Sealant question

[NickGM]

Hi,

So I've got some Rapide gravel wheels, Stan's sealant and panaracer gravel kings (38mm) - tubeless compatible. I put the tyres on, gave the sealant a good shake a slotted some through the valve (using a syringe), closed it all up and pumped up the tyre. But after about 30 mins or so the tyre is pretty much deflated again. There seems to be patches where the sealant is sneaking through between the rim and tyre.

Does anyone know what I can do to sort this out? 

Thanks

[BaGearA]

Brand new tyres?

 

I've found that on most tyres the sealent needs a ride or two to form a 'skin' inside the tyre to make it airtight

 

Brand new tyres

 

 

 

... If you're getting air bubbles from the nipples the rim tape probably got nicked somewhere, I've done it with careless tyre levering before

[RocknRolla]

The old soapy water trick works wonders. 
i use diluted clean green in a spray bottle to identify leaks. If it comes out the spoke nipples its rim tape or valve. 

[Butterbean]

Yeah if it's between the rim and tyre it sounds like it hasn't seated the bead properly. It might appear inflated but you gotta hear that nice crack of the bead seating, on both sides...

[NC_lurker]

Yeah if it's between the rim and tyre it sounds like it hasn't seated the bead properly. It might appear inflated but you gotta hear that nice crack of the bead seating, on both sides...

I'd second this. Make sure you pump the tyre up well above the pressure you'd ride it at, to get it to seat properly.

[vanniri]

At risk of not directly answering your question, but certainly improving the effectiveness of the sealant - use the kitchen grater to grate some polysterene in the tyre or alternatively use a peper grinder and grind some pepper corns into the sealant. 

[NickGM]

Thanks guys.  I did get a "pop" on both tyres when inflating. Will check for leaking through the spoke nipples and will try inflating a bit higher and then going for a spin. 

[porqui]

Thanks guys.  I did get a "pop" on both tyres when inflating. Will check for leaking through the spoke nipples and will try inflating a bit higher and then going for a spin. 

 

 

Aaah but it needs to be TWO pops per tyre.

 

What are you using to inflate the tyre??

Edited July 26, 2020 by porqui

[DieselnDust]

also make sure the tyre bead seat is clean on the rim. when fitting outside its easy to get a few grains of sand in there that will cause a problems with leaks till the sealant gets spun around to do its job

[Grease_Monkey]

Just check the rim tape. Rapide is awesome, and I don't want to throw any shade at all here. But I also bought a new wheelset and had the same issue - the rim tape was not applied propperly and it leaked air. I just a reapplied and it worked 100%.

[capediver]

Guys, you all missed the obvious...Panaracer Gravel Kings.......had the same issues, patience, my friend, patience......add the sealant, pop the beads.....(all GK owners need to know how you did this with new tyres...how big is your compressor volume tank?....how big are your forearms if you don't have a compressor....what's your relationship with your petrol station attendants now if you don't have either of the first 2?.....) and swing that tyre round to make sure the sealant gets everywhere, leave it overnight at over pressure eg 5bar, if its still 5bar in the morning, drop the pressure and go ride, you're lucky! If not, rinse and repeat.....

[Alouette3]

Another thing to keep in mind and an issue with brands like Continental in the past, make sure you thoroughly wash the tire first to get ride of all the oily / silicone? residue in the rubber that is used to preserve its shelf life. Find it tends to make the sealant bead up and not stick nicely to the rubber surface and seal up.

[Tomik]

Got the same issue with the exact same tyre. Had sealant leaking through the join/seam in the sidewall at first. Now it loses air mid ride everytime. I think it needs more sealant and to be laid down on its side overnight so the sealant coats the sidewall too. No problem with the 43c on the front so might even be a faulty tyre.

[michaelbiker]

One other place to check is the valves. Had a similar issue recently where I hadn’t screwed the valves in tight enough - they were cheap valves so they didn’t seat so well in the rim. I thought at first the tape was to blame because the air appeared to be leaking out the little drainage holes in the rim.

 

After a bit more torque and a couple of rides the leaks stopped and all was good. Soapy water is a must to seat the tires properly too. Especially if they were super tight to get on in the first place.

[CAAD4]

At risk of not directly answering your question, but certainly improving the effectiveness of the sealant - use the kitchen grater to grate some polysterene in the tyre or alternatively use a peper grinder and grind some pepper corns into the sealant.

Would that be regular, or Madagascar pepper corns?

[King_Crispy]

Just check the rim tape. Rapide is awesome, and I don't want to throw any shade at all here. But I also bought a new wheelset and had the same issue - the rim tape was not applied propperly and it leaked air. I just a reapplied and it worked 100%.

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