Bicycle Mechanics - Rim tape...heat rim first?

The new rims arrived and the guy only put rim tape on one wheel. He tossed in a velox roll but no directions for installing. Do I have to heat the rim like with a blow dryer before applying the rim tape?
Any tips to prevent spoke-flats?

No and seat it straight. Do a long section at a time to keep the tape the straightest and most even. Line up the valve hole first, obviously.

Also, you will have to cut it to length. Start with the valve hole, wrap it around trying to keep it centered. As you're doing this, keep it taught, then as you come back to the starting point, overlap the two ends but cut it short of the valve hole!

L8R

Great advice...looks like we're good to go...Thanks!

I'd like to resurrect this post to ask another question. I bought some rim tape and just assumed (never changed tape before) that it would be adhesive. It is not. Should I remove the old tape, clean the rim of old adhesive, and buy some sort of new adhesive, or just pull the old tape out and lay the new tape in?

Thanks!

The easiest thing to do would be to take the rim tape back to where you bought it and get some self-adhesive tape.

The easiest thing to do would be to take the rim tape back to where you bought it and get some self-adhesive tape.

Not an option. This is my commuter, and I wanted to ride today, so I pulled the old tape out and laid the new tape in on the old adhesive. It's worked fine so far, wondering mostly for future reference.

With adhesive backed tape, do you bother to clean the old adhesive out with a solvent?

In my tool box I keep a presta valve (cut out of an old tube) with the nut that comes on it, and I use it to hold the tape centered on the valve hole while I wrap the tape around..

I always de-grease my rim with solvent before installing adhesive rim tape. But these days I've been using the rubber band rim strips.

George