water inside rim-normal?

[nedc]

I took the front tire off of my 150 elite today and there was a lot of water in there-rusted the rim up good. Is this normal and caused by condensation? Don't remember seeing this occur before on other tubeless tires I have changed. Wondering if it is worthwhile to derust the rim and paint it again.

[Tosh Togo]

Originally Posted by nedc

I took the front tire off of my 150 elite today and there was a lot of water in there-rusted the rim up good. Is this normal and caused by condensation? Don't remember seeing this occur before on other tubeless tires I have changed. Wondering if it is worthwhile to derust the rim and paint it again.

It's probably not condensation... more likely it's from a supply of compressed air that hasn't had all the water bled out of it.

Where/what do you usually do to fill up your tires?.

[JerryH]

I have seen this happen quite often on wire spoke wheels. The water gets inside the rim through the holes where the spoke nipples go. The rim strip does not do a very good job of sealing things. This is especially true of dirt and dual sport bikes that are ridden through water. But the Elite has a solid rim, the only hole in it is for the valve stem. Since most motorcycle and scooter tubes use metal threaded stems with a nut inside, it's not completely waterproof, but should be pretty close. Also remember that the tire does not have a bead seal like on tubeless tires, and if the tire pressure were too low, or you used a high pressure washer on it, water could also get in between the tire and rim. Since there is no rim seal, you can still use the rims, unless they are rusted so badly they are structurally unsound.

[nedc]

I haven't bled the water from my compressor tank in a while. Will do that before filling the new tire. Thanks for reminding me.

Originally Posted by Tosh Togo

It's probably not condensation... more likely it's from a supply of compressed air that hasn't had all the water bled out of it.

Where/what do you usually do to fill up your tires?.

[vortexau]

Originally Posted by nedc

I haven't bled the water from my compressor tank in a while. Will do that before filling the new tire. Thanks for reminding me.

Normal compressor practice is to bleed the air (+ condensate) at the end of the day, or end of session if no more activity is planed. Leave the valve open as ice can block the orifice during the process.