On Wed, 4 Jan 2017 12:29:31 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 1/3/2017 11:23 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:


Contact cement. It's a neoprene rubber based goo that remains fairly
flexible if applied in a very thin layer. Smear some on both the tire
and the patch, let air dry for at least 10 minutes (longer is better),
and stick together with a little compression pressure. I've used a
roller, two blocks of wood and a C-clamp, and beating on the sandwich
with a hammer. They all work.

I generally change tubes on the road, then patch the leaking tube at home.

Same here. However, I don't ride enough to get very many flats. The
bane of my life are leaking tubes. Even brand new tubes (Nashbar's
cheapest) tend to leak. I've done a bubble test and usually find pin
holes at random location. It's not worth the effort doing the full
patch job for a pin hole, so I just stretch the tube so I can see the
hole, fill it with rubber cement, wipe off the excess, and let it dry.
That works, until a new pinhole appears.

Then, there are the leaky tire valves, usually because I've lost the
caps and the valve is full of dirt. Sigh.

At home, the first step is to clamp a 1" dowel in my bench vise and
drape the tube over it with the leak facing upwards. That's the support
while I scuff the tube using ordinary sandpaper. I find the cylindrical
surface makes it easier to scuff thoroughly.

Good idea. Thanks.

With the inner tube still hanging from the dowel, I then apply cement,
let it dry a bit and apply the patch. Next I take another dowel held
perpendicular to the one in the vise, and roll back and forth over the
patch to apply pressure. The contact area is thus smaller and the
pressure on the patch greater. I don't believe I've ever had a patch
fail after being applied this way.

Yep. Much easier to fix a tire on the bench than on the road. What
drove me nuts and inspired me to carry spare tubes is having more than
one hole in the tube. I would assume that the leak I found is the
only one, patch it, and after putting everything back together, find
the tube still leaking air. After patching one tube 4 times on the
road, and running out of patches, I decided that life is too short to
waste on this exercise.

Flame vulcanizing tire patch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ennV0BVFZVw
I did that during the 1960's when I worked in a gas station.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558