VegasJen

This may not be the best section but let's see what happens.

I had a flat on my back tire the other day. I think it was mainly old or too little sealant. The tire had been sealing for the past three months. So I pulled the tire off and checked it. I ended up finding two pieces of wire in the tire (steel belted auto tire wire, common puncture for me), but nothing particularly bad.

I pulled that out and put the tire back on the wheel. *Same wheel, same tire*

I got the tire back inside the track but I couldn't get the bead to pop back on the shelf. I could inflate the tire to 120psi and the tire would even hold air for a few minutes. I mounted the wheel back on the bike and rode it around my drive, took it off and leaned on the tire. Everything I could think of but at least a portion of the bead would never pop back up on the shelf. I put it up to 120psi because that's all my compressor will do.

Any suggestions?

Koyote

I called it back in this thread. Post #27.

Since the OP has proudly announced that she ignores my posts, I'll let someone else explain what she's doing wrong.

Iride01 

If it's a slow enough leak at that point, then try a floor pump. I can get to a way higher pressure with a floor pump than my air compressors. The only thing they have going for them is they can put out more volume of air faster.

CFM vs PSI. Compressors can give you more CFM. Floor pumps can give more PSI than the typical shop air compressor. Many shop compressors only able to go from 125 - 150 PSI. While a 200 pound person should easily be able to get a floor pump to over 150 PSI. Though the size of the floor pumps cylinder/piston does make a difference.

But then again, a 120 pound person will have a issue trying to get a floor pump anywhere close to even 100 PSI.

VegasJen

well, I'm somewhere in between that 120 and 200 pounds but maybe I'll give that a try! Thanks.

Barry2 

Any time I remove a tubeless tire to replace it, I scrub the rim squeaky clean with water and a stiff brush.
If the same tire is going back on, it also gets scrubbed clean. Especially the bead.

Barry

Edit: if your bead still won’t jump up on to the shelf
1. air down to about 30psi
2. pull sidewall away from rim where it won’t jump
3. add a little water with dish soap in it to the non-jump
4. air up to your riding psi, mine is 80psi
5. go make yourself coffee and leave it alone for 10-20mins

VegasJen

I did clean out all the old sealant but I can't claim it's "squeaky clean".

Iride01 

The other thing to consider is if there is rim tape on the bead seat that might be keeping the bead from getting up on that shelf, as you called it. And I think a lot of rims made expressly for tubeless tires have a bump just before the tire can get up onto the bead seat. So that too might be an issue if there is rim tape on that bump.

However, if there is rim tape on that area, then first try something to make the tire bead and bead seat slippery in that area. Or even on the entire bead of the tire.. Something water based like Astroglide might be appropriate for a tubeless tire!

shelbyfv

IMO, a routine solution that someone can accomplish successfully (patch tube) has merit over one that requires more research than someone is apparently willing to do (convert to tubeless.)

SoSmellyAir

In addition to the above suggestions, I would try rotating the tire relative to the wheel to see if the problematic spot is with the wheel or the tire.

Barry2 

Thats not right….. the valve has to be centered in the manufacturers name !

Thems the rules (#40)

Barry

Duragrouch

May or may not be relevant: Not sure if the tire bead is not popping out far enough to seal due to not enough pressure or airflow. If so: I have encountered this when trying to inflate a tubeless trailer tire that's come off the bead, even with high flow from compresser tank. I put a ratchet strap around the whole tire in the middle of the tread, tighten it, and it pushes the tire beads out onto the rim bead seat enough that I get a good enough seal. I'm careful, only putting in minimum air to seat the tire, then remove the strap. This might work for the bike tire.

icemilkcoffee 

As Barrt2 says, soapy water is the key. Get some soapy water on the bead of the tire and try again.

surak

Use soapy water to lubricate the bead, and blast a CO2 cartridge in to get air in quickly or use a booster like the Airshot canister. Note that sealant can react to CO2 so only use CO2 before refilling the sealant, or let out the air once the tire is sealed and pump normal air back inside.

If you only have trouble with one side of the bead, you can also put an inner tube inside to get that side seated, then take the tube out from the other side.

SoSmellyAir

OP is having trouble seating a tubeless tire at home with an air compressor at 120 psi; not sure how CO2 or AirShot would help.

surak

For one thing, an AirShot can go up to 160 PSI. And the rush from a CO2 cartridge may be faster than an air compressor.

Trakhak

Congratulations.

SoSmellyAir

I did not know that about the AirShot but I am having trouble fathoming a CO2 cartridge flowing a higher CFM than a compressor.

Duragrouch

Depends if the compressor is just regulated pressure directly from the pump, or if it has a large storage tank that can bank a lot of air and then dispense quickly.

VegasJen

OK, guys. I am seriously stumped here.

After the last discussion, I have since pulled the tire back off, removed the tape I just put on a few months ago and applied new MucOff tape. I cleaned the living snot out of the inside of the wheel while the tape was off, removed all traces of the old sealant and tape glue. I put the tire back on and even applied a light water-based lubricant. I have aired the tire back up to 120psi several times. I've inflated, deflated it, applied a little extra lubricant, ridden 10-12 miles. Bounced it, kicked it, leaned on it, cursed at it, sweet talked it, prayed to the cycling gods. Everything I can think of and it just won't pop the rest of the bead on. There's more on than before, but probably still a good 6-8" on one side that just refuses to jump up on that shelf.

The tire will hold enough air that I can ride 4-5 miles at a time before losing enough to go soft (haven't tried any further than that) but it does eventually bleed down. No surprise there.

I'm at a loss.

Duragrouch

Is the part that is not seating, always the same part of the tire? If so, perhaps an inconsistency there. If not, unseated part moves around the tire, my only guess is the tire bead diameter is just plain smaller than it should be, although one would think, if you can mount the tire, it shouldn't be too small. Just a wild-@ss guess, but perhaps putting a tube in there, then inflate to low pressure, and putting a tire lever where it's not seated to pull up on it? If it did seat, then I would ride it a while with the tube to let it stretch out a bit. Or maybe do that if the bead does not seat, again, just to try to stretch the tire out a bit. Is it a steel wire or kevlar (foldable) bead?

Crankycrank

One more thing to try is boil a pot of water, turn off the heat and throw in the tire for around 5 minutes. Quickly start mounting it and hopefully the heat will expand the tire just a tiny bit and also make it more pliable to seat itself on the rim. Worth a try.

Duragrouch

That may also be easier if you coil the tire like a bandsaw blade, so 3 loops 1/3 the diameter, unless the tire is easily foldable.

I really think this is a bead wire sizing issue, not pliability of the tire.

Troul 

when the tire gets soft enough where you can push in the sidewall close to the hook/bead, try to machinate the sidewall of the problem area. You might need to feed it air pressure at the same time, so use a compressor or a high volume feeding pump. Massaging the hook into the bead like so has worked for me WRT tires that dont want to seat.

VegasJen

I can't tell it's always the same part. My guess is that this part continues to be a problem part. I got more to seat today than before. I just seem to have a few stubborn inches that refuse to comply.
Do you think a heat gun would work as well? I have a heat gun. I agree with the principle but I could apply heat more locally with a heat gun.
It's easily foldable. But recall, I've had this tire on this wheel before. The tire is only about 4 months old. I don't put a ton of miles on this bike so it's still fairly low use. There is still some casting flash on the wear surface.

Crankycrank

A heat gun might work but there is a much greater risk of overheating/damaging the tire and harder to get the entire tire heated before the parts already heated by the heat gun start to cool down.