The sealant ate my nipples

[Mr.Gib]

A spoke popped while the bike was hanging on the wall. Inspection revealed the head of the alloy nipple had snapped off. In the process of repair, other nipples just snapped when I tried to tune them. According to a trusted mechanic, this is the result of amonia in the sealant escaping through the tape and eating the nipples. Sealant was Orange Seal. Total rebuild with brass nipples and a better tape job. Fortunately the rest of my wheels have no holes in the rim bed.

FYI the original tape job was by Farsports with their stock tape.

[TobinHatesYou]

There is no ammonia in Orange Seal and all other major brand sealants (your mechanic needs to be educated.) It was probably just normal galvanic corrosion exacerbated by moisture. No holes in the rim bed won’t really matter.

[eucalyptus]

ouch, my nipples hurt just reading this

[Mr.Gib]

There is no ammonia in Orange Seal and all other major brand sealants (your mechanic needs to be educated.) It was probably just normal galvanic corrosion exacerbated by moisture. No holes in the rim bed won’t really matter.

That's what I thought but the mechanic insisted. Precisely why I do all my own wrenching.

Still, interesting to see such a failure and some sealant did get into the rim btw. Oddly, it dried up into little granules that were easy to vacuum out.

[alanyu]

Best best way to exam if any sealant w/ or w/o ammonia can eat an alu nipple is to half submerge the nipple into the sealant in a not-fully-sealed bottle. I'm not sure if anyone did it before.

[ms6073]

There is no ammonia in Orange Seal and all other major brand sealants (your mechanic needs to be educated.)

That's what I thought but the mechanic insisted.

I seem to recall that when Stan's first came on the tubeless scene, a number of people who rode/raced on Enve wheelsets - I had multiple sets of Enve Twenty9 XC to include clinchers which were run tubeless for cross racing - were shocked to find serious corrosion/errosion of the internal alluminum spoke nipples. Publically the issue was attributed to the amonia content in Stans initial batch, so Stan's reformualted and I do not recall anyone having further issues, so maybe the mechanic had that in his head.

[TobinHatesYou]

I seem to recall that when Stan's first came on the tubeless scene, a number of people who rode/raced on Enve wheelsets - I had multiple sets of Enve Twenty9 XC to include clinchers which were run tubeless for cross racing - were shocked to find serious corrosion/errosion of the internal alluminum spoke nipples. Publically the issue was attributed to the amonia content in Stans initial batch, so Stan's reformualted and I do not recall anyone having further issues, so maybe the mechanic had that in his head.

ENVE only uses brass nipples.

[spdntrxi]

I sent my rear enve to wheelbuilders and they gave me the same story. I used orange seal exclusively on this wheel. I had been breaking a spoke hear and there the past 2 years and finally pulled a few out myself and the nipples were trashed, so I had the whole wheel rebuilt. I didn't want to argue since spokes supply chain was rough at the time and they would only give spokes for full builds.

[TobinHatesYou]

I sent my rear enve to wheelbuilders and they gave me the same story. I used orange seal exclusively on this wheel. I had been breaking a spoke hear and there the past 2 years and finally pulled a few out myself and the nipples were trashed, so I had the whole wheel rebuilt. I didn't want to argue since spokes supply chain was rough at the time and they would only give spokes for full builds.

I wonder what the real cause is since we live in the same area. Maybe a lack of protectant on the spoke nipples? My 5.6s were built by ProWheelBuilder.com and they have nearly 30000mi on them.

[spdntrxi]

I rarely used my 4.5AR ... they are old but probably only 5k miles at most. I do have some winter/rain rides with them, but always stored indoors (not garage)

[joejack951]

I rarely used my 4.5AR ... they are old but probably only 5k miles at most. I do have some winter/rain rides with them, but always stored indoors (not garage)

Did the wheel have aluminum or brass nipples at the time? Do they ever salt the roads where you ride? Or do you ride near the coast/ocean?

I ask about salt because years ago I performed an unintentional pseudo science experiment with some bike chains. I didn't realize it at the time but the odorless mineral spirits I had purchased had water blended in, seemingly to make it more eco-friendly. Well, I stored two chains in it for a month or so and when I removed the chains I found several plates had cracked. On the forum (Bikeforums) we eventually concluded that the road salt mixed with the water in the mineral spirits attacked the steel chain and the stress from the pressed-in rivets caused the plates to crack. A forum member replicated my 'experiment' with some table salt and got the same cracks.

Presumably, the liquid latex carrier in Orange Seal is water so you have on half of the chemical reaction. If there's a source of salt around you, there's the rest.

[spdntrxi]

I rarely used my 4.5AR ... they are old but probably only 5k miles at most. I do have some winter/rain rides with them, but always stored indoors (not garage)

Did the wheel have aluminum or brass nipples at the time? Do they ever salt the roads where you ride? Or do you ride near the coast/ocean?

I ask about salt because years ago I performed an unintentional pseudo science experiment with some bike chains. I didn't realize it at the time but the odorless mineral spirits I had purchased had water blended in, seemingly to make it more eco-friendly. Well, I stored two chains in it for a month or so and when I removed the chains I found several plates had cracked. On the forum (Bikeforums) we eventually concluded that the road salt mixed with the water in the mineral spirits attacked the steel chain and the stress from the pressed-in rivets caused the plates to crack. A forum member replicated my 'experiment' with some table salt and got the same cracks.

Presumably, the liquid latex carrier in Orange Seal is water so you have on half of the chemical reaction. If there's a source of salt around you, there's the rest.

Brass nipples
No salt on the roads and not near a beach and dont ride too near one very often either.

[poulhansen]

It's too late now but on new/old bikes, I always place a drop of Boeshield on each nipple and even on the joint on an alu rim. It's made for protection of masts etc. on boats. It will also make an isolation to avoid galvanic corrosion.

[TobinHatesYou]

It's too late now but on new/old bikes, I always place a drop of Boeshield on each nipple and even on the joint on an alu rim. It's made for protection of masts etc. on boats. It will also make an isolation to avoid galvanic corrosion.

Good wheelbuilders will use *something* on nipples, whether it's linseed oil, light grease or some spoke/nipple specific product.

[tonytourist]

ENVE only uses brass nipples.

He's talking about back in the dayyyy...
https://xlr8wheels.com.au/blogs/technic ... sion-issue
My friends 29" XC wheels had the nipple problem but mine never did.