Sealant maintenance

roadbike82

Hi

I switched to tubeless tires and rims last fall. Specifically Mavic Yksion Pro UST on Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST rims with Mavic sealant. The bike was mostly indoors from October through March as it was mounted on my Kickr Snap and used for Zwift.

As I started riding outdoors I felt I should check up on the sealant. I was worried because the bike had been indoors for months with 20-25degrees celcius and the front wheel had not ben spun for a long time since it's on the trainer. I thought the sealant might have dried.

Also I had noticed I had a slow leak from both tires, usually overnight the pressure was reduced by 50%.

Today I decided to unmount the tire from the rim and my suspicion was right. The tire was completely dry inside with the front wheel being "worst" with large lumps of dried sealant. Spent a good two hours unmounting the tires, cleaning them and the rims, putting them on again and filled up with new sealant (Muc Off this time, about 30ml). Also had a challenge using a pump to "pop" the tire on so I cheated with a co2 inflator.

As this was a whole lot of work I would love to hear suggestions and best practises of how to best make my sealant last as long as possible and how to best store the bike.

Do people top up with new sealant every now and then? How long should I expect this sealant to last? How fast does it dry? I don't want to risk having a flat because the sealant has dried up.

Thanks for any input.

lincolndave

I normally top up every 8 to 10 weeks just to be on the safe side, I inject the sealant through the valve ( removing the valve core ) this saves removing - unseating the tyre

cycleclinic

I have never checked sealant levels. When I puncture and no sealant comes out I plug the tyre inflate and when I am home inject more. Simples. Don't make this more complicated than it is.

orlok

thecycleclinic wrote:

I have never checked sealant levels. When I puncture and no sealant comes out I plug the tyre inflate and when I am home inject more. Simples. Don't make this more complicated than it is.

+1

lesfirth

thecycleclinic wrote:

I have never checked sealant levels. When I puncture and no sealant comes out I plug the tyre inflate and when I am home inject more. Simples. Don't make this more complicated than it is.

That is not maintenance. We have had this on another thread. Maintenance is something you do to keep something working. What you do is wait till the system fails and then fix it. The idea is that you keep the sealant in a condition that is fit for purpose and then the sealant fixes the puncture. I prefer to fix my bike in my nice warm home not at the side of the road in the pouring rain. That is why I use tubeless.

OP, there was another thread on this. I have not tried this but a method suggested was to leave the wheel with the valve at the bottom ,then remove the valve core and use something thin as a dipstick down the valve.

orlok

lesfirth wrote:

thecycleclinic wrote:

I have never checked sealant levels. When I puncture and no sealant comes out I plug the tyre inflate and when I am home inject more. Simples. Don't make this more complicated than it is.

That is not maintenance. We have had this on another thread. Maintenance is something you do to keep something working. What you do is wait till the system fails and then fix it. The idea is that you keep the sealant in a condition that is fit for purpose and then the sealant fixes the puncture. I prefer to fix my bike in my nice warm home not at the side of the road in the pouring rain. That is why I use tubeless.

OP, there was another thread on this. I have not tried this but a method suggested was to leave the wheel with the valve at the bottom ,then remove the valve core and use something thin as a dipstick down the valve.

In that case you check only the presence of the liquid but not the functioning of the latex. Better is then to use a little nail and point it into the tyre to check if the latex will stop the puncture.! :roll:

lesfirth

Orlok wrote:

lesfirth wrote:

thecycleclinic wrote:

I have never checked sealant levels. When I puncture and no sealant comes out I plug the tyre inflate and when I am home inject more. Simples. Don't make this more complicated than it is.

That is not maintenance. We have had this on another thread. Maintenance is something you do to keep something working. What you do is wait till the system fails and then fix it. The idea is that you keep the sealant in a condition that is fit for purpose and then the sealant fixes the puncture. I prefer to fix my bike in my nice warm home not at the side of the road in the pouring rain. That is why I use tubeless.

OP, there was another thread on this. I have not tried this but a method suggested was to leave the wheel with the valve at the bottom ,then remove the valve core and use something thin as a dipstick down the valve.

