Orange Seal tire sealant works

[ryukenden73]

2nd front tire puncture since September 24.

1st one .. I got home and didn’t even know it was leaking air. Found a goat head. Patched the hole in tube. added orange seal. Done.

2nd I am 5 miles away from home . Ran over a fricken metal coat hanger... immediately pulled it out .. the dreaded hisssssss sound. Shite. I have no emergency repair gear. No tools. No air pump. Saw the orange seal bubbling out. Ok. Set to PAS 5. Time to skeedaddle. Doing 28-30 mph. I am slowly feeling horrible auto-steer from the bike.

made it home.

Checked my tire pressure. 1 PSI from 18 PSI. Pumped it up to 20. And still holding after 30 mins.

moral of the story.

sealant works but bring gear with you.

 

[FlatSix911]

Great story... are you planning to replace the tube or let it roll?

 

[ryukenden73]

Maybe. . I’ll see if I can patch it up. But I have 2 tubes from Wallke. They were nice to send me when I had my first puncture. Awesome customer service BTW.

i am also replacing the tires with some smoothies ... vee tire speedsters...

I have 659 miles on the cst Bft 26x4.0.. and the tire rumble scares folks when I ride

 

[SDM44]

The CST tires on the Wallke bikes are soft and pretty thin, and mine were prone to getting a lot of stickers through them. When my front tire went flat a few months ago, there were literally 4 hole where air was leaking from the tube, and I removed at least 6 stickers poking through the tire. I just replaced the tube at that point, and then ran Mr. Tuffy tire liners to help prevent stickers from easily puncturing the tube. That, and I put about 6qt of green Slime into the tubes.

Never had a flat again after that, but it was a costly fix & upgrade (tire liners were $40, tubes were $20, and 2 bottles of Slime was $15).

 

[Jnfsu]

The CST tires on the Wallke bikes are soft and pretty thin, and mine were prone to getting a lot of stickers through them. When my front tire went flat a few months ago, there were literally 4 hole where air was leaking from the tube, and I removed at least 6 stickers poking through the tire. I just replaced the tube at that point, and then ran Mr. Tuffy tire liners to help prevent stickers from easily puncturing the tube. That, and I put about 6qt of green Slime into the tubes.

Never had a flat again after that, but it was a costly fix & upgrade (tire liners were $40, tubes were $20, and 2 bottles of Slime was $15).

What tire liners and tubes did you get?

 

[m@Robertson]

Orange Seal is good stuff - I used to use the Endurance formula as a tubeless sealant. But I have replaced Slime for tubed tires and OS Endurance for tubeless with FlatOut Sportsman Formula. It is absolutely incredible. It is advertised as working for holes up to 1/2" wide and I have seen it do pretty much that. On one tubed tire I got a hunk o' jagged metal that Slime would have been iffy to seal and FlatOut worked freaking great. I carry an electric pump that runs off of my battery to refill big Holes Of Doom and I did need to do a couple of refills, but on a winter night commute ride home I was able to ride it not walk it. After I think the second refill it held. A month later when I switched the wheels to tubeless I got a look at the hole and it was sealed dry. Slime would have been weeping a little green syrup forever but this was a dry plug.

So after that I talked to the mfr and heard how they tested it on bikes (BackCou fat ebikes in the woods). I decided to try it as a tubeless sealant. It sealed beautifully, and when I ate a 6-nail strip of roofing nails from a nailgun, it saved my ass again. Needed three refills I think, but I rode home. No freaking way would slime or Stans or Orange seal repair a line of 6 nails like that. The tire was too scary to keep using despite being sealed but I had a cargo bike loaded from Home Depot and I rode it home.

 

[FlatSix911]

Orange Seal is good stuff - I used to use the Endurance formula as a tubeless sealant. But I have replaced Slime for tubed tires and OS Endurance for tubeless with FlatOut Sportsman Formula. It is absolutely incredible. It is advertised as working for holes up to 1/2" wide and I have seen it do pretty much that. On one tubed tire I got a hunk o' jagged metal that Slime would have been iffy to seal and FlatOut worked freaking great. I carry an electric pump that runs off of my battery to refill big Holes Of Doom and I did need to do a couple of refills, but on a winter night commute ride home I was able to ride it not walk it. After I think the second refill it held. A month later when I switched the wheels to tubeless I got a look at the hole and it was sealed dry. Slime would have been weeping a little green syrup forever but this was a dry plug.

So after that I talked to the mfr and heard how they tested it on bikes (BackCou fat ebikes in the woods). I decided to try it as a tubeless sealant. It sealed beautifully, and when I ate a 6-nail strip of roofing nails from a nailgun, it saved my ass again. Needed three refills I think, but I rode home. No freaking way would slime or Stans or Orange seal repair a line of 6 nails like that. The tire was too scary to keep using despite being sealed but I had a cargo bike loaded from Home Depot and I rode it home.

Thanks for the tip... I will try FlatOut next time instead of Slime.

Amazon.com

Amazon.com: FlatOut 99908 Tire Sealant (Sportsman Formula), Great for ATVs, UTVs/Side-by-Sides, Golf Carts, Dirt Bikes, Off-Road-Only Jeeps and More, 32-Ounce, 4-Pack: Automotive

Buy FlatOut 99908 Tire Sealant (Sportsman Formula), Great for ATVs, UTVs/Side-by-Sides, Golf Carts, Dirt Bikes, Off-Road-Only Jeeps and More, 32-Ounce, 4-Pack: Automotive - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

FlatOut Tire Puncture Demo
https://www.amazon.com/vdp/38c16bf4...B07PWBFTRJ&ref=cm_sw_em_r_ib_dt_TblZcleiqMrWU

 

[fooferdoggie]

how will this work with higher psi tires. like 80 psi thats the tricky part.

