marty
Minor legend
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Ugly puncture on my 11" tire, Slime saved the day?
- Thread starter DosCom32
- Start date
marty
Minor legend
Stan's Sealant – Formulated for whatever lies ahead.
Nothing interrupts the workday or stops the ride quite like a flat. You lose the air and you lose the momentum. At Stan's, our mission is to keep inflated things inflated so riders keep riding and workers keep working. Just add our uniquely formulated solution to
www.stanssealant.com
DosCom32
Established
Hey, that's another one I didn't know about, just like that Joe's stuff. I see it says you need to add more sealant after 2 to 6 months, or whenever it looks like it needs it. Since the tire isn't transparent, there's no easy way to check that, so I'm leaning more toward FlatOut, since it doesn't require any additional top-offs.
Apartunis
Regular
Stan's is latex and ammonia based. It congeals and turns into weird rubber "stanimals" inside the tire. It is one of the reasons I tell people that tubeless conversions will absolutely waste more of their time than if they fix flats as they occur.Hey, that's another one I didn't know about, just like that Joe's stuff. I see it says you need to add more sealant after 2 to 6 months, or whenever it looks like it needs it.
DosCom32
Established
I just realized that the motor on my OOTD T10 doesn't disconnect externally through a heavy-duty connector. I have to open the deck and disconnect it from the controller instead. Manufacturers really seem to enjoy making us suffer...I already bought an awesome socket wrench set on Amazon for $31 so I could get started with the disassembly, but it looks like this is going to be more labor-intensive than I originally thought, maybe it can be handled fine without disconnecting it, just with care, patience, and some skill. If I see it’s too difficult, then oh well—I'll just have to take the deck apart.
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lnanek
Power poster
Is a connector needed? As long you can drop the wheel out of the swing arm, it doesn't matter for tire changes if one side still has a cable coming out it, right? You only need one side of a wheel to be open to remove/replace a tube/tire.
DosCom32
Established
That's what seemed most likely to me, but I wasn't exactly sure how it's usually done at home. You do give up some convenience when the motor is still tethered to the deck, and there's also the risk of pulling or straining the cable, so I'll be careful about that. I'll also make sure to raise the deck just enough to give myself the necessary clearance, which certainly wouldn't hurt.
marty
Minor legend
I would disconnect wire so I could put wheel on a comfortable height table and fight with it.
DosCom32
Established
Now I'm really frustrated, dude... I knew some nonsense problem would come up.I removed the 22 mm axle nuts and the fender bracket plates with their screws, but this damn wheel is acting as if I haven't removed anything at all. It should be able to drop out downward, but I've already pulled on it hard, yanked it around, and even hit the tire with my hand several times, yet it hasn't moved even a millimeter.
Please, I need some advice before I start hitting it harder with a brick. Maybe a few taps on the axle using a block of wood and a hammer? Or do I actually need to loosen those two bolts shown in the picture a little? Thanks.
Edit: Ah, I see how it works now—it doesn’t just drop straight down. Good thing I didn’t force it too much. I also need to loosen those two bolts that clamp the swingarm to give it the opening that will free the axle.
Pretty obvious I'm a newbie at this... I can't really complain about it since it's a safer design, even if it takes a little more time to remove the wheel.
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This is very good design, as it prevents axle from moving/slipping in the dropouts.
marty
Minor legend
Disconnect wire so that when tire falls out it don't rip and destroy wire.
marty
Minor legend
When prying tire off rim with tools. Careful not to bend rim. Ask me how I know that?
DosCom32
Established
That sounds like a good idea. I could lay a bath towel on the floor and lay the scooter on its side. Another option is to rest the deck on top of a plastic milk crate and place a second crate next to it to support the wheel. I have several of those crates—they're very sturdy and work great for this kind of job.
Yeah, I'll be very careful not to pull on the motor cable. I also need to cut the zip tie that's securing it to the swingarm. I'd rather not disconnect it from the controller to avoid making things more complicated, but if keeping it connected ends up making the job harder, I'll decide as I go whether it's worth opening the deck to free the cable, since it doesn't have an external connector.
I'll also try warming up the tire around the beads. I have a heat gun, although leaving the scooter out in the sun for about half an hour might be enough to make removing the tire easier. Since I'm still a newbie at this, it probably wouldn't hurt. At first I was going to use kitchen utensils to remove the tire like I used to do with my e-bike, but I think I'll just spend $15 on a proper tire lever set from Amazon. I like that it comes with rim protectors—I don't want to leave any marks on the rim while removing the tire. Thanks.
I'll also have to remove the front wheel to clean out the Slime and add FlatOut. Since the bottle of FlatOut I'm going to buy is enough for two full tires, I might as well do the front one too. It hasn't had a single puncture in its 80 miles of use.
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Disassembling/ reassembling over a towel has the added benefit of containing any small pieces that spring out when opening up a mechanism. Much better than ball bearings, washers, springs, etc. bouncing and rolling all over into unfindable territory.
