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" <[email protected]>
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]

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 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 <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> Kill the tomato!

 

[Jamie TrailBlazer At Large]

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

 

[Rick Onanian]

On Mon, 05 Jul 2004 04:01:14 GMT, Weisse Luft
<[email protected]> wrote:
>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.

I second all of the above. Works great for me. I did, of course,
ruin a tube the first time I tried it.
--
Rick Onanian