I was patching my daughter's tube last night. I hadn't patched a tube in
a couple of years. I found that the rubber cement had pretty much dried
up. It had become very thick and sticky. I couldn't spread it well. I
tried to apply it anyway. Then I put the patch on, and I applied heat. I
did it by putting the tube, patch side down, onto the electric burner on
my stove. I pressed for about a second, then I pressed the tube onto my
cutting board, which was cold. I repeated this a few times. My aim was
to make the edges of the patch look bonded to the tube. I didn't exactly
reach that goal, but I came close.
I was a bit dubious that it would hold, but it was worth a try. I put
the tube and tire back on the rim and inflated to 40 psi. I figured if
it held for the night, it might hold for good. This morning, it was
fine, and my daughter rode off to school.
Interesting, huh? Back in the 70's, I saw a section in Glenn's Bicycle
Repair about hot patching, but I thought it was silly. Of course,
necessity made trying the technique worthwhile.
Tom Reingold
Noo Joizy