repairing a tube with a patch

Brad in WI · Jun 2, 2013

I had a puncture wound in a tube so I patched it. I still have some air that is leaking past the patch and I don"t know if I can put another patch over the existing one to seal the leak up. What do you guys think?

gene bender · Jun 2, 2013

Yes just buff it up good and put a larger one over the area.

ben there · Jun 2, 2013

no,take patch off and put a larger size on to cover leak.

super99 · Jun 2, 2013

Take the leaking patch off and do it over. Did you rough up the area to be patched? I usually run the patch area lightly on the wire wheel on the grinder. I used a liquid cleaner on the area to be patched and then apply glue and patch. If you don"t have the little wheel to run over the patch to make a good contact, place tube on something hard and hit it all over with a hammer. If the glue is very old, get some new stuff. Chris

Brad in WI · Jun 2, 2013

is there a trick to getting the old patch off? It was new glue and new patch. I roughed the area up really good and wiped it clean. Put some glue on the tube and let it tack up some and then placed the patch and rolled it down with a serrated wheel on a block of wood. I then put glue down over the top of all and let it sit for a few days before touching it again. I have never had a problem patching tubes this way as I have done it this way for several years.

super99 · Jun 2, 2013

Sounds like you did it right, I have never put glue over the top of a patch tho. Is the tube really old? Sometimes I can't get a patch to stick on a tube thats 30 or 40 years old. Chris

Brad in WI · Jun 2, 2013

The patch is actually new. I had a friend help me mount 2 rears and 2 fronts and he actually pinched the tube and caused it to leak in one of the rears. I am trying to avoid buying a replacement tube but may be the smartest way to go.

Wheat Farmer · Jun 2, 2013

I have done everything the posters have said, and still sometimes it doesn't work. The little wheel is almost a must.What did work in the past was the good old hot patches. Had several of them but haven't been able to buy them for years. Guessing someone had to find out the hard way if it was still hot. Loved to watch it burn.

Wheat Farmer · Jun 2, 2013

I have also found that cutting a round patch works better.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 2, 2013

Sizzle patch can still be gotten at Gemplers, I think. If you can peel the patch off, that's the way I would go. Take an iron, and heat it to soften it. not real high heat, just mid way on the dial.

John B. · Jun 2, 2013

Patching a tube is just like welding cast iron. With a tube you have to cut the injury (that needs repaired) in a circle. This will keep the tube from tearing any more that it already has. The patch alone will not keep the tube from tearing once the patch is installed.

They taught us this little trick at a tire seminar I attended years ago.

Just take an old tube and cut a little slit in it. You can rip it farther by hand. Then take a scissors and cut a round hole in the tube and try to tear it. It won't tear!!
Most people don't know this.

rustyfarmall · Jun 2, 2013

How complicated can it be? I've patched quite a few inner tubes in my lifetime. More often than not I used a piece of sandpaper to scuff the tube, applied the cement, layed the patch on, and then used the handle of my pliers to press it down. Only failures I ever experienced was when I probably did not use enough glue, or when there was a second puncture that I had not detected.

I've never seen anyone cut a circle out of the tube before applying a patch. Not even at a professional tire shop.

JD Seller · Jun 2, 2013

I would just start over. I usually put a short 2x4 block in the vise. It makes a good thing to hang/support the tube over to work on it. One thing I have found handy for patching tubes any more is an electric heat gun. I usually buff the area up a little than I have liquid tire buffing fluid I use to clean the tire with. If you do not have that I have had luck with carb/brake cleaner too. Then apply the tire glue. I then take the heat gun and heat the glue until it is dry. Then I apply the patch while the glue is still hot. Roll it out with a tire patch tool. I then heat the entire patch area with my heat gun. Since I have started doing this the patches seem to really stick well. Even on old hard tubes. A little heat makes things work much better. Makes patching the newer rubber boots work better too.

old · Jun 2, 2013

The key to patching a tube is ruff and clean. Me I use an angle grinder to carefully clean and ruff up the tube in the patch area. Then apply the glue and let it dry then put the patch on and clamp or roll the patch down well and then let sit for 15 minute or so before putting in air.
If your careful you can remove that patch with the angle grinder and start over again

John B. · Jun 2, 2013

That's because like I said not many people know this...

El Toro · Jun 2, 2013

When tube tires were popular most shops used hot patches when I was young. Never had a leak problem. Tire mileage has improved greatly with the tires today. Our daughter drove Ford Pintos back in the 1980's. She was driving 75 miles round trip to the hospital where she worked. If she got 15k miles she was lucky using bias ply tires. I told her she should try Michelin radials
and she told me to have them installed. She ran them 40K miles and they still had tread. She had two of those Pintos and we had one all bought used. Hal
The timing belt broke on ours and I replaced it.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 2, 2013

Never cut a circle in a tube either, and never had a patch fail in twenty or so years, but tomorrow might be different. A friend was helping me pile-up/burn some hedge which is somewhat scarce in this area, so I was unaware he had never messed with it. I was cutting up some of the larger pieces and he was about 200 yards away running the tractor and loader, Happened to see him running over the smaller branches rather than pushing everything in front of the bucket. Dropped the saw and ran over but was too late. Needed to keep going so repaired the 15 or so punctures that occured in the front tires in just a few minutes. These patches are still going strong.

RodinNS · Jun 2, 2013

Get the good clear type cement, not the blue stuff... and get a can of liquid buffer. I usually scuff the area with a sanding wheel/flap disc on the grinder, then clean it with buffer until no more grime rubs off the tube. Once the buffer is dry, apply the cement to the tube. Let that dry until it's no longer wet... then apply the patch and roll it on with a patch roller or screwdriver handle, etc. so it gets good adhesion. Sometimes I will also inflate the tube somewhat before applying the patch.

In your case... just peel the bad patch off. There's no need to try and patch over it because it's only going to leak.

Rod

Anonymous-0 · Jun 2, 2013

If you don't have the patch roller wheel, you can use a washer, that fits loosely on a bolt, to wheel the patch down to the tube.

Ozlander · Jun 2, 2013

(quoted from post at 09:47:49 06/02/13) That's because like I said not many people know this...

Not many people believe it either.

repairing a tube with a patch

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