DosCom32
Established
I see. Then I'll keep using the milk crates—one to support the deck and another next to it to support the wheel once it's removed but still connected, so I won't have to open the deck. It all comes down to being careful not to let the wheel drop when I open up the swingarm.. Haha, it's actually almost at floor level, just a couple of inches.
I do have a nice little work stool that I made from an old chair a long time ago, but for this job I'd need another one to use as a work surface. Besides, it's a bit too high, and one mistake could be costly. That's why I think these milk crates are actually a pretty good solution.
You know you can put tubes in tubeless tires, right?The tire is tubeless and only has about 80 miles on it. I think I may need to replace it because the damage it suffered was quite significant. Even if the Slime seals it for now, there is still a risk that the cut could eventually reopen, making the tire less reliable. Of course, I could also try patching the tire and installing an inner tube, but I'm not sure what I'll do yet. Looking at the prices of 90/65-6.5 tubeless tires on Amazon, which are around $30, I think I'll just go with one of those.
Edit: I just took another short ride a few moments ago to see if the Slime had stabilized the puncture, but things went badly. I went from 45 psi down to 20 psi. At times it was making a loud noise, like spraying a can of compressed air — pshhhhhh! This tire is basically a lost cause.
DosCom32
Established
yes I know, but once a tubeless tire has suffered a straight half-inch cut, it's no longer a good candidate for installing an inner tube. Even if the cut is patched from the inside, that damaged area can still flex under load, and over time the sharp edges or weakened casing could pinch, chafe, or even puncture the new tube. A repair might hold for a while, but there's always the possibility that it could eventually fail. For me, a cut that large is a good reason to replace the tire rather than trying to squeeze more life out of it.
DosCom32
Established
There's no turning back now, I already ordered the new tire, a tire spoon kit, and FlatOut. I already miss riding my trusty steed. My new toys should be here in five days. 
He's changing a tire! There should be no ball bearings or small pieces to spring out, I hope. If he wants to protect the living room floor he's working on, by all means use a towel.
DosCom32
Established
While waiting for the new tire to arrive, already ordered, I had some leftover 5-minute epoxy lying around, so I decided to use it for this experiment of externally patching the tire, as shown in the image. I cleaned the area well with a rag and isopropyl alcohol; I would’ve cleaned the whole scooter, but I didn’t have time hehe, I’ll do that later.
I’ll test it with short rides nearby to the smoke shop, where it doesn’t matter much if it leaves me stranded—just going 15 mph just in case. I inflated it to 40 psi before applying the epoxy. It stays stable, but it was already like that before as long as there’s no load.
Let’s see what happens—place your bets, will it fail immediately?
Edited: Better I’ll just use it a little bit here around the block.
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marty
Minor legend
Does it stick to rubber? Try this.
Shoe GOO
Try a Tire Shop. They will put a plug in tire. Done problem solved.
marty
Minor legend
Please make video of tire changing episode. Should be more entertaining then cage fighting on white house lawn.
DosCom32
Established
@marty
It was just an experiment to see if it would work for emergencies, but it’s not looking good because of the flexing. I should’ve used a flexible adhesive, but I wasn’t going to buy one hehe, so I just used what I had on hand. But who knows, maybe it might hold.
At this point I don’t really care about using it anymore and I’ll just wait for the replacement, but I’m curious to see if it can at least hold the 40 psi for a day.
Edited:The epoxy patch had very poor adhesion, and I removed it without any problem. A better idea would’ve been to try some screw-type plugs I have. Maybe the existing slime would’ve had an easier time sealing this kind of cut with one or two of those screw-style plugs.
Hmm, probably not, those plugs are way too thick. They actually came with the scooter, by the way. What I should do now is drain the Slime through that same tire cut so I can get the tire ready for handling.
It was just an experiment to see if it would work for emergencies, but it’s not looking good because of the flexing. I should’ve used a flexible adhesive, but I wasn’t going to buy one hehe, so I just used what I had on hand. But who knows, maybe it might hold.
At this point I don’t really care about using it anymore and I’ll just wait for the replacement, but I’m curious to see if it can at least hold the 40 psi for a day.
Edited:The epoxy patch had very poor adhesion, and I removed it without any problem. A better idea would’ve been to try some screw-type plugs I have. Maybe the existing slime would’ve had an easier time sealing this kind of cut with one or two of those screw-style plugs.
Hmm, probably not, those plugs are way too thick. They actually came with the scooter, by the way. What I should do now is drain the Slime through that same tire cut so I can get the tire ready for handling.
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DosCom32
Established
Sure thing!
Let's see how this goes. I'm a little nervous, but it helps to remember that I used to do some mechanical work on a Yamaha FZ1 1000cc I owned years ago—brakes and a few other not-too-complicated jobs. I've worked on an e-bike as well.