joegoersch

I have Kinlin XR31t tires which I'm running tubeless with G-one Microskin tires. Several months ago , during the early summer, I was losing pressure and had to inflate them every week or even more often. I took the tires off, checked the valves, re-taped and filled with sealant. No real improvement right away. But I just kept inflating weekly. Then in the fall, something improved, only needed to inflate every two weeks. Now, even better. Just like tubed tires. No more than every three weeks.


It's been about 9 months since I last put sealant in. I have read that the sealant dries out and am thinking that I should add some for flat protection, but I'm afraid if I deflate to add the sealant, then the seal will break and I'll be worse off than if I hadn't added the sealant.


Thoughts ?

datlas 

I am no expert in such matters but I believe the correct answer is use the zip-tie dipstick to check sealant level.

jimincalif

Are you just going to add sealant through the valve? I've never had a problem losing a seal when doing so. I imagine after 9 months you do need to add some.

joegoersch

I've never heard of the zip-tie method. I was going to add through the valve. In the past, whenever I've let all the air out, the seal has broken and I've needed CO2 to get the tire to seal again. But maybe after 9 months its stuck pretty good...

jimincalif

I've not had a problem deflating/inflating either G-One All Arounds or Pro Ones. Of course it might depend on the rims too, it seems the overall tubeless experience varies based on specific tire/rim combinations. I've used a bit of derailleur cable as a dipstick for my tires, I cannot get my smallest zip ties thru the narrowest part of the valve.

Roadlizzard

I have been running Mavic UST's for over a year. Once a month I check the sealant (Orange Seal) buy removing the valve core then using the Orange Seal dip stick. Takes just a few minutes to check then to inflate.

biker128pedal

If one keeps adding sealant every few months as it dries will the tire keep gaining weight and just about fill up?

GlennR

I have 32mm tubeless and rode it for 2 winters without adding sealant. Last November i decided to remove the tires, clean the inside and add new sealant. Never had a problem but i was told to add every 6 months, but since it's a winter bike, i'll add at the beginning of the winter.

TimothyH

The first step is to baseline - check using the dipstick method when the tires are first mounted and sealant first added.

Then check again monthly or whenever you clean the chain.

You will know when to add sealant.


-Tim-

noodle soup

It would take a huge amount of sealant, and the tires would probably be worn out long before that ever happened.

deepakvrao

I have a set with those rims, and about 25% of the times, or maybe more, my Schwalbe Pro Ones get deseated when I deflate. I have a compressor though.

FlashBazbo

I tend to be pretty meticulous about keeping my sealant levels at the recommended level. I have yet to have a month when I didn't have to add at least a little sealant. (And, if you believe the posts on this forum, most people probably wouldn't even check the tires that often, much less top them up.) BUT, to answer your question -- most of the weight of sealant is the water. When the water evaporates (the reason for adding more), most of the weight is gone, too. When you add new, the tire gains weight, but the amount of weight gain is pretty tiny. The "dried" sealant, in my experience, is a thin skin on the inside of the tire -- sufficiently light that it would be difficult to scrape out and weigh.

It would take YEARS -- maybe decades -- of refilling for the dried sealant to just about fill up the tire. The more common problem is that it dries and plugs the valve.

noodle soup

I've seen Stan's booger up like this

JohnJ80

I paid pretty close attention to this since I've been running sealants in tubeless clinchers and tubeless tubulars on road bike for about 10 years now. Typical sealants like Orange, Stans, etc... do dry out. Depends on the weather and humidity it seems, but it's about 3 months to 6 months for me.

When the new Finishline sealant came out, I switched to that. It doesn't dry out (also cleans up with water) and you pretty much put it in there to last the entire time the tire is mounted. This has worked well for me and has performed just as well as the other more traditional sealants I've used but without the sealant build up and without the need to be checking it. For me, with multiple bikes and wheel sets, this has been a big time saver.

But to directly answer your question, I'd say that at 9 months you're due.

J.

joegoersch

Thanks, I'll try that ! Great to know.

NoWhammies

I have/had Stan's in my front and back tyres. My bike hung from the front wheel from the end of September to the start of March. Thinking I needed more sealant, I took my bike off the wall and took off the front tyre.

Splat! A whole bunch of Stan's hit the pavement. No bogger either.

I used the dip stick to check the level of Stan's in my rear tyre and the level was just fine. So I didn't bother doing anything with the rear. I swapped in Orange Seal for the front tyre/wheel now.

FlashBazbo

Wow. That's nasty. I think I will stay with Orange Seal.

aclinjury

Let's assume we're using Stans (since it's pretty popular one), and we're using 2 oz of Stans (the recommended amount). If you let this amount dried out, and it could dry out in 3 months during summer time, and then you add another 2 oz and then let that dry out too. Well, when you open the tire up, you will definitely see a few bigass Stans boogers. When latex coagulate and dry out, it expands much bigger in size (that's how it seals holes). The additional problem is that the booger clumps may prevent new sealant from flowing into that area effectively so that if a hole were to happen at this area, it may not be sealed by the new sealant due to lack of flow. Yep, it has happened to me where fresh sealant wouldn't seal a hole, and it turned out there was a booger blocking the new sealant

noodle soup

I haven't seen this happen recently, but it was common with Stan's original formula. They have probably changed it since then.

FlashBazbo

I have never used Stan's and I have never had a sealant booger. Thickest residue with Orange Seal has been a layer about 2mm thick at the bottom of a tire that sat unused for a couple months.

Based on your comment and noodle soup's, I think we can assume I'm not using Stan's. Ever.

WhyFi

I'm pretty sure that's a ginsing root that someone dug up on a ride.



On a serious note, mtb tires need much more sealant than road tires, so seeing boogers this size isn't too surprising.

WhyFi

As far as the OP, I've gotta say that I'd be a little concerned about my tires not staying bead-locked when deflated. Knowing that they'll stay on the rim during a rapid deflation is somewhat comforting and coming off so easily would also make me concerned about burping. Of course, this is without any first-hand experience - maybe my concern would evaporate within the first ten miles, I dunno.

Dancing Skeleton

So I started using tubeless (Bontrager Paradigm Elite wheels, Schwalbe Pro One tires, Bontrager sealant) late last year.
I filled each tire with ~1 oz of sealant, and added ~1/2 oz after a couple of months.
The wheels have been hanging on hooks since November.
I checked one recently (took the tire off of the rim part-way) and there was still plenty of liquid sealant inside, no dried hunks anywhere.
Re-seating was a PITA, since the liquid sealant got everywhere, but with a charger hand pump, I got it done.
I added more sealant, and have done several rides since.

Peter

DrIsotope

I had a 700x35 Hutchinson Overide last 13+ months, had sealant refreshed probably 10 times, 50mL a pop. So at least half a liter, and when I took the tire off to toss it, it weighed about 70g more than a new one. Latex doesn't weigh a whole lot, and the sealant itself is apparently about 85% liquid that either evaporates or escapes through punctures.

NoWhammies

So am I correct in thinking that Orange Seal doesn't create the same kind - if any - boogers that Stan's creates?