Tubeless mystery

[Swissrider]

I’ve been using tubeless for a year or so (stans with original butcher tyres on Kenevo) and have been happy with result. Running about 20psi I’ve not had any punctures or problems. However, lately I noticed that the sidewalls of the tyres seemed to have a coating of some sort of liquid, which I assumed was the sealant leaking out. I wasn’t losing pressure to any great extent. As the tyre was coming to the end of it’s life I changed it (for a Maxis) and I did notice that there was not much sealent left in the old tyre, maybe about 100ml. I fitted new tyre, putting the sealant directly into the tyre (I find injecting through the valve too fiddly), then I take the valve out, pump like fury with my track pump and get satisfying pops as the bead pops onto the rim edge. I inflate to 30psi, rotate the wheel and bounce it, leave it for a while, then take the pump off and screw the valve in. I’ve found that I need to grease the valve so that the valve cap comes off easily, otherwise the valve can unscrew when undoing the valve cap, especially if any sealant gets on the outside of the valve. Anyway, thats my method. What I’m wondering is how and why after a year or so, the sealent seemed to either start coming through the side walls or started leaking at the bead, all the way around. Has anyone else notice this?

 

[Deleted member 7464]

I had the same with stans so I contacted them and they told me that the latex part eventually disappears as it coats the inside of the tyre just leaving a clear watery liquid. This is what you will have coming through the sidewalls. This now means I check my sealant fairly often to make sure it's still a milky liquid and not clear.

 

[Swissrider]

That’s really interesting. The liquid that was left was pretty clear. Do you tip out the clear liquid and replace with new milky liquid or do you just top up?

 

[Deleted member 7464]

I tipped out the clear liquid and replaced it with new sealant ??