Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Patches don’t stick because people do the patching wrong. They may not prep the tube correctly, don’t wait for the fluid to dry, use rubber cement instead of vulcanizing fluid, try to use the wrong patch, use any patch kit other than Rema, touch the patch, touch the dried fluid, blow up the tube to “check” the patch, etc. I have patched thousands of tubes...perhaps tens of thousands...and my failure rate is probably in the 1 per 1000 range and everyone that failed was a mistake made on my part.
I get a smile on my face every time I read a post of yours, Stu. I love how your scientific mind works. I love how you approach a problem with a pass/fail attitude, because we both know that there are no grey areas on a lot of things - tube patching being one of them. They either hold air or not, pass or fail, so proper patching technique is important. I too have patched many many tubes. I grew up using the "lighting the glue" technique. It worked at the time, but looking back at it now, I think it was an unneeded extra step, but we never knew any better. After all, if Dad said that's how to do it, then it must be so, right? Live and learn.