I’ve had a pair of Superstar Sentinel rims for a few weeks now and I’ve run them tubeless with rim strips. Decided this week to tape the rims using Stans tape and use the SS tubeless valves I bought at the same time as the rims.
The tyres seat and seal very nicely but I’m losing air through the valve hole in the rim. I just cant get a seal between the rim and the valve. I have tried a couple of different valves including a Stans but cant solve the leaking.
Apart from telling me to ditch the SS wheels and get some Hopes (I have some waiting to be built up), what could I try as a solution?
Thanks Nathan

Cut a bit of old innertube up and poke the valve through it before you mount it to the rim.

Small bit of old tube cut up and used as a washer under the valve ,
Or check the stans website for advice about how to cut the tape where the valve goes through it

Edit must type faster

I tried the innertube trick but it still leaks.

Do the rims have small holes drilled in them anywhere? My arches have holes near the seam and at other points, took me ages to figure out that air was getting through them because the tape wasn’t close enough to the edge of the rim inner. put the tape on over all the holes and problem solved.

edit – I mean holes drilled in the inner surface, not the spoke holes or valve hole…!

Might be obvious but you have tightened the valve screw nut thingy?

Have you tried using the valve from an old inner tube? Cut it out leaving quite a lot of the rubber around it, then really tighten the ring thing with a pair of grips. Also once you put the tape on, did you inflate with a tube and leave overnight? Could be a tape sealing problem. Also have you put sealant in?

Thanks for all the suggestions.
I have the tape on nice and tight and there aren’t any additional holes in the rim that are uncovered. The valve was tightened down good anbd proper, infact in my frustration I tightened 1 valve so much it pulled through the hole on the inner rim.
The only thing I haven’t done is tried them with sealant in as I assumed the valve should tighten against the rim and seal like that.

are you trying to seal a round peg in a rectangular slot?

don’t be too sure that the air’s coming from the valve hole. If the rim strip/tape isn’t seated right, air will get under it and then potentially out via the valve hole as it’s the biggest gap

If you’re sure it’s the valve, shove a bit of mastic round the valve base ?

Don’t over tighten and don’t expect it to seal without sealant.

🙂

Put in sealant and shake like mad

Had same, but with Stan’s rims. Couldn’t seal the valve, and ended up ripping them through over tightening. I also blamed the product but it turned out to be operator error – few more runs of electrical tape around the rim plus careful opening up of the tape over valve hole itself did the trick.

Strip off everything you’ve done so far, clean it all up and give the hole a quick rub down with emery paper just in case. Then start with cheap electrical tape followed by Stans yellow. Be careful how you open the hole, don’t overtighten the valve lock ring. It should seal initially without fluid.

Good luck!

O-rings on the valve stem on either side of the rim FTW. Mavic do a lockring with an recess for an o-ring which helps.

Slightly OT …. How do you find the Sentinel rims?

I may order one today as for the money they look a good 29er option.

Could be your tape is damaged or not giving a seal properly. When this happens the easiest way out for the air pressure is at the valve base, you think it’s the valve seal itself but it’s not.

Don’t ask me how I know this.

Could be the opening in the tape for the valve hole isn’t quite right. I don’t really like the stans/superstar style tapered valves myself, the roval-style rectangular ones just seem to be a bit less temperamental, but I’ve not used the SS ones yet.

Having said that, hearing air leaking past the valve doesn’t necessarily mean the leak in the rim is at the valve- it can be leaking elsewhere, and pressurising the rim, then leaking out mostly at the valve which is the easiest exit