Exploding inner tube and track pump

richard36
richard36 Posts: 346
edited April 2012 in Road buying advice
I pumped up my front wheel this evening. I have a fairly cheap track pump and according to the guage the pressure was about 115 psi. About 60 minutes later (and whilst the bike wasn't being ridden) the front inner tube exploded and there is now a 6 inch tear.

I'm assuming I must have pumped up the tyre too much as there was no evidence on the tyre to suggest there was anything sharp which would pop the inner tube. That got me thinking about the track pump and whether the guage might be faulty. Do guages on track pumps go faulty and if so how do you know that when you are putting lets say 120 psi into the inner tube (according to the reading on the guage) that you are in fact putting that amount in and no more and no less?

Are there track pumps that have guages that are always accurate?

Thanks

Comments

  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    More likely the tyre wasn't seated properly and slid off, or a duff tube.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,047
    as above, incorrectly seated tyre, or faulty/worn/damaged rim/tyre, most likely the tube was nipped between tyre and rim

    to *explode*, a tube has to be outside the tyre
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • pilot_pete
    pilot_pete Posts: 2,120
    Richard36 wrote:
    there is now a 6 inch tear
    if you mean in the tyre, then that was a defect in the carcass that allowed the tube to penetrate with explosive force. Perhaps something like a shard of glass embedded in the tread had damaged the tyre and reduced its structural integrity and when you pumped it up the pressure was enough to tear the plies apart...

    PP