[PHeller]

I've been following the homebrew/recipe thread, and mixing my own sealant for a few years now, with relatively good luck. Then again, I don't encounter many punctures.

When I do, it takes my sealant a few days to really seal up the leaks.

I've heard of some people reporting or even demonstrating sealant that seals near instantly.

What is it about certain sealant mixes that allows this?

Are they high in propylene glycol, or do they just use more fibers or crumbs? Is there something besides latex that can solidify more quickly, or is it just an agent that just makes regular old latex solidify that fast?

I've poured my latex out on the ground and it takes a long time to dry solid. Now granted, I water down my mix pretty good because I'm in the dry dry desert, but maybe I should be using more PG or Ammonia?

Any secret or suggestions on how to speed up my slow sealing sealant?

 

[Jayem]

I add automotive slime to my mix. Never have problems sealing, although some glycol does weep a bit from the puncture holes from time to time.

 

[Lone Rager]

I suggest: Less ammonia. It's what keeps the latex from congealing. More particulates. It's what slows the flow and allows the ammonia to evaporate and the latex to congeal. Don't water it down if you wan't it to work quickly and well.

 

[Rhialto]

I've read almost every post in the homebrew sealant forum and I have made quite a few batches of what is sometimes called Open Source Sealant (OSS). My testing with the OSS formulation involved riding a tire over a plank that had several large nails hammered through it. The OSS plugged the holes in under 30 seconds with pressure dropping about 5-10 psi (starting pressure 25-30). I tried this with Stans and had the same result. This is not in any way to say that this is how it performs on the trail - I have never had a puncture resulting from a nail - it's just to say that my experience was quite different from yours. Both OSS and Stans sealed surprisingly quickly.