Changing tubeless tires, can I use the old sealant?

Hi all,

I want to swap my tubeless tires for a race. I have just install the old tire few weeks ago and I believe the old sealant is still effective. How do I change the tire and reuse the sealant without making a mess?

Thank you!

You might be able to pour the old sealant into a cup if you remove the tire from the rim carefully. This also depends a bit on the casing of the tire and its flexibility. :face_with_peeking_eye:

Otherwise, if you have a syringe, you might be able to suck the sealant out of the tire once its off the rim. :man_shrugging:

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Remove the valve core and syringe the sealant out with the valve stem closest to the floor (obviously). Put it in to the new tyre the same way. Or just use new sealant.

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Thanks for the reply! After I suck out the sealant using a syringe and remove the old tire, should I clean up the rim before installing the new tire?

If I am putting a new tire on immediately, I don’t. You are just wiping off sealant and then adding more. I do clean it all up once the new tire is mounted. Don’t want that sealant on the outside of your rim to dry.

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I would wipe it down moderately and try and get any ‘booger’ off that might interfere with the seal. I don’t go crazy over it but about a 75% effort wipe down.

I also will pull out old sealant with a syringe to use in the new tire, largely to minimize mess and so changing tires more frequently doesn’t seem like much of a cost.

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Back when I was working as a bike mechanic we had customers that used Orange Seal and wanted it to be reused because they felt it was expensive. It was pain in the butt, but the customer is always right, right? Me? I always use fresh sealant with a new tire. The old stuff has been in the tire for quite a while, has been refreshed a few times, has lost particulates and latex by coating the inside of the tire, and lost volatile components through transpiration through the rubber. If you use CO2, it has create carbonic acid in the sealant which neutralizes the ammonia that keeps the latex from coagulating, and contributes greatly to the creation of stanimals. Fresh rubber and fresh sealant. I love that smell.

Truthfully, you are never getting much sealant out of the old tire. You almost always need to add more to it and therefore are refreshing it if your old tire has been on for some time.

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I’m constantly swapping tires and always reuse sealant. I use a turkey baster to pull most of the old sealant from tire and then put it in an empty bottle while I’m mounting the next tire. Then, dump that into the newly mounted tire and add a little bit of new stuff to top it off. Set the bead and done. I make sure I don’t mix sealant types, I’ve heard this can be a problem (ie - stans vs. orange seal).

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I always reuse sealant. Though I am mostly swapping MTB tires which is easier to get the sealant out of, and a much higher quantity.

I don’t do any rim prep, just swap tires. Whatever leftover sealant is just going to help seal up.

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I have mixed sealants when doing swaps. Hell did not freeze. Gods did not release fury against me. (as far as I know)

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I reuse sealant often and haven’t had any major issues.

I don’t use the old sealant if it has a watery and thin consistency. I have no way of knowing but I feel the particles are all gone and it won’t seal as well.

I’d clean the rims/bead. When Ive reused sealant in the past (moved tyres still with good sealant from winter wheels to summer wheels before topping up) I’ve had a problem once of a tyre refusing to seat because of a dried sealant bobble.

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