[tom traynor]

Having trouble getting ONE of my two RR's to seal. The water bubble test shows many fissures in the sidewall--none at the rim. I shake the wheel then lay it on the side leak side down for a few hours. Still no luck. The other is holding air fine.

Is it possible there is not enough sealant--I can't hear any sloshing, though some watery sealant come out of the valve when I loosen valve to fill with air. Alchemy built the wheels, so I don't know how much sealant Jeremy put in.. Or should I get another less porous example?

 

[redrock_z71]

Is it possible there is not enough sealant?

Yes, that is more then likely the problem..... especially if it hasnt had stans before. Add a little more sealant, air it up to about 40-45psi, and continue doing what you were.

 

[tom traynor]

Tried it several more times and finally took tire off. There was a small pool of sealant...the tire just seems to leak everywhere--at new places each time, including at the rim on last check--which it didn't before. This tire seems so flimsy and weighed 498 grams!--far lighter than the 540 grams listed. Maybe this is an extremely porous example that is not destine to be Stan's sealed? Like I said, the other tire is holding air fine--but has not been ridden....

I wonder if I should stay with RR's and try another tire example, or switch tire types--anybody try Bontrager Tubeless readys? Is there a better sealant--say from Geax or Bontrager? I appreciate any help on this...

 

[Jdub]

Tried it several more times and finally took tire off. There was a small pool of sealant...the tire just seems to leak everywhere--at new places each time, including at the rim on last check--which it didn't before. This tire seems so flimsy and weighed 498 grams!--far lighter than the 540 grams listed. Maybe this is an extremely porous example that is not destine to be Stan's sealed? Like I said, the other tire is holding air fine--but has not been ridden....

I wonder if I should stay with RR's and try another tire example, or switch tire types--anybody try Bontrager Tubeless readys? Is there a better sealant--say from Geax or Bontrager? I appreciate any help on this...

I've used Stans with four Schwalbe tires: 1 Big Jim, 1 Albert and 2 Jimmys

The two Jimmys were Double Defense and seemed very porous to me. The sidewalls bubbled with sealant for several minutes, but finally did seal up and held very well. I air up to about 35 - 40lbs and just rotate the tire up and down and side to side then flip the tire over and do the other side.

You might just have a really porous tire by chance though...

 

[B R H]

Try cleaning the tire. Don't give up!

Some tires have a mold release on the inside that prevents the sealant from sticking like it should. Scrub it with a good brush and hot soapy water or some other cleanser. Also be sure to shake your supply of sealant very well to mix all the sealing particles. Add 100 grams (~1.5 scoop) for most new tires, maybe more. Rotate the wheel once to spread the sealant around a bit. Inflate the tire and then "wave" the wheel around to get sealant everywhere. Imagine a pool of sealant in your tire and try to visualize it's flow. There used to be a video on Stan's website that better gets the idea across.

There is no reason to have to leave your wheel in one position for more than a few seconds (certainly not minutes or hours!). If it is still losing air, put some water and dishsoap in a spray bottle and thoroughly spray the outside to see where the leaks are so you can concentrate your efforts there.

If all this fails, you most likely have some bad or old sealant. I am just barely able to finish off a full quart of Stan's sealant before it coagulates. Be careful how you store it (room temp or cooler) and give it a good shaking now and then. I've read of people using a blender to grind up the latex chunks that eventually form, but I've never tried it. I haven't had it happen yet, but I'm sure there is the occassional bottle of bad sealant (wrong amount of some ingredients or missing ingredients, etc.).

I have yet to find a tire that won't work tubeless and I've tried quite a few.

 

[zippo]

they WILL seal!

I was having a similar problem with RR 2.25's - the front sealed up pretty easily, and the rear just kept leaking, over a period of inflating and reinflating every 6 hours or so for 3 days. Finally I pulled the rim strip off to check for any narrow spots, but it looked fine. I soaked it in soapy water, reinstalled, added 2 scoops of sealant, inflated to 40psi, and still watched air escape through pinhole leaks. No amount of shaking and laying the wheel on its side seemed to help - nor did a one hour ride. The psi kept dropping to about 10. As a last gasp I dumped another 1/2 scoop in, coated the bead with sealant as well, put on a hockey helmet with a plexi face shield, and set my compressor's limit to 55 psi. At 55 psi in the Racing Ralph latex started squirting through the pinholes in the sidewall like silly string, and soon sealed! I let it sit for about a half hour and then lowered the psi to 38, and it is still holding 5 days later. I can't say that this would be a recommended install as a blowout in your face at 55psi could really mess you up, and some might say the kevlar bead will stretch, but it worked, and is working, for me. I've used Stans with alot of tires, and RR's were by far the most difficult to seal.