How To Repair Air Hose
When it comes to repairing and maintaining your wheel—with brakes, derailleurs, cables, and more—the checklist can seem endless. But at that place'due south one other crucial, though frequently disregarded, element that's arguably but every bit important to care for in order to keep your bike rolling: your flooring pump.
Sure, your floor pump volition kick the bucket eventually. But if a part breaks or isn't working quite as well equally it used to, chances are you'll be able to fix it.
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"In my time in shops, I take given many pumps a second life," says Bicycling's resident mechanic Joël Nankman, who's wrenched professionally for 13 years. When a customer would come into the shop to buy a new bike pump, Nankman says that sometimes he could simply fix their old one instead.
Many of the repairs and maintenance measures are like shooting fish in a barrel plenty for almost people to do on their own. So when you find yourself with a flooring pump that's failing, don't toss it but yet—you might merely exist able to return it to its old glory. (Plus, it's the eco-friendly thing to do, right?)
Below, Nankman offers his tips on how to repair and maintain your cycle floor pump.
Preventative Maintenance for Floor Pumps
To start, there are some things y'all can do to aid forestall your floor pump from breaking in the kickoff place—namely, storing information technology correctly. Here's what Nankman recommends:
Go on It Dry
You wouldn't go out your bicycle out in the pelting (or perchance you would, but here's why yous shouldn't), and the aforementioned goes for your flooring pump. Store your floor pump somewhere out of the elements and away from wet that could potentially damage it.
Mind the Temperature
I, too, am guilty of chucking my bike pump in the automobile and leaving it there, well, indefinitely. While it might exist user-friendly to always have ane at the trailhead or offset of the group ride, exposing the pump to a wide range of fluctuating temperatures can damage information technology over time, especially the pressure approximate.
Common Bicycle Pump Repairs
Nankman says that, generally, the more money you spend on a bicycle pump, the improve its quality and longevity—though that rule isn't firm and sometimes the virtually affordable floor pumps tin outperform expectations.
According to Nankman, these are the most common parts that volition intermission or require maintenance on a flooring pump: the pump head, the air hose, the pressure judge, and the primary seal (or gasket).
"Depending on the pump, all of those are replaceable," he says. "Typically, as a pump goes upward in price, the more parts are replaceable and available to replace."
Brands such as Lezyne, Park Tool, Specialized, Bontrager, Silca, Topeak, and more than offering replacement parts and rebuild kits for floor pumps. Check with the manufacturer to meet if that'south the instance for yours. If non, y'all might still be able to fix it. O-rings in particular, which maintain the air seal throughout the pump, can exist readily establish in a variety of sizes.
"Very oftentimes parts are cantankerous-uniform," Nankman says, only you'd either need to know that for sure before buying them or happen to already take those parts on mitt to experiment. When in doubtfulness, contact the manufacturer to see if replacement parts are available, or visit your local wheel shop to see if the mechanics can help yous fix it.
Pump Head and Air Hose
It might seem obvious that in gild to prolong the life of your floor pump, you need to apply it correctly. Specifically, you demand to fit the head properly onto the valve. "Make sure you put the pump head on the valve direct and brand sure it is seated," Nankman says. (Besides, make sure you're using the correct valve caput: Here's the deviation betwixt a Presta valve and a Schrader valve.)
Depending on the kind of floor pump yous have, you might be able to replace the unabridged pump head or the o-rings that go inside information technology that create a secure seal. Similarly, it'due south easy to install a new hose; you can often find either the replacement hose or both the hose and pump head together. To install both, simply unscrew the threaded cap at the end and pull the hose or head off the plumbing equipment.
Master Seal
Like the many moving components on your bike, your floor pump parts also require periodic lubrication, specifically the master seal at the end of the plunger. "The main seal—too called the plunger [gasket] or main gasket—is essentially the seal that you are pushing downward and pulling upward to produce air," Nankman says.
If the pumping action feels gritty, sounds noisy, or gives resistance, you lot likely need to lubricate the main seal. Nankman recommends doing it at least once a year, or more oftentimes if the pump is exposed to dry out, dusty conditions. Standard bike grease will do the job, or you could employ Nankman'due south become-to, WD-40 Specialist Silicone spray. Merely if your pump's plunger uses a leather gasket instead of a safety one, yous'll need a specific lubricant, like Silca's NFS Leather Conditioner.
"If using grease, you lot demand to take the pinnacle cap off the pump to expose the plunger. Pull the plunger out of the pump tube. Apply a little bit of grease to the plunger and reassemble," Nankman says. "If using a liquid silicone lubricant, [apply] a good spray on the pump shaft, and then pump upwardly and down a few times to get the lube to get everywhere in the pump."
Pressure Gauge
Over time, your floor pump's pressure gauge tin start to deteriorate, making it less accurate.
"Accuracy is the primary [problem], but that is hard to quantify unless yous get a new pump and compare information technology. I tend to recommend that people get a stand-alone pressure gauge anyway," Nankman says, which you can use to examination the accuracy of your pump'southward force per unit area gauge. "They are cheap. I keep one in each vehicle, and a few around the house."
Follow the manufacturer's instructions on how to swap in a new estimate, though about are fairly straightforward; y'all'll remove the pressure level gauge encompass by either unscrewing it or prying it off.
So, Just How Long Can a Cycle Pump Last?
Well, that depends on the quality of its construction, how well you care for information technology, and the availability of replacement parts over fourth dimension.
Nankman has his grandpa's German language-made SKS RennKompressor floor pump—information technology's almost 50 years old and it yet works (though he admits he uses it sparingly). "I have changed the head once and the leather seal a handful of times," he says.
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Source: https://www.bicycling.com/repair/a35473934/how-to-repair-your-bike-floor-pump/
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