Here at Auto Hero, we’re lucky enough to get our hands on some exclusive vehicle products for testing and feedback purposes. Today, we’re going to share our experience with the Oricom TPS10 real time tyre pressure monitoring system – giving you a full, unbiased run-down of the system from the same manufacturer that produces the excellent DTX600 powerful 5 watt handheld UHF CB Radio.
At a Glance:
- The Oricom TPS10 is a tyre pressure monitoring system including up to 10 external, easy-to-fit wireless valve-mounted pressure sensors.
- The 10 sensors will cover all four wheels of your vehicle, your spare, up to 4 wheels on a trailer, and a trailer spare.
- The super-simple setup had us up and running in less than 10 minutes.
- Quick glance compact design visual display unit is really easy to read in all conditions.
- A significant upgrade from a standard factory-fitted pressure monitoring system. Much safer, and much more info on display to help improve fuel economy and tyre life.
Oricom TPS10 – What is it?
The Oricom TPS10 is a stand-alone tyre pressure monitoring system that doesn’t require any professional installation. In short, that means the tyre pressure is monitored using external sensors that replace your tyre valve caps – so there’s no need to mess with the internal tyre pressure monitoring system that’s already installed on your vehicle.
These external sensors then link wirelessly to a neat little solar powered display unit that mounts on your dash. Since there’s no wires or replacement of internal pressure sensors needed, you can be up and running with the Oricom TPS10 in a matter of minutes – it took us exactly 6 minutes in fact – and that included washing our hands after handling our old, dirty dustcaps.
What Does the TPS10 Offer?
For a small, very tidy-looking system, the Oricom TPS10 is packed full of useful features.
Firstly, there’s the solar-powered colour LCD display unit. It’ll run entirely off the power it takes from the sun – but you’ve got a micro-USB power cable if required. The display unit adjustable threshold means you can set the warning levels for whatever pressure levels you wish – meaning no irritating alerts on your dash if you let some pressure out to hit the mud or sand. It also has an auto-brightness adjustment, so you’ll never have trouble seeing your display.
The external sensors run off a tiny CR1632 button battery in each one. You can expect around 2 years of life out of the battery – and each sensor is IPX7 waterproof too, so no issue submerging them in water up to 1 metre deep for 30 minutes. While there are no official stats – IPX7 also means they’re going to withstand dust well, too.
The display real time monitoring shows you the Bar level of pressure in your tyres and the temperature of each tyre too – super useful for trailers, as a tyre will heat up quickly if there’s any pressure or braking issue stopping it moving as freely as it should.
10 External Sensors
Capable of giving you Air Leakage Warning, Abnormal Pressure Warning or Low/High Tyre Temperature Warning from 10 sensors, the TPS10 is ideal for anyone towing.
Now, it’s worth mentioning that you may need add the optional repeater to suit the TPS10 system if you’ve got an especially large vehicle or trailer. Oricom recommended this set up for maximum effectiveness:
The Oricom TPS10 Will Help Ensure Optimal Fuel Consumption and Tyre Wear
No one wants to spend more on fuel or tyres than they have to – and the TPS10 is perfectly suited to make sure you won’t be.
While your vehicle’s on-board pressure monitoring will (most of the time) alert you to a flat, it won’t tell you if you’ve lost a few pounds of pressure in a tyre. Running your tyres with less pressure adds a significant amount of drag to your vehicle – and your fuel economy is going to go down as a result.
It’s also worth mentioning the a tyre that’s 30% under-inflated is going to wear upto 45% quicker than a correctly inflated one (and that’s before you’ve even begun to think about safety issues). So, if you want to make sure you’re getting the most from a tank of fuel or your tyres but you don’t want to get a pressure gauge out before every drive, the TPS10 is a great time/money saver – giving you at-a-glance pressure info.
Oricom TPS10 vs Factory Fitted Pressure Monitoring
We’re not huge fans of factory-fitted tyre pressure monitoring systems here at Auto Hero. While they’re better than no monitoring, they do come up short in a lot of cases.
Firstly, they’re only going to tell you about the tyres on the four corners of your vehicle – meaning there’s no monitoring for your spare, and definitely no monitoring for anything you’re pulling.
Why are these things a problem?
Well, if you’ve had a puncture and you’ve gone to the trouble of jacking your car up at the side of the road and getting the damaged wheel/tyre off, the last thing you want to find is that your spare is flat. And, let’s be honest, when was the last time you checked it?
Secondly, flats on trailers are a disaster waiting to happen. While you can sometimes feel extreme pressure issues on your actual vehicle, it’s very easy to miss the signs of a flat on something you’re towing – and that’ll quickly become tyre failure leading to a more serious accident if you don’t realise quickly.
And, finally, if we haven’t beaten up on factory monitoring enough already, they can be really unreliable. Extreme heat’s known to throw up erroneous warnings on correctly inflated tyres – and sometimes, the sensors themselves just fail – meaning you’ll sometimes have a warning showing constantly, even when there isn’t one.
In short – a third-party monitoring system like the Oricom TPS10 is a fantastic investment.
Summary: Is the Oricom TPS10 Right for You?
Tyres can be costly – but they are absolutely essential for avoiding severe or fatal injuries on the road. For us, that means any system that’s going to help you monitor their real-time health is a solid investment.
The Oricom stands out because of its ease of use, the fact that no professional installation is required, and the sheer amount of info you get from the simple valve monitors and the neat little display unit. The fact that it’s solar-powered is great, too—it makes power saving easy—just stick it to the dash, and you’re good to go.
This feels like a no-brainer investment for any vehicle, but if you tow regularly, we’re going to go a step further and say it’s an essential purchase. Ours worked flawlessly out of the box, but Oricom takes customer care seriously, too, so if you do have any issues, you’ve got a solid one-year warranty and help just a call or email away.
Click here to learn more about the Oricom TPS10 and accessories.
If you join Oricom’s mailing list, you’ll get another 10% off their prices too.
Written By
Matt Banks
Matt is the founder of Autohero.com.au and has been hooked on cars and repairs ever since childhood.
A veteran in automotive since leaving school, Matt has completed his trade as a panel beater and is across all things with wheels.
His first car was a 1967 FORD XR Wagon followed by a string of collectable Holden’s.
Have a question for Matt? leave a comment below.