Rubber cement tubes?

[buck91]

Any tips or tricks to prevent rubber cement tubes from drying out after puncturing the seal? I've been patching tires the past number of years and it's been working well. Except my cement tubes are often no longer any good by the time I need it again.

 

[Whipcitywrencher]

Zip lock bag might help.

 

[WyrTwister]

I use wirenuts and tape to try to seal caulking tubes . Might try that on the tubes of rubber cement ?

 

[Kawiguy454]

Keep the stuff in the house with minimal temperature swings. Living in AZ I have found that the expansion contraction from wide temperature swings causes most of the problem. The Volatile's tend to creep out of sealants and glues very quickly if kept in the garage. Otherwise maybe get a food vacuum sealer to put them in outside. Also a problem here are plastic bottles of stuff getting tiny leaks where the plastic bends/kinks from the heat cycles. Keeping the caps "Loose" so air can breathe in/out keeps that from happening but accelerates evaporation.

 

[Imp4]

For as infrequently as I use these this kind of stuff, I consider the puncture type foil sealed tubes to be single use products.

No bagging, vacuum sealing, zip ties, stapling, Scotch tape, etc... is going to preserve the reminder of the product in the tube.

And if I turn out to be wrong, it's a win all around, but I sure don't count on it....

 

[Wheel]

I have the same problem with rubber cement. If I open a tube, I plan on having a spare because that one will be gone when I get back to it. I try to keep enough tubes that I can patch a bunch at once and waste less.

 

[supton]

Last couple of times I've done this, I've waited until I have 3 or 4 tubes to fix. That way I'd hopefully use the whole tube up. Maybe use the last bit if I popped a tire within short time. But since I don't get that many flats, I wind up with bad tubes hanging on a hook, waiting for their tipping point. [On the plus side, a chopped up tube can make rubber strips for various projects.]

However I've had low success in gluing patches on. I think the last batch of tubes I got were super smooth and I didn't scuff enough for the patch. Became too much work to patch then only have it fail as I pumped up to pressure (installed).

 

[WyrTwister]

You all are correct , I half way expect such products to be no longer useful , next time they are needed . But , being cheap , I keep trying to perserve them , anyway .

 

[CR94]

My strategy: Buy a big tube in the auto department, and store it in the freezer between uses. That greatly slows evaporation of the solvent in the glue.

I used to carry glue and patches on my bike instead of a spare tube. Unfortunately, I got flats so rarely that sometimes it dried out between uses.

 

[MrQuackers]

I had a flat on my beater, holes top and bottom from a nail. Got out the patch kit since I had no spare. Glue all dried out. Walked home, since it was less than a mile. Rummaged around and found some Park glueless patches I bought long ago. Usually patching a hole on the rim side is iffy but the tube is still holding air weeks later. I grabbed a couple extra Bell glueless kits at $1.59 each from Fred Meyer.

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted by MrQuackers
... Rummaged around and found some Park glueless patches I bought long ago. Usually patching a hole on the rim side is iffy but the tube is still holding air weeks later. I grabbed a couple extra Bell glueless kits at $1.59 each from Fred Meyer.
Are recent glueless patches better than the ones of the mid-90s when they first appeared? I and friends had bad experiences with them then. Typically, they would seem to work ok initially, but within a couple of days they failed.

 

[Surestick]

Originally Posted by CR94
Originally Posted by MrQuackers
... Rummaged around and found some Park glueless patches I bought long ago. Usually patching a hole on the rim side is iffy but the tube is still holding air weeks later. I grabbed a couple extra Bell glueless kits at $1.59 each from Fred Meyer.
Are recent glueless patches better than the ones of the mid-90s when they first appeared? I and friends had bad experiences with them then. Typically, they would seem to work ok initially, but within a couple of days they failed.


I think they're still considered a get-you-home solution, not a permanent one.