tube patching trouble

Sundog

Hello all,

I have been riding as long a dirt has been around. In the
last year or two I have been having a lot of trouble getting
patches to work on tubes. The last 3 brands of tubes
(Bontrager, REI and no name tubes from performance cycle)
all have larges seems on them. If the leak is near one of
these seems the patch lifts under pressure and the air finds
a channel along the seem under the patch. Double pinch flats
(snake bite) have been a real problem. I have tried to rub
off the ridge with the sand paper supplied with the patch
kit but it does not help much. I am having to dump a lot of
the tubes I am getting after the first repair attempt. I
don't ever remember having this kind of trouble until about
a year or so ago.

Are others having problems like this?

Werehatrack

On Sun, 4 Jul 2004 19:45:34 -0600, "sundog" <sundog@mountaindogs.net>
wrote:

>Hello all,
>
>I have been riding as long a dirt has been around. In the
>last year or two I have been having a lot of trouble
>getting patches to work on tubes. The last 3 brands of
>tubes (Bontrager, REI and no name tubes from performance
>cycle) all have larges seems on them. If the leak is near
>one of these seems the patch lifts under pressure and the
>air finds a channel along the seem under the patch. Double
>pinch flats (snake bite) have been a real problem. I have
>tried to rub off the ridge with the sand paper supplied
>with the patch kit but it does not help much. I am having
>to dump a lot of the tubes I am getting after the first
>repair attempt. I don't ever remember having this kind of
>trouble until about a year or so ago.
>
>Are others having problems like this?

Perhaps I'm older than dirt; I was having that problem in
the 1960s.

The sandpaper in the kits isn't aggressive enough to flatten
those ridges that are left by the mold parting lines. I use
hardware-store emery cloth in a fairly coarse form, and a
diamond-abrasive nail file. Also, I find that it helps quite
a lot to make absolutely sure that the adhesive is applied
once, immediately scraped off, and then a second coat
applied and allowed to dry *for at least 15 to 20 minutes*
before applying the patch. Following this procedure, I have
not had any patch failures in well over a year, and very few
prior to that.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to
reply via email. Surrealism is a pectinated ranzel.

Bay Area Dave

sundog wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I have been riding as long a dirt has been around. In the
> last year or two I have been having a lot of trouble
> getting patches to work on tubes. The last 3 brands of
> tubes (Bontrager, REI and no name tubes from performance
> cycle) all have larges seems on them. If the leak is near
> one of these seems the patch lifts under pressure and the
> air finds a channel along the seem under the patch. Double
> pinch flats (snake bite) have been a real problem. I have
> tried to rub off the ridge with the sand paper supplied
> with the patch kit but it does not help much. I am having
> to dump a lot of the tubes I am getting after the first
> repair attempt. I don't ever remember having this kind of
> trouble until about a year or so ago.
>
> Are others having problems like this?
>
>
I've done away with in-field tube repairs by running on
Slime. Ever tried it? One day, my son and I avoid 3 flats
between us, one particularly "thorny" day. Just pulled them
out and kept on riding. The biggest gripe I have with the
Slime is that the valves sometimes leak from slime fibers
getting caught under the valve after checking the air. Also,
its tougher to pump up the tires after the valves are
clogged with slime. I ride for exercise and don't care about
the added weight...

dave

Weisse Luft

I agree with the above reply with regards to the abrasive supplied with most kits. Even emery is a poor abrasive for rubber. Try brand new silicon carbide paper in the 120-200 grit range.

If you have a Dremel tool, use a fine abrasive drum, inflate the tube and CAREFULLY buff that seam away. It takes only seconds and you can easily ruin a tube if you don't use very light pressure and try to do it without inflating the tube (or stretching it out flat). But if you have a mess of tubes to fix, its the only way.

David Damerell

sundog <sundog@mountaindogs.net> wrote:
>I have been riding as long a dirt has been around. In the
>last year or two I have been having a lot of trouble
>getting patches to work on tubes. The last 3 brands of
>tubes (Bontrager, REI and no name tubes from performance
>cycle) all have larges seems on them.

Carry a razor head (from the kind of razor where the shaft
is kept, but the head is disposable) and shave the seam off
the tube in the area that will be under the patch.
--
David Damerell <damerell@chiark.greenend.org.uk> Kill
the tomato!

Jamie Trailblaz

If You fix the flat at home use some kind of weight on the
patch .It works for me I have a buddy who cant patch a tube
so he always buys new tubes .keepsme in a good supply I just
take the time in the Garage to patch them and there like new
seam or not.The weight on the patch keep it tight while the
glue cures. Or I Have friend that uses slime and loves it
.If he goes for a ride and the tire is flat he just pumps it
up and is good to go.He has been using it for years.Now he's
using the slime light tubes they are same weight as a reg
cheep tube . Just a thought,

Bay Area Dave

Jamie TrailBlazer At Large wrote:

> If You fix the flat at home use some kind of weight on the
> patch .It works for me I have a buddy who cant patch a
> tube so he always buys new tubes .keepsme in a good supply
> I just take the time in the Garage to patch them and there
> like new seam or not.The weight on the patch keep it tight
> while the glue cures. Or I Have friend that uses slime and
> loves it .If he goes for a ride and the tire is flat he
> just pumps it up and is good to go.He has been using it
> for years.Now he's using the slime light tubes they are
> same weight as a reg cheep tube . Just a thought,
>
>
I haven't heard of the "slime light" tubes. Do they have
less than 4 oz of slime in them? I've always just bought a
large bottle and added the recommended amount of slime,
which if memory serves, is 4 oz per tire.

Slime has saved me countless flats from thorns. I just pull
them out, out shoots a little spittle of slime, and then
pffft! it's good to go without even using a pump.

dave