Re: Very Slow Leaks.

On Mon, 5 May 2025 18:25:26 -0400, Frank Krygowski
<frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

On 5/5/2025 4:22 PM, cyclintom wrote:

On Mon May 5 18:28:41 2025 Roger Merriman  wrote:

cyclintom <cyclintom@yahoo.com> wrote:

I have very good tires on the BMC. (Gatorskins) But it has continuous
problems with slow leaks appearing first in one tire and then the other.
The wheels are Campagnolo Sirocco so it is unlikely that there are
imperfections in the rims and I use Specialized tubes whenever I can get
the proper size. And yet, when I leave the bike sitting for a month or so
one or the other of the tires is nearly fully pumped up and the other completely flat.
>
Anyone have any suggestions?

>
What are the punctures can you see any holes? Gatorskins are tough but not
impervious, could be the value be that a fault or just user error ie isn?t
fully closed and so on.

 
They look like hair thin wire punctures bot there are usually no trace of a wire in the tire inside or out. To even find them you have to pump the tube way up and put it under water and look for a very slow leak which mafes it almost impossible to patch. So I have to replace the innertube.

>
That last bit makes no sense. Over 50+ years of riding I've had plenty
of leaks so slow as to require water submersion to detect. They were all
able to be patched.

I once bought some inner tubes that seem to have come from the factory
with leaks.  To find the leaks, I used either soapy water or an
ultrasonic (36 to 44 kHz) leak detector:
<http://www.learnbydestroying.com/jeffl/crud/HP%20Delcon%204905A%20Ultrasonic%20Translator.jpg>
<https://www.ebay.com/itm/326065567622>
Marginal video showing how it's used to detect A/C coolant leaks:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oMYMYI17cM>
It doesn't work for extremely tiny leaks, but it good enough for
everything I've had to deal with (including automobile tires).

If you don't want to take the time, or don't know how to patch, that's
fine. You're allowed to use new tubes.
>
But overall: _SO_ many problems!  ;-)

The motto on my business card is:
"If this stuff worked, you wouldn't need me".  I don't recall anyone
disagreeing with that.
<https://www.learnbydestroying.com/jeffl/crud/jeffl-biz-card.jpg>



--
Jeff Liebermann                 jeffl@cruzio.com
PO Box 272      http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann      AE6KS    831-336-2558