Slime & the valve stem - Problem?

RE/

Quoted message said:

I released the air and slime shot out the stem - d'oh! Now not much came out (a drop or two) but
I'm worried that I've fouled the stem mechanics with the stuff. I fixed the pinch and pumped up to
110#, no sweat but should I watch for future problems?

I had my own Slime problem when I got a flat on a regular tube and decided to try the Slimed tube I
was carrying. Couldn't inflate it. The Slime seemed to have jammed the Presta valve. Got home,
hooked up the floor pump, and really leaned on it and it seemed to clear the valve.
-----------------------
PeteCresswell

"(Pete Cresswell)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

RE/

Quoted message said:

I released the air and slime shot out the stem - d'oh! Now not much came out (a drop or two) but
I'm worried that I've fouled the stem mechanics with the stuff. I fixed the pinch and pumped up
to 110#, no sweat but should I watch for future problems?

I had my own Slime problem when I got a flat on a regular tube and decided

to

Quoted message said:

try the Slimed tube I was carrying. Couldn't inflate it. The Slime

seemed

Quoted message said:

to have jammed the Presta valve. Got home, hooked up the floor pump, and really leaned on it and
it seemed to clear the valve.
-----------------------
PeteCresswell

Now that I think of it my pump (115 volt craftsman 150 psi) did work a little hard for a sec when
pumping up the tube. I thought I had the adapter fitted wrong but the effort only lasted 1/4 sec.

Ken

Hi Ken

Slime is excellent in certain circumstances, particularly where weight isn't a factor. When
releasing air through the valve, always position the valve at the top of the wheel to allow the
slime to clear the valve area.

John R

"Ken Bessler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I had a slow leak on my rear tube on my Bianchi. I would have to pump up the air from 30# to
110# everyday. It was getting old. So, I bought a pair of Slime brand 700x tubes and replaced
the back tube.

When I went to inflate the tube, I got about 30# in and checked for bumps, bubbles, pinches etc. I
saw a pinch and decided to let the air back out so I could move the tube and straighten out the
problem.

I released the air and slime shot out the stem - d'oh! Now not much came out (a drop or two) but
I'm worried that I've fouled the stem mechanics with the stuff. I fixed the pinch and pumped up to
110#, no sweat but should I watch for future problems? It's a Presta valve stem.

Ken

"John Redman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi Ken

Slime is excellent in certain circumstances, particularly where weight

isn't

Quoted message said:

a factor. When releasing air through the valve, always position the valve at the top of the wheel
to allow the slime to clear the valve area.

John R

Ya know, being that my bike is a Bianchi, I considered weight before mounting the tube. I put the
old tube in one hand and the slime tube in the other - I couldn't easily tell a differance
between the two.

Now on my son's 24" MTB, I put a Slime MAX tube in - now that was a heavy tube! Must be at least
1/2 a pound!

Ken

"Ken Bessler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I had a slow leak on my rear tube on my Bianchi. I would have to pump up the air from 30# to 110#
everyday. It was getting old.

Regardless of whether the tube has a slow leak in it, if it is that much of a chore to pump up your
bicycle tire every day that you ride, you need a new pump.

JP

"JP" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Ken Bessler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I had a slow leak on my rear tube on my Bianchi. I would have to pump up the air from 30# to
110# everyday. It was getting old.

Regardless of whether the tube has a slow leak in it, if it is that much of a chore to pump up
your bicycle tire every day that you ride, you need a new pump.

JP

Good logic but I didn't say it was a chore - I just said it was getting old. To state for the record
my pump is a 115 volt craftsman pump about the size of a loaf of bread. It's got a built in pressure
guage and is rated to 150 psi. Cost me $4 at the same place (Salvation Army) that I bought my
Bianchi for $35

So, to clarify, it's not an issue of effort - it's just a pain.....

:-)

Ken

"John Redman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hi Ken

Slime is excellent in certain circumstances, particularly where weight isn't a factor. When
releasing air through the valve, always position the valve at the top of the wheel to allow the
slime to clear the valve area.

John R

Hello, John

It's always interesting to see how other people handle things.

Like everyone else who uses slime tubes, I've been dismayed by the occasional splatters of bright
green slime when I let the air out of tubes.

Several auto and motorcycle mechanics warned me years ago that slime ruined air pressure gauges, but
this is hearsay. The gauge on my telescoping mini-pump hasn't shown any problems in over 50 flats.
At home, I simply use a 125 psi air compressor.

If I understand your suggestion about the valve at the top, the idea is to let the escaping air
blast any slime out of the valve.

I've always taken a different approach, putting the valve down around 4 o'clock, reasoning that this
places the valve above the pool of slime in the bottom of the tube and allows any slime in the valve
itself to drain ouy.

I'll try your approach to see how it works.

My chief problem with slime-clogged valves is that they make it hard to change the tube if a
slow leak or belatedly sealed hole leaves me with a nearly flat tire that I can't deflate enough
to remove.

My solution is to grab the flats on the end of the valve with my needle-nose pliers and unscrew the
clogged valve, exposing the gaping hole through which the slime was originally poured into the tube.

"Ken Bessler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"JP" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Ken Bessler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I had a slow leak on my rear tube on my Bianchi. I would have to pump up the air from 30# to
110# everyday. It was getting old.

Regardless of whether the tube has a slow leak in it, if it is that much of a chore to pump up
your bicycle tire every day that you ride, you need a new pump.

JP

Good logic but I didn't say it was a chore - I just said it was getting old. To state for the
record my pump is a 115 volt craftsman pump about the size of a loaf of bread. It's got a built in
pressure guage and is rated to 150 psi. Cost me $4 at the same place (Salvation Army) that I
bought my Bianchi for $35

So, to clarify, it's not an issue of effort - it's just a pain.....

Understood. I didn't think that it was a physical effort. I saw your earlier post that said it was
electric. My experience with those things is that they have a hard time getting up to anywhere near
their rated top pressure, but maybe yours is a lot better than the ones I've used. I think it might
be a lot less of a pain if you used a floor pump. I am fairly certain it would be much faster than
one of those little portable compressors.

JP

cleaning the slime from the valve stems threads if a schrader and both male and female threads on if
on the pump helps avoid the imminentmalfunction in rush hour traffic when the pump end will refuse
to mate to the stem due to the slime build up.