psycholist said:
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:On 12 Sep 2004 13:44:43 GMT, [email hidden] (Paul
Nevai) said:Another day, another surprise. I found out that the presta valve on one
of my
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:tubes screws out. In fact, it screws out and the tube loses pressure
appr. one out of ten times when I screw of the little plastic valve cap
from
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:it. I never knew that those cores can be screwed out and it appears that
on
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:all but one of my tubes it can't be screwed out, and are in fact not even
separate pieces but are part of the valve stem.
Let me try to specify. It's not the "core" what screws out but the thing
which holds the core and which itself is screwed into the valve stem.
So when this thingie can be screwed out, is this a "lower" or "higher"
quality indicator.
Also, how can I screw it in so it would never ever screw out again, I
tried
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:to wrap a rubber piece around it and then use a wise grip plier but I am
not
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:sure it worked.
Thanks, Paul
Dear Paul,
Sealant tubes use this design to allow pumping goo into the
tube.
If you're screwing a plastic cap onto a Presta valve so hard
that it unscrews a metal fitting, you may be using
considerablly more force than necessary.
I'm not recommending a torque wrench for valve caps, but
using two fingers and a lighter grip may help.
Carl Fogel
Carl,
If you've ever used a valve extender, you know that you sometimes have to
screw them on pretty tightly to avoid having more of the air you pump in
exit via the threads instead of going into the tube. It can be a real trick
to screw them on tight enough for inflation, but loose enough that they can
be removed without coring the valve.
FYI,
Bob C.
Dear Bob,
True, but the original post specifically complains about
plastic valve caps, not extenders.
As for valve extenders, I found them so annoying that I
switched to long valve stems after fooling around with
teflon tape to seal the threads.
Another problem is that the extender is just a hollow shell
that fits down over the real Presta valve, whose lock-nut
must be left unscrewed, leaving nothing but air-pressure to
seal the valve.
In addition to the obvious problem of losing air-pressure
without a lock-nut, the extender makes it hard to break a
stuck valve free.
This can cause two problems. First, you can't pump the tube
any further if the valve sticks on a mostly-filled tube.
Second, you can't let the air out to collapse a slow-leak
flat to remove the tire.
So you have to remove and replace the extender, an awkward
job, or else carry something to poke down into it to free
the hidden Presta valve.
In general, most small adaptors, extenders, and adjustable
devices fail to work as well as the real things whose
specific purpose they are meant to imitate.
Carl Fogel