Clogged are those valve stems which are completely blocked, even a single psi of air is not entering the tire when you are inflating with air pump, the internal way of the valve cause blockage mostly just because of the inner sealant and the other stuff which is present within the tubeless tires, after riding on longer mileages liquid stuff stuck badly within the valve core, and many times people start thinking that this valve stems became useless and tires need to replace them with new valves, but these clogged valves would also be fixed and unclogged and you can easily remove the internal stuck stuff.
How To Know If My Valve Core Is Clogged?
Using a pressure gauge pump, you can easily notice and check whether the tire is inflating or losing all the air. after attaching the pump with the stem valve, push the downward force on the handle of the pump, after doing it 4 to 5 times, watch the gauge screen and record the reading, if the needle of the gauge is moving back towards the lower numbers, and is not rotating towards the forward higher numbers on the gauge screen, it is an indication that the air is not moving within the tire because of any blockage or any problem which is present within the valve stem.
Fixing Clogged Valve Core To Unclogged:
All the inner weird stuff which is present within the sealants of tubeless tires would penetrate deeply within the central internal route of the stem valve. now the task is to recover the air routing of the stem valve to inflate the tire in consistency without any blockage, use kerosine oil for the clogged valve stem, bring an empty small tray and fill a small amount of kerosene liquid so that the stem valve would completely dip within the kerosene.
Leave the valve stem within the kerosene for almost 30 to 40 minutes, after this time interval, pick the valve, now the valve is fully wet with the kerosene internally. there are small springs that make the valve stem flexible and when you stretch the upper and lower heads of the stem valve, the spring allows the valve to move up and down. this is the main point which is immovable when the stem valve is clogged and now starts stretching both heads of the stem valve, till 10 minutes, after that when you notice the stem valve became fully flexible and the internal air routing became cleared, now its time to install the same valve within the tubeless tire. pump the tire with the pressure gauge and keep an eye on the reading of the gauge screen, you will notice the tire is constantly inflating with a higher pressure.
What Is The Main Reason Behind Clogged Valve Cores?
The internal tubeless sealant dries off within the stem valves and blocks the route, you have to prevent this by continuously servicing, washing, and cleaning the stem valve even after every ride or almost 2 times in a single month. wheels roll on dirty and muddy terrains and the stem valves are open to the atmosphere small particles are continuously penetrating deeply around the sides of the stem valves and finally, these will cause blockage permanently.
Stem Valve Holes Also Need Cleaning:
Valve cores are surrounded and covered by stem valves, when you unmount the valve core, you will see a hollow valve stem, as it is hard to watch with our eyes or even with a flash or torch to look inside the valve stem because both left and right side of the valve stem is closely held with wheel spokes, this thin hole needs perfect servicing and cleaning, but it can never be done with water or any liquid, if you pass or insert any liquid it will cause damage to the rim because there is no way for the internal liquid to sweep outside form the tire.
Use a thin wire, tool, or small-sized screwdriver so that its head would easily go deeply within the valve stem, it is common for these stem valve holes to contain many things which got dried and stuck within them, and as a result, when you want to inflate the tire, air does not go within the tires.
Easiest Method For Stem Valve Cleaning With Or Without Tire?
You can fix a clogged stem valve and valve in both cases, with and without a tire on the rim, but cleaning and servicing the stem valve with the tire is probably a difficult setup also it is not 100% sure that the stem valve has been completely unblocked and all the inner blocked sealant and the other stuff have been removed fully, because you are not clearly watching internally the rim, but if you do all this process by removing and unmounting bike tire from the wheel, you will clearly be aware of all the internal dried sealant which is blocking the pathway of the air pressure of the tubeless tires.
Difference Between Rubber And Metal Stem Valves:
There are two types of stem valves, both are different according to the inner material used on the internal layer of the stem valves, rubber valves contain an internal rubber layer and metal valves contain solid metal internal coating, both work differently for the inner tire sealant when the sealant touches and comes near the stem valves, rubber coating of the stem valves do not repel the internal sealant and provides room due to which sealant stuck with the rubber coated stem valves and does not cause flow, while metal valve stem repels the internal sealant and do not cause seizing of liquid material within the metal stem valves.
This difference shows that metal-coated stem valves are better than rubber-coated valves and do not cause clogging of stem valves due to the inner tubeless sealants.
Which Sealants Cause Clogging Of Sem Valves?
There is no sealant that does not cause clogging of stem valves, all the liquid sealants, and their mixture block and seize the stem valve, orange and stans sealants would also cause stem valve clogging, so stem valves usually need servicing and cleaning after every ride.
Best Way Of Inserting Sealant To Avoid CLogging:
Sealants are inserted regularly within the stem valves without stopping and taking a break because there is a smooth running track of the sealants within the neck of the stem valves by thorough insertion, but if stopped in the middle of the insertion, then few small particles got stuck within the stem valves and it causes clogging when it dries-off. While inserting sealant within the stem valve, keep the valve core out so that it remains dry without touching of sealant.
Use Of Soapy Water:
It is the cheapest solution to wash the valve core with soapy water, if the valve is clogged, remove it from the stem valve and dip it in the mixture of soapy water, with the help of a toothbrush, rub the stem valve within the mixture, after 4 to 5 minutes clogged stem valve changes into unclogged.
Use Of Silicon Spray:
When inserting a new valve core with the neck of the valve stem of the rim, spray the valve core with the silicon, it prevents any sticky and gummy material to attach and stick within the hole of the stem valve, and also prevents rust.
Acetone Mixture:
Acetone is the best liquid for servicing the valve core, it cleans and washes all the rubber, liquid, and sealant which is stuck within the valve, you have to remove the valve individually from the rim because acetone is non-compatible with the rim materials that why acetone is avoided from the rim but for the valve core it is compatible.
Green Oil Degreaser:
It is also used for servicing and for the removal of the stuck rubber material of the sealant from the valve core to make an easy way for the air to inflate the tire much easier.
Use Sealant In A limited Amount:
Sometimes we use more amount of sealant in our tubeless tires just because of the confusion and we do not know the exact amount of the sealant which the tires require on a usual basis, large amount of sealant has a higher range of the surface within the tires which can block and seize the stem valve by filling the hole with the tubeless sealants.
Change The Angle Of The Valve Core When Bike Is Not In Use:
It is also an important and worthy trick that prevents and avoids sticking of the sealant within the valve core holes of the tubeless tires when the bike is not in use, at night time, or after the ride when you reach home, then you can simply change the angle of the valve core, basically, valve cores are installed at 6 o’clock straight down within the neck of the stem valves, now you have to change the angle of this stem valve, you can move the valve core right or left side from the 6 o’clock, ( 4 o’clock on the right side and 9 o’clock from the left side from the center point).