13.6-38 tube leaks, can't find it.

SDE · Jul 22, 2009

Reassembled the tube and tire. Flat the next day. Crap. Pull it apart. Air up tube. Sink it in a water hole. can't find the leak. Bought a new tube. Tire man says that without the weight of the tractor, some will not show a leak. Tomorroww I am going to air it up again and spray it with soapy water and see if I can find it.

What if I fill it with water instead? Would the weight of the water cause the leak to show its self? I hate to lose.
Steve

mattofvinings · Jul 22, 2009

You have to use caution and reason but sometimes additional pressure in the tube will help show the leak.

old · Jul 22, 2009

How big are you making it to check for the leak??? When you check a tube for a leak you need to air them up big as in almost twice what they would be in the tire. Also one thing that will get you every time is a valve core leak and those are not easy to see unless in the tire and on the rim. Been fixing tires for way to many years and have seen just about all the problems

Hugh MacKay · Jul 23, 2009

SDE: In the mid 1970s I had an 18.4x34 tube acting much like yours. I seemed to be able to work tractor all day, then next morning it would be flat. We tried just about every means available to find the leak.

Finally one day I got fed up and told the tire guy to install a new tube. The problem ended. About 1992 I was in the tire guys shop, he said, "Do you remember that tube that gave us so much trouble." I confirmed that I remembered. He took me upstairs to a storage area of his shop, here was this tube inflated to about 6" wider than it would be in the tire. He said, "that is your tube, and has been there untouched since 1978."

Sometimes it just pays dividends to throw tubes out. As I recall that tube wasn"t a particularly old tube when it started giving trouble. Had to be a rubber imperfection.

Nebraska Cowman · Jul 23, 2009

Your friends are right. Sometimes a patch will pull taunt over a hole and won't show the leak for you. What I would try is the oil can treatment. I suppose you would have to add a pint or so on a tire that size but it should seal any leak. Sure it will ruin the tube. But it is no good the way it is. And there are commercial sealers you can buy too but I have never tried them.

Brownie 450 · Jul 23, 2009

Try a small amount of silicone seal on the o-ring of the water valve before you put it back in. We had one that was leaking like yours is, & put 3 different [new] water valves in---all leaked. Used the silicone, & no leaks. Must have been rough inside where the o-ring seated.

SDE · Jul 23, 2009

Thank you for the replies. I had this tube aired up over the winter and it leaked down after about four months. I will give it the 4th of July treatment. ( Air it up until it goes BOOM and then let a little bit out.)LOL
Steve

CGtractor · Jul 23, 2009

Some leaks won"t show up when the tube is outside the tire because you can"t build the same psi that you can inside the tire. I had a similar incident where I couldn"t find the leak. It would stop leaking when it got down to about 3 or 4 psi. Turned out that an inferior patch job (mine) was leaking from under the patch when at the higher psi attainable inside the tire. Bought some real patches ( the first one was a bicycle patch because that was all I had at midnight) and problem was solved.

SDE · Jul 24, 2009

After inflating it to a much larger size, I found one hole in it. I will repair it today and air it back up and see if it is going to stay inflated,
SDE

13.6-38 tube leaks, can't find it.

SDE

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mattofvinings

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old

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Hugh MacKay

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Nebraska Cowman

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Brownie 450

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SDE

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CGtractor

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SDE

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