads aren't deep enough.
2) The CO2 cylinder you have is poorly threaded and doesn't thread in deep enough.  These cylinders aren't exactly precision machined.

So, I'd try another cylinder and if that doesn't work, contact Planet Bike for a replacement. 

[PeteJack]

It seems the mistake I made was taking out a non-empty cylinder out some time before. According to a review I found on Amazon this causes the inflator pin to get lost. I contacted Planet Bike and they are sending me a replacement. The instructions do say to not remove a cylinder with gas still in it but don't tell you what the consequences might be. All this is why I wouldn't dream of taking them on tour.

[DaveB]

That's odd.  The instructions for my "Red Zeppelin" inflators say nothing about not removing a cylinder with remaining gas and even so I can't see why that would damage the piercing pin.  I can see how the remaining pressure could be a hazard to the  user but not to the inflator.

[PeteJack]

That's odd.  The instructions for my "Red Zeppelin" inflators say nothing about not removing a cylinder with remaining gas and even so I can't see why that would damage the piercing pin.  I can see how the remaining pressure could be a hazard to the  user but not to the inflator.

This is what I found on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Bike-Kiss-Tire-Inflator/product-reviews/B000IQEAMA To save you looking here's what the reviewer says

7) When you are through inflating the tire, do not just spin off the cartridge, if it is still pressurized unless you fully expel all of the gas you can get a nasty surprise (like a pop and losing the internal gasket and hollow puncture tip - into who knows what). (explaining why it only works once for some people) As the instructions say, slide the cartridge body down to release all of the CO2 (even into the air) before removing the cartridge from the inflator head. (be careful where you point it I would think)

You can the instructions here http://www.planetbike.com/page/support/manuals/. They say to make sure there is no CO2 left in the cylinder but nothing about potential damage.

[DaveB]

OK, I see what happened.  The Air Kiss is quite different from the Zeppelin inflator.  Mine threads onto the tire valve like a floor pump and the gas flow is then started and controlled by a miniature water valve handle so you can turn off the CO2 flow completely while there is still gas in the cartridge.   You can even retain remaining gas for future use, at least for a while. 

[PeteJack]

Planet Bike sent me a replacement for free. It works and this time I won't remove the cylinder until I'm sure it's empty.