Tubeless Repair

[Rudo]

I recently had a conversion to Tubeless, and its been great sofar except for all the Stans leaking all over the airport floor after deflating for the flight!

(I had alot of amused and not so amused onlookers while the white stuff dribbled everywhere I went)

 

So some advice please

1) What do I do to get the tubeless working as it should again?

 

2) When flying, do you not deflate the tires or only deflate them partially?

 

3) Is this allways a problem with deflation or only in the begining?

 

4) If you do happen to get a puncture...not sure if this ever happerns...how do you repair it?

 

5) Is it easy to do the conversion yourself? I only had one done at the LBS as the other tire was still in good condition. Also, it would be nice to understand the mechanics and what one need to buy or use for future reference or is it more complicated than this?

 

Thanks 

 

 

[Jules]

1) you need a compressor. You want to blow the tyre up with speed so it seals. A normal pump doesn't do this well.

 

2) I think the tyre deflation thing is a myth. Either lie and tell the airline your tyres are deflated, or explain that they are low-pressure tyres full of goo.

 

3) you should try to avoid total deflation of tubeless tyres.

 

4) small punctures are repaired automatically with slime. Hold the wheel so that the slime travels to the hole. Larger holes can be repaired with plugs while still inflated.

 

5) it's really easy (and cheap) to do the conversion. All you need is two BMX tubes, a compressor (one at every petrol station) and slime.

[TYGA]

The cargo hold of a plane is pressurised, you don't need to deflate wheels.

Adding "goo" to a tubeless tire can be tricky at first but you  soon get the hang of how to do it.

The WWW is full of info of how to go about all / most aspects of converting / maintaining (which should be minima) but best is to polish up on the theory and then just get stuck in yourself.  

If you dont have a compressor an inflation bomb does the trick nicely, alternatively I have also had success with a floor / workshop pump.

 

[wackwack]

I have tried bombs to inflate a couple times - i have never got it to work.

 

The petrol station is the best & the guys are always willing to help. They have never seen such things.

[jmaccelari]

This "deflate your tyres for a flight" nonsense really

p's me off! You don't need to do it. If you went into space

you'd change the pressure by 1 bar (about 1 atmosphere).

In an unpressurised hold (very rare nowadays) the difference

is a fraction of this (about .3 bar).

 

Do you reckon your tyres will EVER pop?!!!

 

[NotSoBigBen]

I always use a bomb (expensive but effective), trick is to open it full in one go so you get the max pressure initially ..... also good to use one of those inflators that screws onto the valve and not those crappy push on types.

 

In fact done it just last night!

 

Refilling the sealant is pretty easy, I deflate the tyre but keep it off the floor (just hang it from something ...). Remove the core from the valve put some additional sealant in, put the core back and inflate with a floor pump and Bob's (you get the picture ...)

[Rudo]

This "deflate your tyres for a flight" nonsense really
p's me off! You don't need to do it.

 

Agree! But some airport peronel obviously don't.

 

Thanks for all the info though.

 

I'll try refilling the sealant and inflating with a Co2 cartrige. I read somewhere that Co2 leaks through the tyre walls and should be replaced with air or it'll deflate in a day but I don't know if this is true. Suppose I'll see.

 

Once I've read a bit more on the theory I'll also try the front wheel conversion.

 

By the sounds of things, once its done and working, one does not need to worry about redoing anything too often though.

 

[Marius]

I use a floor pump, takes less than 5mins, you just need to practice.

[rock]

just stans'ed 4 wheels yesterday, all inflated with a floor pump......and only used the soapy water trick on one of them......Pump bru!

[downhilldemon]

a bomb works fine with my tires any haven't had them deflate yet.

the airport personel are really anal, but you dont have to totally defate your tire. they just want it low enough so that they can compress the tire and feel the rim. the tire shouldn't loose its seal then.

 

[specialized7]

Agreed that you do not need to deflate for your flight.Bombs work well, but tend to mess up the Stan's or what ever sealant you have.A very clever little device that you could probably pick up at any LBS is made by Mavic.It converts the thin valve(i can never remember if it is shrader or the other one )so that you can easily use the pump at your local filling station.

[mountain_lion]

I have always used my floor pump, no problem if the rim strip is clean and installed correctly.

 

There are how-to videos on Stan's site

http://www.notubes.com/support_movies.php

 

 

 

[Rudo]

Refilling the sealant is pretty easy' date=' I deflate the tyre but keep it off the floor (just hang it from something ...). Remove the core from the valve put some additional sealant in, put the core back and inflate with a floor pump and Bob's (you get the picture ...)[/quote']

 

Thanks for the advise. A friend told me he refills sealant with a syringe from the side between the rim and tyre which I guess could also be worth trying. Any experience with this?

[TNOSE_E]

Refilling the sealant is pretty easy' date=' I deflate the tyre but keep it off the floor (just hang it from something ...). Remove the core from the valve put some additional sealant in, put the core back and inflate with a floor pump and Bob's (you get the picture ...)[/quote']

 

Thanks for the advise. A friend told me he refills sealant with a syringe from the side between the rim and tyre which I guess could also be worth trying. Any experience with this?

 

Pop 3 nipple spaces of the tyre off the rim and pour the sealant in while holding the wheel off the ground. Helps having 4 hands or a helpfull wife.

Some tube conversions don't have the luxury of a removable core. I tried a syringe but the sealant always seems to clog at the end. Some sealants won't even go through the syringe. Just take care not to fold the tube strip or stans strip when popping the tyre back.

[NotSoBigBen]

Removing the valve core is easiest in my opinion but in some (most ghetto type conversions ...) it is not removable and in that case (yes I do have some of these) I do break the bead slightly and refill through the 'gap'. As long as you break the bead as little as possible floorpump infaltion is still possible.

[Rudo]

I have always used my floor pump' date=' no problem if the rim strip is clean and installed correctly.

There are how-to videos on Stan's site
http://www.notubes.com/support_movies.php


[/quote']

 

Thanks! I love how-to videos!  I'll check it out.

 

I jokingly told a mate I can now almost service every component because I've watched so many tutorials.

"Sure" he said, "and I can fly a chopper because I've seen the tutorial."

Still, if you have some understanding of the theory to put to the test you at least learn from your attempts