OT: Puncture

[Andy Burns]

There are those "sticky string" and big darning needle repair kits ... not sure if they're legal?

[T i m]

<snip>

Is it a 'repair process' though. If you have your tyres professionally 'pre treated' (so by 'a business'), then what?

What of the Continental tyre Contiseal range? How would you know if you have ever had a puncture to then get it checked? Why would you care if you had had a puncture if the solution only fixes those punctures which are safe and reliable to fix?

As do I (or one of them)?

As do I and why I *buy* Punctureseal and apply it to our tyres.

So, you are hoping that if you (or family member) get a puncture you notice it before the tyre runs hot and (catastrophically) blows out?

Do you get someone else to risk their lives (the AA for example) changing your / their punctured tyre at the side of a busy motorway, when more often than not (Punctureseal has limits of course) you would have just driven safely home?

My point is there is more to all of this than just 'a puncture', I know that Punctureseal and works and *I* feel safer (for me and my family) with it installed.

As it happens, I have also used it post puncture and because I understand how it works and know that it does (and because I would be aware of what the puncture was, could even better determine how appropriate it was as a form of solution, prior treatment), I feel much much happier with it there. ;-)

But as I said, YMMV. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

<snip>

Ok. I went to an official presentation at a road safety testing place that demonstrated that many (motorcyclists in this case) risked death because of head (or more accurately, brain) injuries because of the material the BS test allowed to be used. Basically the standard is BS and means they have actually become *less safe* over the years.

They had an alternative lining material that was scientifically proven to be able to increase the safety value of 'safety helmets' but any helmet using such material wouldn't conform to the required standard for reasons that were rarely party to the death of the wearer.

So, why would (most of the) the tyre manufacturers or tyre fitting places advocate an alternative solution to these punctures when they can supply and fit new tyres?

I wouldn't a fit a second hand tyre (or run a new to me car on such tyres for long) because I would have no idea of it's history, including of it had had a puncture, been run soft for some time and then been 'professionally repaired'.

Unfortunately I have seen too many 'professionals' fit tyres incorrectly to know I'd rather trust what I know to work over what they might do. ;-(

I repeat, I'm not advocating *you* use Punctureseal over replacing the tyre, or car particularly if you get soaking wet and cold changing a wheel when you might not have had to, but I might have something to say about it when your deflating tyre blows out, you cross the central reservation and hit me or my family when you could potentially have prevented such.

OOI, do all the TPS systems to put the vehicle in 'limp home mode' if they detect an under inflated tyre or do they rely on the driver knowing what to do (and doing it quick enough) when the light comes on?

Cheers, T i m

[F]

Ouch! The local independent charges £12. And they use a torque wrench to refit the wheel rather than a 6' scaffolding pole!

[Tim+]

Successfully used it ?post puncture? too. Another thing I?ve noticed was that pre-treatment, I had to periodically top up my tyre pressures. Not had to post-treatment.

Tim+

[T i m]

<snip>

;-)

Yup, that's another positive side effect, it reduces the porosity of the tyre, not only at the main area of the coverage (behind the tread area) but possibly all over down to any of the sealant that may end up as a vapour.

The problem I've often encountered is getting people to not confuse this sort of solution from the 'get you home' vinyl stuff or any other products that simply don't work.

I gave a mate half a tub of Punctureseal to retrospectively repair a puncture on his TL1100s motorcycle and he was so pleased with the result (and saved him a nearly new tyre) that he bought what he thought as more of the same for his other bikes and a replacement tub for me. I questioned the 'brand' (there were copies trying to cash in on the good name) and when I tried to use it helping another motorcyclist (daughters bf) it didn't really work (it only worked well enough to allow him to gently ride the bike the 5 miles to our house). As the tyre was actually pretty worn, we just replaced the tyre in any case.

Another mate applied it to his employers quad-mower thing that was

*always* (weekly) being plagued with thorn induced punctures. Never suffered a puncture thereafter. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Mark]

Nope if you can change a bicycle tyre you could do a car tyre with a simple DIY bead breaker and you dont need a Large compressor to pop it back on the beads just the right technique

-

[Steven]

Yep.

Taint that easy getting it back on the beads.

Still can't use the one down the servo.

[harry]

It stops the leakage between the rim and the tyre. Some alloy wheels were porous too. (Nowadays laquered to fix the problem)

[T i m]

<snip>

Not really, any more that it can directly fix porosity outside where the sealant sits (and it goes nowhere near the rim).

To understand why that is right you would have to also understand what we are talking about and how it works.

Cheers, T i m

[Dave Plowman (News)]

But I'd saved them the effort of removing and replacing the wheel - and having the car blocking up the place while they fixed the puncture. Which makes it even more expensive. ;-)

[tabbypurr]

I'd be surprised if it never touched the rim. Have you opened some up to see?

NT

[Tim+]

I must admit given its viscosity, I would have thought that there would be a bit of a "sluggish rain" of sealant from the top of the tyre whenever one stops.

T i m, have you ever successfully recovered any sealant when getting new tyres?

Tim+

[T i m]

You would think, seeing it going in as a very viscous liquid but no, not in my experience.

Yup. Daughter was forced into the kerb by a car not giving her right of way in a contraflow bit and she punched a 5p sized hole in the sidewall new and Puncturesealed tyre (which instantly deflated of course as there was no sealant on the sidewall).

So, we bought a new tyre and made up a scoop using an old milk bottle and scraped the sealant out of the damaged tyre and into a clean container, to then be transferred into the replacement tyre.

The sealant was *only* inside the tread area and *nowhere* else. None on the rim, none near the valve, none on the sidewall, just inside the tread area.

The Mr's motorbike was parked up for some years and I removed the Puncturesealed tyre myself. That tyre hadn't even been rotated, let alone driven on the road (at any speed) and again, the sealant was

*only* inside the tread area and not even a single drop anywhere else.

The thing is, in the bottle / pail it's a very viscous liquid. Once it's been installed into a wheel and that wheel starts to rotate, centripetal forces pulls that viscous liquid out to the inside of the tread area when spread out, then forms more of a gel, causing the sealant to then stay in place.

Now, this gel is still mobile, but generally only when exposed to the forces found when a wheel is rotating at reasonable speed. eg, If you get an object penetrate the tyre when it's rotating, some of the sealant will be forced into and even though the hole (till the various materials in the sealant block the hole etc) and so the remaining sealant would then 'shuffle round' the tyre to retain an evenly thick coating. If you treat an tyre with an existing puncture, you do need to take it out for a short drive to get it to work, it won't 'just work' if you put it in the tyre and it doesn't happen to immediately pour over the punctured area, as it needs the centripetal force and the massaging on the puncture itself to allow the sealant to properly 'form up' and do it's thing.

In exactly the same way water in a bucket spun over your head will stay there and stay flat in the bucket.

The Punctureseal I scraped out of the wife's bike tyre must have been in there ~10 years (stored outdoors under a cover so the full esteems of the British Climate) and was still in this same gel format. The remains also easily washed out with a cold garden hose.

It is very cleverly / chemically designed stuff. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Jim K..]

London Bremainer pricing ;-)

[Jim K..]

Some don't require that...