Safer Corp. has announced the availability of the Vigia Automatic Tire Pressure (ATP) system to the U.S. market. Safer said the system is unique because it can be installed on solid axles, allowing it to be used on trucks, buses, trailers and RVs.
According to Safer, the Vigia system sends filtered air through a dedicated pipe distributed directly to each tire. Since Vigia uses back pressure valves, any defect in a single tire will not affect other tires. Even if there is a blowout, only that tire is affected, said Safer, with all other tires staying at their calibrated pressure.
Because it employs an electronic valve, Vigia "shoots" the air at a much faster rate, 120 psi, versus "trickling" the air like mechanical valves, explained Safer. If the preset tire pressure in any tire drops by 3 psi from its calibrated level, air is immediately released to the tire. If the tire continues to lose air, Vigia will maintain the calibrated pressure until the driver can stop to have the tire repaired. The driver is kept aware of the entire process through an alert system in the control panel.
To deal with catastrophic air loss, Vigia is equipped with two safety valves that prevent the vehicle's air supply from ever falling below 70 psi. Should the air supply fall near 70 psi, noted Safer, Vigia discontinues taking air from the tank while the control panel flashes a red light to alert the driver “so a safe pullover can be accomplished.”
The first Vigia (which is Spanish for “Sentry” or “Guardian”) system was installed in Argentina in 1978. Safer said it is widely used in South America, Europe and Australia with more than 250,000 systems installed on vehicles worldwide.
"Introducing such a well-known and successful product with almost 30 years of international use to a U.S. market that is only just now becoming aware of the benefits of this technology is a very exciting venture," stated Brian Moylan, president of Safer.
"The average Vigia customer is finding their return on investment to be from 6 to 9 months," added Moylan. "If you can save one road service due to a blown or leaking tire, you are well on your way to paying for the Vigia system. Add the increased fuel economy and improved tire life and you'll understand why ATP systems are fast becoming the number-one ROI technology in the transportation industry."
For more information on Vigia, call 877-77-SAFER (72337) or go to www.saferco.com
