Water in tube.

[jtreagan]

I'm fixing up my wife's old bike to sell and when I pulled the tube on the front tire it had water in it. Haven't seen that before. What would cause that and is it a problem I need to take care of?

Thanks.

John

[Jesper]

(07-26-2021, 03:12 PM)jtreagan Wrote:  I'm fixing up my wife's old bike to sell and when I pulled the tube on the front tire it had water in it. Haven't seen that before. What would cause that and is it a problem I need to take care of?

Thanks.

John

Hi John,
How much water? It should not have been very much. I have seen this and it really isn't uncommon, but usually there is very little water; this is partly what reduces the life of tubes. If you are regularly pumping up the same tire than it may have more water than others; still should be fairly small amount. There is a little physics involved; somewhat similar to the way an air conditioning system works. Gas under pressure which is then allowed to expand rapidly then cools and can release the moisture in the air as a precipitant condensate in the tube. The air has to be moist for this to happen; probably most common in higher humidity areas when pumping up outside (early morning just before dawn or there about is the highest relative humidity; thus the dew at that time of day). One solution is to pump your tires up in an air conditioned space where much of the moisture has already condensed out of the air.

You do not have to do anything, but I would probably replace the tube anyways since it may be deteriorated inside. If selling it is a good idea to replace tubes if they are not fairly new already. Usually helps with the sale and provides a more reliable bike for a potential customer to test ride; not to mention it is one of the least expensive parts to replace.

[jtreagan]

Thanks, @Jesper , I figured it had to have something to do with condensation. There was actually quite a lot of water in the tube. I hung it valve down and it drained for a good minute or more. I haven't pumped that tire up very often as we didn't get to use it very much. We purchased it for my wife to try out (so she could get some exercise), but she couldn't ride It much because of a disability. So, it's been sitting unused for a year. It's a really nice bike. I'm fixing it up to sell and learning some bike mechanic skills in the process. Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to go ahead and replace that tube. The new owners don't need to hassle with a bad tube right from the beginning.

John

[JohnWebike]

(07-26-2021, 03:12 PM)jtreagan Wrote:  I'm fixing up my wife's old bike to sell and when I pulled the tube on the front tire it had water in it. Haven't seen that before. What would cause that and is it a problem I need to take care of?

Thanks.

John

If you use an air compressor with a tank to inflate tires, the tank may have accumulation of water in the bottom. There is usually a drain valve to drain this condensed water. Otherwise it may mix with air leaving the compressor tank.