Do puncture repair kits actually work?

[mrcharly-YHT]

What helly said.

Waiting for the glue to  (nearly) dry is the really important bit. Simply doesn't work without doing that. If the glue is runny, then the patch won't take. You want that solvent to almost be completely gone - when the patch contacts it, it will stick so well there is no chance of peeling it off, it will tear first.

Some of my tubes had 10 or more patches on them before they were retired <sic>.

The instant patches also work, however you need an absolutely clean tube. They are also prone to creep in very hot conditions. They are an absolute winner in very cold conditions, when traditional glue doesn't work (below -5C).

[hellymedic]

I vaguely recall a 'how many patches?' thread a while back.

I'd say a lot!

The underwater inflation advice was for use in the kitchen, where there's usually a good supply of TEA & biscuits.

Roadside patching is a different matter.

If it's rainy, shield your repair with the peak of your hat if possible.

Warm tube with fingertips to assist evaporation. Wear track mitts to keep hands warm and fingertips free.

[Regulator]

I've never had a problem with patches (traditional or self adhesive) - if properly applied they work fine.

But the best thing is to fit Marathon Plus tyres.... 




I managed to get two Marathon Plus Tour off on Sunday and a third back on yesterday without:

• any blood sacrifice
• broken tyre levers
• too many swear words being uttered

 

[Tim Hall]

I, too always leave mine on, on the basis it may stop the patch vulcanising itself to the tyre casing.

A (possibly incorrect) pedant speaks. I don't think, despite what it says on the tube of glue, that the patch vulcanises, as this implies cross linking of sulphur bonds achieved by using high temperatures. Vulcanisation is an irreversible, chemical change. You can unstick an innertube patch by the gentle application of heat (press it onto the heated surface of a non stick frying pan).

The patch might stick to the tyre casing, not vulcanise.

[LEE]

Youtube is your friend when you want to know how to do something.......

There are tips mentioned above, in addition to this video, that make life easier (such as making sure the tyre logo is centred around the valve, to aid flint location in the tyre casing), and personal variations on the theme, but here is the basic technique.....

Puncture Repair video

[EllysH]

I didn't expect this thread to become so popular!

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[LEE]

I didn't expect this thread to become so popular!

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Try asking whether Helmets should be compulsory.

[Kim]

2) Roughen LARGE area round it.

The objective here isn't a atually a rough surface (note how smooth the underside of the patch is), but removal of mould release and other contamination (eg. chalk) from the surface of the tube.  Hence fine sandpaper is more effective than the cheesegrater thing you sometimes get in puncture repair kits.

If there's a seam in the area to be patched, this will need to be smoothed out by careful use of a sharp blade or particularly aggressive sanding.

6) Scratch patch onto tube with a thumbnail over patch covering till this starts breaking up. Then start peeling this away from the centre outwards.

This works, or just leave the covering in place.  It will disintegrate harmlessly over time without disturbing the patch.

Check tube is airtight by inflating it and passing under water, There may be a second puncture or a faulty valve.

Inflating a freshly-patched tube outside a tyre is a great way to stress the patch and encourage it to fail.  I'd only resort to this if you put it back in the tyre and discover it's still not holding air.

While punctures can generally be located by sound or feeling the air escaping on your lips, the sink of water technique is by far the best way to determine whether the valve is slowly leaking.

Dry tube and fold to use as spare.

Or put it in the tyre and return the known-good tube you swapped it for to spare duty.  That way you'll soon know if the patch didn't take properly, rather than discovering it 6 months later at the side of the road.

[zigzag]

repair patches stick extremely well to latex inner tubes and no sanding preparation is required. that was partially the reason (together with a nicer feel) to use them on the tcr last year. daily top up with air has cost me an ~hour (5min/day), but i reckon that was compensated by faster rolling tyres.

[ian]

I have paid very little attention to detail and I have roughened the tube with the pavement and used dirt as a substitute for chalk, and during a downpour in darkest Peckham, and never had a repair fail. The only time I've ever replaced an inner tube is when the valve (inevitably) falls out.

That said, puncture-proof (or very resistant) tyres are something I wouldn't give up for the world these days. Otherwise, London streets and paths are a good way to get plenty of practice fixing punctures. I learned mine as a BMXer in my wayward youth (though to be honest I don't remember getting many punctures back then).

[LEE]

Inflating a freshly-patched tube outside a tyre is a great way to stress the patch and encourage it to fail.  I'd only resort to this if you put it back in the tyre and discover it's still not holding air.

My practice is to gently inflate the tube to the approximate diameter of the tyre before sticking the patch on.  It's under almost zero pressure and means that the patch contact area doesn't need to stretch when inflated later.  I always re-fit my tubes very lightly inflated as well, to help reduce likelihood of pinching the tube with tyre bead.

My grandad taught me all this...50 years ago.  It was a valuable lesson.

[Kim]

Inflating a freshly-patched tube outside a tyre is a great way to stress the patch and encourage it to fail.  I'd only resort to this if you put it back in the tyre and discover it's still not holding air.

My practice is to gently inflate the tube to the approximate diameter of the tyre before sticking the patch on.  It's under almost zero pressure and means that the patch contact area doesn't need to stretch when inflated later.

Interesting.  I suppose you need to apply sufficient pressure that the escaping air doesn't form a channel under the patch.

[citoyen]

If there's a seam in the area to be patched, this will need to be smoothed out by careful use of a sharp blade or particularly aggressive sanding.

I often don't bother and it seems not to make a difference. YMMV, of course.

[Kim]

If there's a seam in the area to be patched, this will need to be smoothed out by careful use of a sharp blade or particularly aggressive sanding.

I often don't bother and it seems not to make a difference. YMMV, of course.