 

[FlatSix911]

how will this work with higher psi tires. like 80 psi thats the tricky part.

It should work the same as a low-pressure tire and it's rated for motorcycles.

 

[fooferdoggie]

It should work the same as a low-pressure tire and it's rated for motorcycles.

most big vehicles don't have higher psi's

 

[AHicks]

I can verify Slime works at 70-75psi

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Picked up a nail this morning

Luckily, I Slimed both tires a couple weeks ago because I ride about 20-25 miles every morning and pushing it home would not be fun.

I knew exactly when I picked it up about 8 miles out as I could hear the constant ticking, but didn't even bother looking at it and just pedaled my arse off to get back.

Got home safe, pulled it out and sure enough it started hissing.

Then I just rotated it to the bottom, rocked it back and forth a few times and it sealed up instantly.

Filled it up to 20psi (it had dropped to about 15), tilted it on the kickstand and let it spin at WOT for about 10 seconds, then sprayed with soapy water to check for bubbles.

So far so good

 

[AHicks]

I don't think that Slime is meant to be a permanent cure, especially for a hole like that one. I would plan on repairing or replacing that tube if it were mine! -Al

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Seems to be holding up fine after two days of riding with no pressure drop or balance issues

I'm sure when the time comes to replace the tire I'll have a huge mess to deal with

Has anyone here converted to tubless with the factory wheels?

 

[m@Robertson]

Seems to be holding up fine after two days of riding with no pressure drop or balance issues

Slime is usually 'good enough', but it seldom dries fully and typically weeps a bit forever - and loses a trickle of air - until you do a proper patch. When I was using Slime I would collect a few holes until I had a free Saturday morning, and then I'd pull the tube out one side of the bead and patch in bulk.

Using FlatOut now, and on the one tube it needed to seal, it dried as a hard plug.

 

[Bitmugger]

Holy cow! You patched the hell out of that tube! You are getting your money's worth! To me patches are like $3 and tubes for my bike only cost $4.50. I'd patch my tubes in an emergency but tend to just buy a brand new tube vs patches. I do certainly carry patches just in case.

Also on a related topic: I tried to find a patch kit locally with glue (I prefer glue to glueless), might be because of Covid but I can't find any in stores on the shelves. I hope they aren't going out of favor. I ordered one online so they are still plentiful but just not in my local stores.

Also just at tip, but stop driving over whatever bed of nails is causing like 5 holes at a time in your tires, lol.

 

[m@Robertson]

@Bitmugger I think that particular tube had seven patches on it before #8 finally took it out. I'm just riding city streets. But putting down a lot of miles I suppose. I guess if I was doingbike paths I'd be in a more tube-friendly environment but I am going along the side of the road shared by traffic 100% of the time.

Man... I don't know where you are buying tubes and patches but those costs are way off. Like $4.50 for a box of 7 patches and $15 for a tube for me.

I absolutely prefer glue'd to glueless patches. The 'glue' is typically cold vulcanizing fluid that will make the patch literally one with the tube so a patched tube is a perfect fix. You can get the Rema Tip Top kits - which have only changed in the last 40 years with an upgrade to the sandpaper - for about $5 with shipping

Amazon.com: Rema Tip Top Patch Kit / Large (TT 02) : Health & Household

Buy Rema Tip Top Patch Kit / Large (TT 02): Braces, Splints & Supports - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

amzn.to

But what I do is buy a box of 100 round-patches-only, then take 10-15 of them plus a jumbo tube of goo and a scrap of sandpaper and toss it into a pill bottle. One of those goes into each bike kit andI'm good for a long time.

 

[Bitmugger]

Wow, fantastic idea on patch kits. I might do something similar but 3D print a case I can tuck inside my stem from below or down my seatpost, very clever.

My prices were actually Canadian prices too so in USD even cheaper. Maybe we have cheap tire prices here, lol. Here's links to what I buy

Here's the repair kit ($3cdn) (good brand too):

Park Tool VP-1 Vulcanizing Patch Kit | MEC

Park Tool VP-1 Vulcanizing Patch Kit: Fun terrain is sometimes unkind to your tires and tubes. Carrying a VP-1 patch kit could save the day and get you back riding.

www.mec.ca

Here's the tube I used on my bike ($4.20cdn):

27.5x1.9/2.5 48 mm Schrader Valve Inner Tube - Decathlon - Decathlon

This inner tube is suitable for 27.5" diameter tires with 1.90 to 2.50 cross-section with a 48 mm Schrader valve.

www.decathlon.ca

I wish Decathlon sold patch kits too I'd just order everything from them as right now they will literally deliver a $4.50 tube to my home in about 2hrs for free with Covid. I ordered 3 since I felt so bad about ordering just one but the store isn't open for walk-ins and it's hard to bike there for curbside with a flat, lol.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Ok, so the green slime has been holding up just fine
The hole from that nail sealed up and I've put about 500 miles on it since
Then today I got another puncture in the same tire from a piece of metal about 5 miles from home
Rotated it to the bottom, let the Slime do it's thing, rode back home, pulled the metal out, then let it seal again

Here's video:

 

[Hasaf]

Keep in mind that nearly all of these solutions (I still use slime, but this is true of most of them) are water-soluble. This allows for easy cleanup. However, it also means that some of your small leaks may return when riding in heavy rain.

. . . the moral to this, like it was mentioned above, these are great for limping home. But, at some point, you still need to pull the tube and put a real patch on it. This is particularly true for commuters, who may be riding in wet conditions.