In that case you check only the presence of the liquid but not the functioning of the latex. Better is then to use a little nail and point it into the tyre to check if the latex will stop the puncture.! :roll:

I will ignore the raised eyebrows. This is a serious question. Does the ability of sealant to do its job deteriorate while staying liquid? Evidence to back up your opinion would be appreciated.

bigmitch41

You should refresh the sealent every 6 months.

roadbike82

Thanks for the input.

In that case I suppose I should clean the tire before and after each outdoor season and then top up every two months in between. How much do I top up with though, 15ml?

joey54321

Also, a point to note, I have heard CO2 inflators can affect the ability of the sealant to operate properly.

cycleclinic

I don't rely on sealant to fix a puncture. I have learnt the hard way you don't worry about the sealant. Is the tyre holding air yes then go ride. If you puncture and it does not seal, fine plug it and top up when you get home. You can't maintain you way out of this. I have tried and given up because frankly trying to is so much faff I went back to inner tubes for a while until I realised just carry plugs and stop relying on the sealant.

Let me be even more blunt if the point of tubeless is for you is the possibility of self sealing punctures go back to inner tubes. The point of tubeless is not sealing sealing punctures, that nice but the real point is not having to carry many tubes any more (I carry none) because I know I can get plugs to work and the lower pressures are nice too. Fixing a pinch flat last Saturday took minutes, reinflate and nurse it home for a wheel swap before continuing the audax. If I was not near home nurse it to the nearest shop and buy a new tyre. In fact the tyre was rideable but could only hold 15psi and no you can't boot this and fit a tube. If this happened on a tubed tyre it would be curtains unless you have another tyre. The fact there sealant in the tyre is to make sure it does not leak air over night not to help me out on the road.

Get your reasons for using tubeless right first and stop messing about doing stuff that bluntly just adds faff.

The pin censored test is actually the best test for testing sealant. It is those holes sealant actually fixes. Anything bigger is hit or miss hense carry plugs.

svetty

I wonder what proportion of roadies using tubeless carry and use worms/plugs? In my experience it's tiny. Most rely on the sealant and are then stuck if the hole doesn't seal. Maybe the tyre manufacturers need to educate users on the techniques of plugging although perhaps the technique and faff would put many off?

g00se

Going back to checking the sealant... The quickest way is to take the wheel off and give it a shake. If you can't hear it sloshing about, then it may be time to check it properly.

orlok

g00se wrote:

Going back to checking the sealant... The quickest way is to take the wheel off and give it a shake. If you can't hear it sloshing about, then it may be time to check it properly.

I think that will not be the quickest way, especially when it's a disk version and you can't hear shaking 30ml latex. :roll:

cycleclinic

If your using tubeless tyres you have to carry tyre plugs and not any old tyre plugs. The two kits that work are Maxalami or dynaplug. The other two main brands don't seem to be as effective.

If your relying on sealant your asking for trouble because it does not always fix the hole as as tubeless tyre users know punctures still happen. Those people relying sealant have two choices buy plugs and learn how to use them or go back to tubes.

On a proper tubeless setup getting a tube is a nightmare and does not help with a pinch puncture as the tyre cannot always be booted and the tyre will hernia.

Shaking the tyre does not tell you if there is sealant. Take Maxalami sealant you won't hear any sloshing about ieven of its there. Same goes for all the other sealants I have tried, I have never heard it slosh.

Alejandrosdog

Change every 6 months????

My tyres wear out every 3 months or less .....

pippi_langsamer-2

I'd be trying to pop the tyre on with CO2 first and THEN out the sealant in thru the valve. I was also under the impression that you should try avoid C02 with sealants as much as possible due to the effect of the gas on the compound.

Also, might be worth looking at Orange Seal Endurance, which I believe stays liquid considerably longer than other sealants, although I've never tried it yet...

cycleclinic

In flating the tyre with CO" to get it seated and let the gas out and inject sealant is fine. no harm done. Some sealant tolerate CO2. Sealants with high gycol content are better with CO2.