How to find an air leak? (When submerging in water doesn’t help)

[dorin]

Hi there,

I recently switched to Tubolito, super light, generally happy, I had one puncture, can happen.
Now another tube suddenly can’t keep its pressure, it drops to 30psi overnight, I submerged it in water, can’t find any leaks....any hints on what else I should try?

Cheers,
Dorin

[pdlpsher1]

I’ve seen slow leaks that don’t show a stream of bubbles. Instead they create a bubble that sticks to the tube. You need to look for a bubble that’s stuck to the tube’s surface. Eventually that small bubble will grow and get detached from the tube. But it takes a while.


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[Klaster_1]

I have exactly the same issue! So far my solution was to order a pair of Road S-Tubos

[DanielNorway]

Had several with very small leaks around valve core. Tubulito replaced them with no hazzle.

[alcatraz]

I found that if I jammed my tube in a big bucket and put a heavy glass fruit bowl over it I could actually pump it to a high enough pressure where the leak would show itself.

This was with challenger latex tubes where it would hold air at low pressures.

[Wookski]

It’s an inner tube- just throw it in the bin and install another

[Kumppa]

25-30€ innertube...
Did you try max 0,5bar?

[PrimO]

I had a similar thing with a latex tube a few years ago where it was losing 50/60psi over night but no obvious signs when placed in a bucket so i filled a bath of water and put it in the bath with pump attached and pumped it up and sure enough spotted the tiny hole when pumping but as soon as i stopped pumping the air bubbles would stop.

[pdlpsher1]

I had a similar thing with a latex tube a few years ago where it was losing 50/60psi over night but no obvious signs when placed in a bucket so i filled a bath of water and put it in the bath with pump attached and pumped it up and sure enough spotted the tiny hole when pumping but as soon as i stopped pumping the air bubbles would stop.

This brings back memories of my latex tube days. I never found some of the slow leaks so I gave up and ditched latex for butyl. Just too much frustration and not worth it.

[sqber]

Have you tried spraying soapy water on the tube? On tubeless setups this is the main way to find leaks.

[sqber]

Sorry, double post

[chupster98]

Check your valves - I had the same issue & wrote directly to Tubolito , they sent new inner tubes.

Their response was quick , really impressed!




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[akaspin]

Just apply blue loctite on presta core threads.

[MikeD]

Plastic inner tubes have been marketed time and time again. In the end, they all have drawbacks in comparison to butyl tubes. Butyl tubes can be pumped up outside the tire to a large size, which makes it easy to find the leak when dunked under water. Not so with plastic tubes. They can be damaged when pumped up too much. The material can not be stretched as much as butyl rubber before it's permanently damaged.

[Klaster_1]

I had a similar thing with a latex tube a few years ago where it was losing 50/60psi over night but no obvious signs when placed in a bucket so i filled a bath of water and put it in the bath with pump attached and pumped it up and sure enough spotted the tiny hole when pumping but as soon as i stopped pumping the air bubbles would stop.

So I tried that and still found no leaks. This method also requires a second pair of hands. What a pain, maybe I should go back to tubeless, but that's like 100g heavier.