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Six months into Tublessness and a tiny pinprick hole is just visible in my Spesh Captain Sworks tire. I've spun the tire to try to get the solution in there, but air just keeps on coming out and it's not sealing up.
What do I do?
Put a patch on the inside - usually works!
Try some fresh sealant - the crystals may have clumped together so there's none left to seal the hole.
I'd patch it, you can get special tubeless patches, others recommend motorcycle tyre repair patches, I just use normal tyre repair patches & they've worked fine for me.
sealant has probably dried up as suggested unless you've topped it off recently?
If its just air coming out then your jizz has probably dried up, top it up, then get the hole towards the bottom of the wheel and get the all the milk near to the hole, should then be enough to block the hole..
i'll try patching.
I have Park quick patches and normal inner tube patches with glue. which should i use?
do i need to clean the sealant away from the patching area?
and should i take the tire bead off just near the hole? i don't have access to the compressor that my mate has to get the tire on to the rim.
if it doesn't work then do i need to put in new sealant? do i add, or clean out the old and replace? will i need to compressor again?
so many questions...
Do you have any sealant in the tyre? Over summer worth checking every few weeks. More thorns and drier warmer conditions had me topping it up every month compared to once in 6 months over the darker/colder period.
Failing that, patch it up.
more specific please.
how do i know if there's sealant in there? take small part of bead off, if there's nothing sloshing around then there is none??
how do i 'top it up'?
how do i know if there's sealant in there? take small part of bead off, if there's nothing sloshing around then there is none??
Spot on!
how do i 'top it up'?
If you've not got one, go and get a big bottle of Stan's fluid, slosh a bit more in the tyre and you're done!
I use normal inner tube patches and glue. Area needs to be clean and dry for the patch to stick & I usually roughen it up with sandpaper too (ala normal puncture). Normally I'd take the tyre off to do this, wash it out before patching, & so use new sealant. Unless the sealant is new, then I try to drain it out to reuse.
You 'shouldn't' need a compressor to do put the tyre on (though I own one for exactly this reason 😉 ), have you seen the ghetto inflater threads?
^ sealant first!
you can probably unscrew the valve core and squirt some in through there with a syringe. saves a lot of dicking about getting the tyre seated again.
edit: if you don't know about any of this stuff then it's highly likely your sealant has dried up ( 6 months! ). just spaff some in there!
If you can take the valve core out, I would just try topping up the sealant first... Can you hear it sloshing around at all??
ok will give the sealant topup a try. how will i know if it's sealing the hole?
do i put in a couple of cups-worth?
does it dry out over time?
you'll see it bubble a bit ( tyre needs to be inflated and the spaff needs to cover the hole ).
RTFM ( sorry - you had that coming )
yes!
[url= http://weldtite.co.uk/products/detail/cycle-tubeless-tyre-outside-repair-kit ]also, get one of these, for when you're out and get a proper big hole[/url]
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-x-Syringes-With-Nibs-For-Glue-Card-making-Pinflair-Silicone-/290883879739?pt=UK_BOI_Medical_Lab_Equipment_Medical_Supplies_Disposables_ET&hash=item43ba07c33b you want to use these for putting sealant in throught the valve ,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TYRE-PUNCTURE-REPAIR-KIT-WITH-10-BLACK-TYRE-STRINGS-AND-REMA-TIP-TOP-GLUE-/141402536588?pt=UK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Wheels_tyre_Trims_Trims_ET&hash=item20ec3f7a8c , and this kit, you can plug a 5mm + hole pretty easily .
Don't take the tyre off to put a patch on , that's just plain crazy !
I would be trying DrP's method if its a pinprick hole. Shake the wheel, if no 'sloshing' there is no fluid. Get some fluid and a syringe and hollow needle, inject fluid into the existing pinprick hole. Rotate wheel so hole is at bottom and gravity helps fluid seal the hole.
Less faff, no mess. 🙂
[url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/drps-quick-fix-tubeless-system ]Original post with video about it here[/url]
peepingtom - MemberDon't take the tyre off to put a patch on , that's just plain crazy !
Don't take it all the way off- but you can generally do the job just by unbeading part of the tyre, near to the repair.
Standard patches with a tube of vulcanising goo work well. Official tubeless repairs just let you do it from outside but are more expensive.