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I put some more stans in my tyres yesterday as it went flat. Should I clean the gunk out first to avoid the wheel becoming heavy? Also how long between toping up is normal? Presuming no punctures.
If it’s on the bead of the tire then you might find it impedes a good seal and makes it harder to get it to inflate.
Otherwise wouldn’t bother aside from removing the biggest clumps.
Exactly what this guy above said
Thank so I'll clean it a bit next time.
Oh and to top up every 4-8 months depending on storage etc.
Plus add more for off road and obvs if a larger diameter wheel
Saw a neat tip the other day, use a zip tie as a dipstick through the valve to check how much sealant is still in the tyre. Obviously you need to leave the tyre standing with the valve at the 6 o'clock position for a while before doing that.
Been way less than 4 months since I set up tubeless and I couldn't hear any sealant sloshing in the tire. Bikes stored indoors as is the bottle of sealant.
First set up of new tyre doesn’t tend to last long, as sealant used up to seal bead and porous tyre carcass. I’ve found the top up lasts a lot longer. Swapped over a tyre that had been on my plus bike for over a year with only one top up and it still had liquid sealant in it.
Never bother to take tyre off to clean it unless I’m changing it anyway. Don’t scrub inside of tyre either as you’ll dislodge any clumps that are sealing punctures you never knew you had.
If the goop is dry I don’t think it weighs much. So I only scoop out the bigger chunks.
The dried goop inside the carcass is mostly going to be sealing existing problems so removing it is going to simply cost you more sealant when you set back up.
As above, raggy torn sealant on the bead could be a future problem for reinflation so might be best removed but I think is probably most likely if the ‘dribble into bead’ method has been used previously. It’s not a problem I’ve ever encountered, personally, but then my tubeless tyres tend to stay in place until they’re knackered unless I need to get at the inside of the wheel.
I’ve never removed a tyre to top up sealant. That’s what removable valve cores are for.