tubeless problem- leaking air through spoke holes.

knob scortcher

knob scortcher

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I recently when tubeless using some tubeless specific maxxis ikons using stans sealant. For the first couple days after doing the conversion the tire held pressure like normal. I then had a 70km MTB race, after the race I noticed my tyre had lost alot of pressure. this loss of pressure occured on the 1.5hr trip back to town in the car. I have just tried to re-do this wheel from scratch and the same problem is occuring. i sprayed my wheel with water an air is coming out of the spoke holes and around the valve hole.

I did have to drill my rim out in order to fit the valve in. I cannot get my head around this.

The front tire is perfectly fine.

Thanks in advance
 
wombat

wombat

Lives in a hole
Hard to say without more details, but I had a similar problem with my easton UST wheels early on. Ended up being the valve not quite seating correctly, which was letting air into the cavity of the rim and then out around the nipples. Cleaned and reseated the valve, problem solved.
 
knob scortcher

knob scortcher

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ChopSticks said:
What tape are you using.... And what rim are you even running?
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sorry forgot about that, using the stans tape.

rims are Wheeltech Inferno 23 by SUNringlé


1004793_475770682514234_1094192816_n.jpg
thats the wheels, they are the stock ones that came on my vertex. This is why I want tubeless specific rims without the need for tape.
 
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knob scortcher

knob scortcher

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wombat said:
Hard to say without more details, but I had a similar problem with my easton UST wheels early on. Ended up being the valve not quite seating correctly, which was letting air into the cavity of the rim and then out around the nipples. Cleaned and reseated the valve, problem solved.
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That could be the problem, i will buy a new valve and apply some new rim tape just to be sure and will try again soon.
 
XYGTHO

XYGTHO

Likes Dirt
My sunringles were great tubeless. My stans tape wasn't great, I went with gorilla tape. Otherwise just check you valve install. Maybe no need to purchase new valves.
 
ChopSticks

ChopSticks

Banned
how wide are those rims? (as theres 2 widths of Stan's tape)

did you try to sand the inside of the rim? I find it helps alot with the adhesion of the tape ! ....as for valve stems, use the stems from any old tubes.... and just make sure its tigthened !!!
 
pistonbroke

pistonbroke

Eats Squid
tasty.dirt74 said:
It could be the valve, not quite sealed and the air will escape through a valve hole.. Gorilla tape FTW...
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I have found Gorilla tape really good. I also now put a dob of silastic around the valve. Masters hardware store has small roles of Gorilla tape for $5 that is a great width and will do 2 29er wheels.
 
mtb101

mtb101

Likes Bikes and Dirt
if using gorilla tape and you want a bomb proof seal, after you apply the tape on rim, put in a tube and pump it to 50psi and leave it for 24 hours. this embeds the tape to rim, other area is valve, I use a small amount of silastic around valve hole.

of course make sure rim is very clean before putting on tape, use metho to get clean surface.
 
effarr

effarr

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Another alternative to silicone or silastic (if you don't want it to look messy) is to use a small o-ring on your valve stem, and squash it between the nut and rim. As others have suggested, I'd work on redoing the rim tape as first priority.
 
tasty.dirt74

tasty.dirt74

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effarr said:
use a small o-ring on your valve stem, and squash it between the nut and rim. As others have suggested, I'd work on redoing the rim tape as first priority.
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Mavic tubeless valves have a little o ring exactly as described.. I also use plumbers tape on the valve stem near the base to help seal as it get pressed onto the tape.
 
Nautonier

Nautonier

Eats Squid
Dibbler said:
Wrap on the tape and then use this
http://www.torpedo7.com.au/products/4SRITN0RS/title/stan-s-rim-strip---standard
If the tape is leaking it is likely the air pressure has pushed the tape into the spoke holes and is no longer sealing. The only sure way is to use tubeless compatible rims. Everything else is a compromise.
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That is a heavy and expensive solution. The Stans rim strips are just an expensive way of using an $8 BMX tube and snipping off the excess. You still have to use tape with a rim strip, which defeats the purpose IMO.
 
UncleFeet

UncleFeet

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I had similar issues with a bit of sealant oozing out the spokes after a bit of a cowboy effort...Stan's tape on WTB 29" rims of some sort...sealant is sealant and with a bit more air in, the leak sealed...
 
S

Sappa

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Nautonier said:
That is a heavy and expensive solution. The Stans rim strips are just an expensive way of using an $8 BMX tube and snipping off the excess. You still have to use tape with a rim strip, which defeats the purpose IMO.
Click to expand...
I was just learning about tubeless when I used the strips. Didn't use any tape and sealed fine.
2 points tipped me, no drilling out the rim for a large valve and yes it might cost, but no more money spent on tubes means I save in the long run.

Yes I had a little sealant around the spokes, but that sealed.
Never thought of it but does the rubber make a grove that helps set the bead?
 
mtb101

mtb101

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Sappa said:
I was just learning about tubeless when I used the strips. Didn't use any tape and sealed fine.
2 points tipped me, no drilling out the rim for a large valve and yes it might cost, but no more money spent on tubes means I save in the long run.

Yes I had a little sealant around the spokes, but that sealed.
Never thought of it but does the rubber make a grove that helps set the bead?
Click to expand...
the rubber or tape or whatever you use raises the inner rim which is crucial in getting your tyres to take air. so if there's too much of a gap between bead and rim the air won't seal the tyre to rim when first pumping tyre. took me many failed installs to work this out and this is why stan's rim for example are pretty hard to get tyres on/off. I carry levers for this reason.
 
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