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Homebrew tire sealant


Kyle
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I've been making my own sealant for years now.  Comparing with my buddies it seems roughly as effective as Stan's at sealing and lasts far better through summer for a fraction of the price.  The one thing I don't like about my recipe is that it uses regular car tire slime.  

My recipe:

16 oz latex mold builder
2 oz ammonia without added soap
32 oz pink RV antifreeze propylene glycol based
32 oz car tire slime

Anyone have their own recipe that doesn't use tire slime?  I was thinking about experimenting with Elmer's school glue which can be had by the gallon for cheap...

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I tried a bunch of home brew sealants. I could never get them to work as consistently as Stan's and one formula basically glued the inside of the tire so badly that the tire was useless after it dried up. It was a good experiment but not worth the hassle.

If you want to save money, buy basic tools and learn how to service your own brakes, suspension, build wheels, etc.

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This made me look around the internet to see what the general consensus it. The general consensus is that there is not a general consensus. You would think by now there would be a standard home brew recipe. 

When I first read Kyle's recipe I thought of the little flecks I see in Orange Seal. Then looking at different recipes I see glitter as an ingredient that I suppose replicates that aspect. All very interesting. 

 

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I've been using it for years without any trouble and have probably never made the exact same batch twice. I had to look up the old Mojo thread (http://www.bikemojo.com/speak/14-austin-voodoo/95010-homemade-tubeless-sealant.html)

This was the recipe that I originally got, but it seems like a lot of water:

16oz Latex mold builder
16oz Slime tubeless
16oz RV antifreeze
32oz water

Then this one that doesn't use any water:

16oz mold builder
16oz slime
32 rv anti freeze

Add in Kyle's above with even more slime and still no water. I've never used straight ammonia.

I've played with the proportions and added water and/or antifreeze directly to the tire when the sealant seems too thick. I've used glitter, and I've used no glitter. I think that there is no general consensus on a recipe because it all works. It's not like baking a cake where your proportions need to be exact. Just mix the 3 main ingredients together and add more antifreeze or water until you have that nice creamy consistency. 

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12 minutes ago, rockshins said:

Holy hell, didn't realize how nasty this stuff was, guess you I should have been more careful in the past in those tubeless battles where stans was spraying everywhere.

Haha, I had a tire full of stans pop off of the rim during install, and stans went EVERYWHERE.

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2 hours ago, AustinBike said:

I'm lazy and life is too short for me to experiment. Stan's works and a bottle lasts me more than a year. The last thing I want is to have to put a tube in because my home sealant formula was slightly off. Has anyone had their home-brew fail on them?

Change to foofy tires for EB.  Change back.  Change to tough foofy tires for Dragonslayer.  Change back...

I was being conservative in my original post, I think my sealant works hands down better than stan's.  The only time I have damage that won't seal is when it's sidewall related.

Edited by Kyle
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1 hour ago, notyal said:

I've been using it for years without any trouble and have probably never made the exact same batch twice. I had to look up the old Mojo thread (http://www.bikemojo.com/speak/14-austin-voodoo/95010-homemade-tubeless-sealant.html)

This was the recipe that I originally got, but it seems like a lot of water:

16oz Latex mold builder
16oz Slime tubeless
16oz RV antifreeze
32oz water

Then this one that doesn't use any water:

16oz mold builder
16oz slime
32 rv anti freeze

Add in Kyle's above with even more slime and still no water. I've never used straight ammonia.

I've played with the proportions and added water and/or antifreeze directly to the tire when the sealant seems too thick. I've used glitter, and I've used no glitter. I think that there is no general consensus on a recipe because it all works. It's not like baking a cake where your proportions need to be exact. Just mix the 3 main ingredients together and add more antifreeze or water until you have that nice creamy consistency. 

I should add, I'm using automotive tubeless slime, not the bicycle specific stan's-competitor tubeless slime.  I use 32 oz basically because that's one whole bottle.  I think the tire slime contributes aggregate and does good things for the viscosity.  I think it also has RV antifreeze properties to resist drying.  I'm musing about what other properties it might have.  

I use the ammonia to loosen up the mold builder before I add it.  I also think it contributes to longevity in the tire.

The RV antifreeze is propylene glycol so it's... non-toxic?  It's for use in potable water systems so I'm not concerned about it.

As far as your recipes go, I always use 100% RV antifreeze instead of straight water because the RV antifreeze is premixed with water anyway.  The second recipe looks very similar to mine except less slime, have you had luck with it?

 

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1 hour ago, TheX said:

Haha, I had a tire full of stans pop off of the rim during install, and stans went EVERYWHERE.

LOL, yep same experience, wife was not impressed, so I took it outside and when I finally got it to seat the loud pops echoed off the concrete deck, I cheered and my neighbors thought I was a redneck shooting a gun.

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4 hours ago, Bart said:

I just buy the newest Stans, it doesn't dry out like Orange Seal.

 

Do you mean the new Race Formula or just the regular stuff? Curious as I haven't tried the race formula, it's a little more expensive and I need a fresh bottle, not that the regular stuff doesn't work well enough.

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I've never had negative results with any of it as far as sealing leaks on the trail. *knocks on wood* 

I am a cheap-ass, but that isn't even the whole story. It's nice to just make a shitload of it and have it on hand instead of having to go to the shop and buy a $20 bottle every few months.

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1 hour ago, Yosmithy said:

goddammit, I just switched from Stans to Orange Seal.

 

Good, support the local economy! Orange Seal is making an "Endurance" formula now. I don't know if it's just a marketing ploy to charge a little more, but supposedly it was designed with Texas summers in mind to stay liquid longer. 

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25 minutes ago, 4fun said:

Did you have issues with Stan’s? This year I switched in the opposite direction due to price.

I was actually looking for something that didn't dry out like Stans. I just figured I would try The Orange Sauce instead. I haven't pulled my tires off recently to see the results.

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