alo

I have been running tubeless sealant in tubes on my fat bike. I might get a small puncture which the sealant seals, maybe once a month. I might get a large puncture which it does not seal, maybe once a year.

When you do get that large puncture, you realize there are a lot of other small holes which the sealant has sealed, but leak again when you take the tube out. You may patch the largest, but leave the sealant to reseal the rest.

Recently I put a new tire on my bike, but continued using the previous tube, which had sealant in it. I changed it in the evening, and went for a ride for ten minutes as it was getting late. The next morning, it had lost about 75% of its air. So I pumped it up and went cycling. The next morning, it had lost maybe half its air. I pumped it up and went riding the next day. Each morning it had lost some air, but less than the day before. After about five days, it stopped leaking.

It probably has a larger hole, but I did not check as it was not leaking in the old tire. Small holes normally seal quickly. They can seal before the tire loses 5% of its pressure.

I am sharing this, as there may be others who think there sealant is not working. It may just need more time.

Iride01 

I thought there was a difference between sealant for tubes and sealant for tubeless tires. Or do some brands work for both?

cyccommute 

I don’t see why there should be a difference. The sealant is doing the same thing in both tubes and tires. Tubes might actually be easier to seal since the sealant is only sealing through a thin rubber membrane. In a tubeless tire, the sealant has to seal through rubber and fabric. The “loss” of sealant in a tubeless tire is probably due to the solvent moving though the rubber and getting sucked up by the fabric. There’s a lot of fabric so a lot of sealant can be sucked into it.

lateflyer 

After reading through this post a few times I now have questions since experiencing tire inflation problems riding home from work. Tires are becoming pretty weather checked and the original tubes still inside since I bought the bike used in 2012. I was planning on replacing tires and tubes especially since I had to inflate my back tire halfway home on a 10 mile ride which I attributed to a rough road with some large crushed rock. I knew there was sealant for tubeless tires but didn't consider sealant for tube tires. Is this something you should add when putting on new tubes or do you use it after experiencing a leak? I have always known and frowned at fix a flat users as you still have to fix your flat and the tire repair shops really love taking a tire off filled with that goo.
Thank you for tolerating my ignorance on this subject.
Chuck

cyccommute 

People are always blaming rocks for flats. I’ve had thousands of flats and not one of them has ever been due to a rock on the road. Even flats due to snake bites are due to low pressure, not due to the rock you might hit.

As to sealant in tubes, there are several products out there. Some people like them and others hate them. I, personally, fall into the latter camp. They are messy to deal with. They are heavy. They are difficult to fix if the sealant doesn’t work and, in my experience, the sealant seldom works. The sealant isn’t like Fix-Your-Flat, however. For tubes it’s usually contained in the tube.

prj71

I'm not sure why one goes through the trouble of putting tubeless sealant it tubes. Just set them up tubeless and be done with it.

Iride01 

No, I admit I'm really just imagining and supposing. However I thought I read on one container of tire sealant that it was not for use in tubes. I don't uses tubeless, nor do I need tubes with sealant. So it was just a "hmm, I wonder why they say that".

So in my ponderings about it, I came up with the tubeless tire only leaks through the tire to the air. So a plug forming in the tread will seal and hold. In a tubed tire it has to leak through the tube and tire. If the sealant only forms a plug in the tire, then the tube can still leak into the tire cavity.

But it's all supposing, and I've absolutely no experience with them. But as my fist response implied, if the sealant mfr doesn't state for tubes, then I would look for one that does say for tubes.

oldbobcat

Because not all tires and rims are made to go tubeless.

All leaks are not created equal. The sealant makes no promises. It is just a sealant.

gkamieneski

I don't see a lot of harm in trying it. I'm using Continental Revo sealant just now. It states that it can be used in tubulars and in tubes. If it doesn't perform well, I plan to try Caffelatex or OrangeSeal.

It's relatively easy to install these sealants using an oral medication syringe and a piece of plastic tubing that fits over the valve stem. My tubulars and clinchers all have replaceable valve stems. I've been using 40Ml in each tube and I have even had to reverse tire and tube on a clincher wheel and was able to do so without disturbing the installed sealant.

Time will tell how well this preventative method works. I do not notice the added weight or any performance issues.

tomtomtom123

if you have to deflate the tires often to get the bike to fit in a tight space during transport.
If you have to deflate the tires to get the wheels off the bike through narrow v brakes.
If you need to remove or exchange the tire several times per year.
I imagine it would be extremely messy if it were tubeless and with sealant. If the sealant was in a tube, it would be much cleaner without it spilling or leaking.

alo

The first brand I used was tubeless sealant. It is marketed primarily for cars and trucks, but I use it in bicycle tubes.

A new brand I started using lately, is written in Japanese or Chinese, so I don't know what it says. Again, I think it is marketed primarily for cars and trucks.

There are some brands sold as tubeless sealant. There are other brands sold for putting in tubes.

I don't mind experimenting. I try new things to see what I learn. I don't care if it is manufactured for tubeless or tubes. There are things I have learnt by doing this, that I did not know before.

alo

The downside with sealant, is when you have a large puncture, and do want to patch a tube, it is difficult to stop a little sealant leaking, which prevents the patch from sticking.

So I am tending to wait until I have a leak before adding sealant.

I had a slow leak in my car. I put sealant in it. My car had one tire with sealant, and the others without.

alo

Not all tires are suitable for tubeless.

It avoids the need for a compressor and air tank to seal the bead.

Sealant in tubeless tires can be much more messy when removing the tire.

I just replaced a tire, but reused the tube. The sealant is still in the tube. When the tube is not damaged, there is no mess. If I had tubeless, I would probably have to replace the sealant.

alo

Different people live and ride in different places. We also have different types of bikes and tires. We are not exposed to the same things. What may be ideal for someone, may not be ideal for another person.

For a while, I was thinking of not using sealant, because sealant leaking makes it difficult to patch large punctures. But I have small punctures which the sealant seals, maybe once a month, and large punctures which the sealant wont seal, maybe once a year. So I decided to continue using sealant. I may need to replace tubes more often, because of the difficulty in patching them. But to have flat tires much less often is a huge benefit, particularly when you have a flat tire far from home.

Troul 

If you are inflating to a high psi, try using sealant meant for a tubeless road tire. Or just try it anyway? Just try to stay with a product that wouldn't have conflict when/if laced to a different compound.

sweeks

"All bleeding eventually stops."

lateflyer 

Put new tires and tubes on today and discovered, after 9 years of ownership, that previous owner had actually put sealer in rear tube rather than patching the tube. This helped explained to me why my rear would lose air faster than my front during longer lapses of use.

RickJay

You don't have to like the product but check out the FAQ for Tube Sealant and Tire Sealant on the https://www.slime.com/us/faq.php

cyccommute 

Sealant has a shelf and use life. It doesn’t extend to 9 years.

prj71

You can do this with tubeless.

Why would you need to do this?

tomtomtom123

But if you deflate the tires and lay it on the side or put it in a box and it gets tumbled, I assume that during transport the tubeless sealant will leak out all over the place.

prj71

You assume wrong. The tire beads stay tight to the rim.

Bottom line...Running tubeless sealant in tubes is just silly.

gsa103

The big difference is that tube can move relative to tire carcass. So as the tube flexes and distorts the sealant plug gets knocked loose. With a tubeless tire, the carcass is thicker and the sealant plug is a bit more stationary due to the stability of the tire carcass. Sealant in tubes is definitely less effective than a proper tubeless system.

cyccommute 

With sealant in the tube, the plug is in the tube, not the tire. It doesn’t matter if the tube moves relative to the tire carcass.