e*thirteen has released the Quick Fill Plasma Valve, a modified version of the ubiquitous Presta Valve designed to make sealant top-ups easier. The brand tells us this valve is one of a kind, connecting directly to the sealant bottle for direct injection. To us, that says a bit more about the sealant bottle than it does the valve itself, but let’s run with it for now…
e*thirteen Quick Fill Plasma Tubeless Valve
While it doesn’t look too dissimilar to the 76 Project’s Hi Flow No Clog valve, the internal architecture of the e*thirteen valve is really very different. That, and the Reserve Fillmore, are both complete redesigns of Presta, whereas the Quick Fill Plasma Valve utilizes the same Presta head you’ll see almost everywhere else. So, there should be no problem using it with screw-on or push-on pumps, or a tire pressure gauge. Lower down the valve stem is where things start to get funky.
This one is a four-piece valve comprising a base nut, valve body, carrier, and valve cap. The carrier portion, which houses the Presta head, threads into the valve body. It is on the valve body where we see a much wider, higher volume section wherein sealant can be directly injected. As you can probably tell from the above diagram, the valve is pushed through the rim from the outside, threading into the base nut which interfaces the rim bed.
To add sealant, you simply release the air from the tire through the Presta valve, then unscrew the carrier to reveal the higher volume valve body. You can then dispense sealant through the valve directly from the e*thirteen Plasma Tubeless Sealant bottle.
Arguably, this isn’t too dissimilar to removing the core of a regular Presta valve and simply injecting sealant through the stem. That said it is a tool-free process (no core removal tool required), and is probably much less messy. It also means that the narrow-lumen of the Presta mechanism need not come into contact with the sealant. Thus, it should be more resistant to clogging up.
Its increased volume, as compared to a regular Presta Valve, means the e*thirteen Quick Fill Plasma valve allows for greater air flow. While Reserve and 76 Projects claim 4X increased air flow through their tubeless valves, there are no bold claims from e*thirteen in this department. The press release simply states “[the] oversize stem allows for high volume flow, ease of inflation and pressure adjustment”.
Once installed within a complete tubeless setup, there is no scope for tightening the base nut without removing the tire, so it might not be a bad idea to stick a bit of thread lock on there to prevent it loosening over time. An upside to this particular base nut is that it is machined to be compatible with the use of tight-fitting tire inserts such as CushCore and the like.
Pricing & Availability
The e*thirteen Quick Fill Plasma Tubeless Valve is available now in two lengths (16-24mm and 23-31mm) to accommodate most rim profiles. Colors available are black, bronze, eggplant, naranja, retailing at $24.95 USD, A fifth color named intergalactic is coming soon, and that one is priced at $29.95 USD.
