Tubolito tubes leaking air

chocim wrote:

As Podc above has suggested, the problem may be insufficiently tight valve cores. This was also something that we thought of yesterday evening, so we retightened them (using latex gloves gives better purchase than using bare hands, and they are pretty tight now) and we'll see what happens.

Conti tubes have flats on the valve core so you can get an adjustable spanner or plier on them. They only need to be nipped up, not really tight, but I suspect finger tight might work loose or not quite seal.

I got caught out by this the other day, ended up taking the wheel off and hunting for a puncture that wasn't there. Wasn't a new tube either - been on years!

Good news that has sorted it.

I reckon the thing that causes my valve cores to work loose is the head on my track pump. It's a clamp on type and just the process of attaching and removing this is enough to work the core loose after a while.

If it happens again, you could try using a wrap of ptfe plumbers tape - often used on valve extenders to give a better seal. It is slightly squishy and will help the thread grip a little better but still let you undo the core if you need to.

that's a good tip - got some in the garage (somewhere!)

I had this over the last week; an infuriating 'slow puncture' (losing roughly 30 psi a day) that I spent hours looking for then changed the tube, despite finding no damage to the old one. After reading this thread I've just fished it out of the bin and checked and yep, very slightly loose valve core on the outgoing tube, caused (presumably) by my slide on track pump. Oh well, lesson learned and an extra spare tube!

Always do the squeeze while submerged test, that would have been an expensive waste.