Experiences with Silca Sealant
 

Hello, I need new Sealant for my tubeless tire and found the Silca Sealant, because I'm currently buying wax from Silca. So I did a little research about this Sealant and Sealants in general and found out, that this Silca stuff is good, but in one Video a dude mentioned that it is like glue and it should be treated like glue.

So I want to know if you would recommend it and what your experiences are with this Sealant?

I also would like to know how often I completely need to remove the sealant and put new sealant in (currently I'm refilling every half year and put new in every year). But on the Silca website there is a second tool for the sealant that need to be applied every 3-4 month so the sealant last a year. So how often do I need to refill/change the sealant without the second thing and would you recommend the sealant replenisher?

Oh and is the Glue/Sealant removed from Muc off good and I need it to remove the Sealant when changing?

So basically I have 4 Questions about this Sealant:
1. What are you experiences and would you recommend it?
2. How often do I need to refill/change the sealant? So how long does the Sealant last?
3. Is the sealant replenisher good and would you recommend it to use on top?
4. Do I need a Sealant/Glue Remover like the from Muc Off to remove the sealant easily or does the removing goes good without this?

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Run do not walk but run from that stuff. First the carbon particles clump together rendering them useless. Then the latex pools and hardens which is impossible to remove destroying the tire. My case was not isolated and acknowledged by Silca when I reached out. Orange Seal or Stans Race is the way to go.

No experience with the Silca sealant, but I've heard from others that it has chunks of fiber in it that can make it difficult to add through the valve.

I have been using Orange Seal regular and endurance and have had good luck with both. Every brand is different, but 3-4 months is probably about right for how long it lasts before needing a refill. Orange seal is pretty easy to clean up - if it's still liquid I just use a wet cloth and wipe it clean. If it's dried up, it'll just pull/peel off. I've never felt a need to get the insides of my tires completely clean of old sealant - I usually just pull out the big globs and give it a general wipe down.

Ok, thanks. What is with Muc Off? Because I saw some videos. In one they put punctures in and Silca was on the first place and Muc off on the second. And in another Video someone said with Muc off or Orange he has the problems that random punctures appear and that Muc off don't even seal. And he said that Silca is like glue but also very good

Brand new, it was amazing, but quickly, the carbon particles clumped together, and it couldn't seal a minimal hole, weeping constantly, coating everything in latex. Even worse, when I reached out, they said they were aware of the problem and experiencing formulation challenges. When I asked what to do with the two bottles of the stuff I bought (to reduce shipping costs), they said there was nothing they could do for me.

Regarding being able to inject through a valve, all top sealants run into problems plugging the valve even with the core removed because that's what they are designed to do. Stans race sealant, for example no way you injecting that, which is all good by me.

I've never had an issue injecting Orange Seal regular or endurance through an open valve using a syringe. I use one with a thin tube that I can push all the way through the valve and into the tire.

No idea if Orange Seal is considered a "top sealant" or not.

[QUOTE=lupo68288;23033699]Hello, I need new Sealant for my tubeless tire and found the Silca Sealant, because I'm currently buying wax from Silca. So I did a little research about this Sealant and Sealants in general and found out, that this Silca stuff is good, but in one Video a dude mentioned that it is like glue and it should be treated like glue.

So I want to know if you would recommend it and what your experiences are with this Sealant?

/QUOTE]
Silca is the most expensive sealant out there. If you are in Germany, try Schwalbe Doc Blue. It is supposedly a similar formula to Stan's, costs less and in 5 years of off roading have never had a flat.

When did you take these photos?

This summer. The clumping, rendering it useless is a known problem which they still have not fixed as is the latex solidifying. They left myself and another riding friend of mine on our own and refused to refund the product much less pay for two ruined tires. Silca although a storied brand is now nothing more than a mechanism to charge insane prices for average products through crafty marketing.

Muc-Off sealant is a good choice. I’ve been using it for a number of years now and it works well. Also water soluable, so easy to wash out of tyres and rims. For me it lasts a good 6 months before needing a top up.

Previous threads on the clumping issues with Silca’s sealant combined with this one are more than enough discussion to make me and others choose any other of the well-known, proven sealants over Silca. I have been using Orange Endurance for 3-4 years without a single debilitating puncture. And I have been able to easily inject it, using either a less expensive or pricier Park Tool syringe, thru the valve (core removed) stem without any problem. No reason for me to change what has worked well for me.

I’ve not used the Silca product either, primarily because I do not like the idea of micro-sized shards of carbon fiber entering the environment. It seems like a really bad idea, for human health, other life forms, and the Earth generally.

Over the past 10 years of riding tubeless, I’ve used a variety of sealants and have recently happily settled— over about three years— on using Panaracer SealSmart as my go-to sealant for road and gravel.

SealSmart is effective and easy to live with…the way I live, anyway, but it sounds a lot like the OP’s. That is, I generally only top-up/refresh once a year or as needed (due to leakdown).

It uses walnut shell particulate, and the suspension fluid seems to work with a light hand, coating evenly, not clumping, and being easy to wipe up. I haven’t had any gashes or cuts lately to demonstrate SealSmart’s max capacity, but I do have an American Classic tire which took a 2mm sidewall cut down near the bead from a pinch impact that SealSmart took care of. I had to manipulate the sealant over the cut to get it to pool there and seal, but it worked.

The more typical type of tread punctures from glass and similar debris have all sealed fine and as expected, with sometimes just a bit of fine misting spraying out until it seals. I’ve never had to stop to manipulate a tread puncture with SealSmart; that’s probably 90% luck, but maybe Panaracer has this stuff blessed by a holy person. Who knows?!

I add the sealant through the coreless valve stem via a small squeeze bottle with a cone tip that fits over the stem (an old, single tire portion bottle that Stans or Bontrager came in) and perhaps relevant to sealant performance, I never use compressed CO2, only air pumps to inflate.

Obviously I recommend SealSmart, but I also quite like Bontrager sealant and Stan’s regular (Endurance?) will do for me, too.