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Leak at rim seam?

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Old 12-05-23, 05:13 PM
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Leak at rim seam?

I bought a 29 front wheel with a wtb rim for a mullet setup and I attempted to set it up tubeless a couple days ago. It was a new wheel so I expected some leaks. I tracked the largest one down and it's coming from the seam where the rim is welded together.

I put ~4 Oz of sealant in and I've pumped it up a couple of times hoping the sealant would get it, but not happening.

So first of all, the wheel rim itself should not be leaking, right? Is that a defective rim?

And second, it's a pretty small seam, any thoughts on why the sealant isn't plugging it up?
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Old 12-06-23, 10:26 AM
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Did you apply tubeless tape to the rim?
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Old 12-06-23, 11:56 AM
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Originally Posted by prj71
Did you apply tubeless tape to the rim?
yea, it's tubeless taped up, but that obviously doesn't cover all of the rim weld.
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Old 12-06-23, 02:29 PM
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Which WTB rim?
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Old 12-06-23, 03:04 PM
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Originally Posted by prj71
Which WTB rim?
ST i30
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Old 12-06-23, 10:39 PM
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Sounds like a manufacturing defect, you should consider contacting the place from where you purchased the wheel - they should replace it with one that doesn’t leak. Welded joints aren’t supposed to leak.
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Old 12-07-23, 04:16 PM
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Pinned wheels aren’t always welded. I had the same problem with my Stock Marin wheels, so I spent some time on YouTube, and the vids I saw said to use tape a couple of mm’s wider than the internal rim width. As soon as I replaced my tape per the vids, the problem went away.

the best were the vids from Stans.
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Old 12-10-23, 07:23 AM
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Where along the seam is it leaking? Is it right near the edge of the rim near the bead, or elsewhere? If it is not right near the bead I would suspect a taping issue.

Does the tape go right up to the walls of the rim? WTB recomends using tape a smidge wider than the internal width of the rim.
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Old 12-11-23, 09:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Kapusta
Where along the seam is it leaking? Is it right near the edge of the rim near the bead, or elsewhere? If it is not right near the bead I would suspect a taping issue.

Does the tape go right up to the walls of the rim? WTB recomends using tape a smidge wider than the internal width of the rim.
It was leaking all the way across the rim seam. I finally managed to get it sealed up though. I popped the tire off the rim to recheck my tape and originally I think I had cut it with a tire tool, so I pulled the old tape off and redid it. Still leaked.... So then I pulled the tire back off, removed the valve, and squirted about 1 oz of sealant into the hollow in the center of the rim through the valve hole and reinstalled everything. Aired it back up to ~25# and there was sealant oozing and bubbling out of that same seam like crazy. I let it sit and it leaked down to ~5-10# or so and I left it over night. In the morning it was still at 5-10# so I pumped it up to 25ish and it held.

Annoying....
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Old 12-11-23, 10:29 AM
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A possible concern - as you ride, centrifugal force will be doing its best to throw sealant away from the rim base toward the tire. I'm not a tubeless rider but if I were, I think I'd carry the appropriate tube with me for my first forays beyond walking/OK to call for sag distance. (And whatever tire irons that tire requires,)
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Old 12-11-23, 11:00 AM
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A tube would fix this...

Just kidding. Apart from rim tape/sealant you may have identified a manufacturing defect. Not good...
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