It's the usual reason my attempts at patching fail, but that's presumably because I'm getting all the other stuff right.  I don't get many failures.

Size of the tube seems to make a difference, with larger tubes being more forgiving of poor patching technique (and correspondingly less chance of a puncture being close to the seam).


But I don't get very many fixable punctures, anyway (mainly hawthorn vs mountain bike or glass vs Brompton).  My most used bikes have sturdy tyres, so deflations on those tend to be valve related (typically the core needing tightening, but sometimes failure of the point where the valve stem meets the tube).  I recently had a lightweight tube split along the seam, which I patched successfully, but the split propagated beyond the patch.  Presumably a manufacturing defect.

[LEE]

Inflating a freshly-patched tube outside a tyre is a great way to stress the patch and encourage it to fail.  I'd only resort to this if you put it back in the tyre and discover it's still not holding air.

My practice is to gently inflate the tube to the approximate diameter of the tyre before sticking the patch on.  It's under almost zero pressure and means that the patch contact area doesn't need to stretch when inflated later.

Interesting.  I suppose you need to apply sufficient pressure that the escaping air doesn't form a channel under the patch. (You can see the tube is lightly inflated, it doesn't take much (any?) pressure to get it to the diameter of the inside of a tyre.

Normally just squeezing patch in place for a minute is enough to secure everything although it's been a long time since I repaired by the roadside.  At home I clamp the patch in place with a plastic bag clamp and some cardboard.  I also carry a clamp in my toolkit.

Like this....
Cardboard is folded round both sides of tube to press over all of patch.  Clamp holds it in place while glue dries.  I've used it on a friend's tube by the roadside while he fitted new tube.  I clamped the repaired one, folded it all up and stuffed it in saddlebag.  Dragons Den anyone?

Once it's all clamped I let the small amount of air out before rolling it up.  The tube in the photo is inflated slightly, to the approx volume of the tyre, to avoid any stretching/deformation.

[Kim]

At home I clamp the patch in place with a plastic bag clamp and some cardboard.  I also carry a clamp in my toolkit.

A slightly more portable version of my bar-clamp technique.   

I tend to carry one of those clamps for open packets of biscuits or similar when touring, so I'll have to bear that in mind.

[EllysH]

At home I clamp the patch in place with a plastic bag clamp and some cardboard.  I also carry a clamp in my toolkit.

A slightly more portable version of my bar-clamp technique.   

I tend to carry one of those clamps for open packets of biscuits or similar when touring, so I'll have to bear that in mind.

Ooh, those bag clips are a good idea.

Save me having to shake biscuit crumbs from my pockets.

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[bludger]

I like the barbieri kit from Planet X. https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TOBARKL1/barbieri-large-tip-top-1-repair-kit

The patches aren't the stickiest but I find using a second application of the cement to get the patches to go flat it works very well, I've got a repaired tube in both tyres right now and they work without problems.

I've recently bought some "self adhesive" patches but intend to use them in the same way as the patches that came with the kit.

They do a version that works for tubeless too https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TOBARKL/barbieri-large-tubeless-repair-kit

[LEE]

At home I clamp the patch in place with a plastic bag clamp and some cardboard.  I also carry a clamp in my toolkit.

A slightly more portable version of my bar-clamp technique.   

I tend to carry one of those clamps for open packets of biscuits or similar when touring, so I'll have to bear that in mind.

They are a bit like paper-clips in that their intended use is just one of many more uses* (like holding my headphone cord, USB leads...and so on).

* I used a paper-clip this week for cliping some paper together before visiting a Solicitor.  It may be the first time I used a paper-clip for its original use for...hmmm....20 years perhaps. 

[citoyen]

Like this....
Cardboard is folded round both sides of tube to press over all of patch.  Clamp holds it in place while glue dries.  I've used it on a friend's tube by the roadside while he fitted new tube.  I clamped the repaired one, folded it all up and stuffed it in saddlebag.  Dragons Den anyone?

I like that. Very neat. I'll give you £10 for 50% of the company.

[drossall]

I've used the same kit for about forty years. Trigger's broom applies of course. My only failures have been when the hole was a slit - they tend to expand under the patch and blow out when they reach the edge. I threw out two tubes last weekend for that reason, without attempting repairs. They were victims of rim-tape problems, not regular punctures.

But most normal punctures are pin-holes and mend just fine. I've had tubes with a dozen or more patches.

[EllysH]

The saga continues!

Sorted the puncture out, one has held nicely but I tried to make one patch fit two holes.

It was a silly idea.

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[Gattopardo]

At home I clamp the patch in place with a plastic bag clamp and some cardboard.  I also carry a clamp in my toolkit.

A slightly more portable version of my bar-clamp technique.   

I tend to carry one of those clamps for open packets of biscuits or similar when touring, so I'll have to bear that in mind.

Is there a what biscuit is best for touring thread?

[woollypigs]

The only time I have had repair fail was when I used a self-adhesive on a very rainy night.

Where the "fix" have sometimes failed: is while faffing about, I forgot to check for the thorn/glass, that caused the hole in the first place, was still stuck in the tyre. Or got grit/glass back into the tyre while fitting the inner tube and then the tyre back onto to the rim. Or manged to pinch the inner while swearing, offering blood to the gods and looking for a spare tyre levers

Fitting something like Marathon Plus tyre make it much harder to get a visit. When I have had a visit, it was because of a big nail, thorn or glass. I have fixed it with a repair kit and forgotten about it for years.  I have a few time fitted a new set of tyres because of wear and then looked at the inner to see a patch and have no memory about that, what so ever.

[hellymedic]

Rubber solution should be runny.
Solvent evaporates quite quickly after a tube is opened.
Batch repairs at home make sense but have a small unopened tube for roadside use.