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Last night I successfully converted to tubeless tyres using Stans. On reading the instructions I noted that the sealant may last between 2 and 7 months.
What exactly does this mean? Will the seal between the bead and the rim fail or does the ability to seal punctures diminish?
Do I need to add more sealant regularly? And how would I know when this would be?
Does the existing sealant just congealed and need removing?
Or should I just chill out and not worry about it!
Thanks in advance for any replies.
[u]IF[/u] I remember, I generally check them once every 12 weeks.
It can dry up but, more likely, you will have lost a bit each time a puncture has been sealed. As it's unliklely you'll notice a majority of holes thate get sealed, you should check regularly. To give you an idea, I changed tyres on my recently built SS last weekend & pulled 7 thorns from them - I'd only ridden it 4 times.
The sealant dries out and stops sealing but the tyres will stay on the rims. You might hear a rattling sound when this happens.
I just put some more stuff in every three to six months, which is very easy if you have removable valve cores (the stans conversion kits do).
It just dries up like most liquids eventually, faster in the warm summer, slower in the winter. Personally I just deflate, break the bead put another scoop or two in and pump them up every 3-4 months, there is nearly always a little bit left in there, but considerably less than starting with. Its no big deal, once they've been on tubeless for a while I find them considerably easier to re-seal the next time. In fact I am doing a couple of top ups this evening...Rock and Roll
I think 2-7 months is on the conservative side, typically I'd say it's 6 to 12 months. The sealant does dry up, however as said above, it will just reduce your puncture resistance.
As a general rule, if you shake the tyre and can hear it sloshing it's ok. As the sealant gets older it either dries up and goes quiet or forms a ball and starts to rattle. If these happen then it's time to dismount the tyre, tip/wipe out the old sealant, remove the thorns 👿 and re-fill with new sealant.
Oh, and if it's any help, I've tried loads of sealants and Stan's is by far the stickiest and seals the best. Dunno if this fact means that it sets quicker within the tyre though.
Does sealant go off in the bottle?
Just thinking, that if the tyre carcass is air tight, then why would the sealant go off?
Your tyre carcass is not air tight.
Yes it does go off in the bottle but much much slower. I've had a large bottle sitting on the shelf for over a year and could see signs of clumping but the solution was still very usable.
As above they do nt deflate but do loose puncture resistance.
I used to just top up but ended up with an alien looking 5 by 3cm latex mass!