Can anyone tell me where I can get a tire tube patch kit that comes with a clamp,and patches which are attached on the reverse of metal cups or small plates with a rim and they have a type of gunpowder or fire burning material powder and a patch on the other side of this metal cup which after you clamp it on a tube, then you set it aflame and it burns across the cup and it effects a repair to the tube with a very well sealed patch.I used to buy these at a waangsgaards grocery store/ace hardware and now they dont have these kits anymore.They called this type of kit a rubber vulcanizing patch kit.They do a far better patching of the tube than any other patch kit I have ever used anywhere else.After the patch is fired on you remove the clamp and you have a permanent repair of your bicycle tube.Where can I buy this kit?Does anyone else know where I can find this kit?I dont want to go back to messy glue patch kits that hardly work anyway.
Please advise,
Paul
Mallagante@MSN.com
Thank you.

I'd be very interested to learn about this. I've never heard of such a contraption!

DSM,
I want to find these patch kits again as there just is nothing better in this world.A well kept secret obviously.Why is the question?
Regards,
Paul

Haven't seen these for decades. I agree, they were the cat's pajamas. And fun to use, in a sorta childish, play-with-firecrackers sort of way.

- Mark

Modern patch kits vulcanize with a chemical compound, no fire needed. Your patch kit sounds much funner, please do update us if you find some for sale, I'd love to see it in use!

I doubt there is any difference between the vulcanizing fluid in a "modern" patch kit vs. a patch kit of twenty years ago. The fluid and patch works Okay most of the time, but is sensitive to contamination and technique. With the old-style hot patches there was never any question - it was 100% reliable.

- Mark

Sorry, I cannot help you find that type. I've never used one but I'll take your word that they work great.

I'm just curious as to why you say the glue patches "hardly work anyway" ? It's been my
experience that they work fine when applied correctly. Much to my dismay, I've applied a lot
of glue patches over the years. Sure, once in a while a patch just does not want to act right but
to say they hardly work is exaggerating.

I do remember them as a kid in stores and once in use by a friend's dad. Were they taken off the market
because one had to set it aflame to make it work? Did someone set fire to his home while trying to fix a flat tire?

I'm not trolling, just curious now.


Don't flame me.




Sorry, could not resist.

I remember seeing my Dad use one of those when I was a kid (about 40 years ago). I just assumed that nobody made them for decades, now.

When I was in high school and college (30 years ago), I did a lot of truck flat fixing, on tube-type tires. We used cold-applied patches similar to what is available for bikes now. One thing is that the patches seemed to be higher quality. I think part of the issue with modern patches is not the generic type of patch, but just low quality products in the first place, perhaps driven by the fact that people don't use tubes in car tires anymore.

I'm not sure what all sizes those flaming patch kits were made it, but what I remember my dad using wouldn't have worked on anything but a balloon tire tube. Maybe they made smaller ones, too.

Proper technique is important with the cold-applied patch kits. You have to let the glue dry before applying the patch. It helps to inflate the tube to about the size that it will be in the tire so that the patch doesn't have to stretch as much. When I was fixing truck flats, we'd always rub dust/dirt off the shop floor on the patch after it was applied so that the new glue around it didn't stick to the tire. Patches on the rim side of a tube are always iffy, in my experience.

No. "cold vulcanizing fluid" is just glue. Automotive patches have a special compound on the surface that's glued to the tire. The heat of the tire flexing causes the patch to vulcanize in place. I doubt that bikes generate that sort of heat. (Tube-type truck and car tires can sometimes have the tube vulcanize to the inside of the tire through this heat. That's why you use talc when assembling such a tire.

I've never seen the sort of repairs that the original poster is asking about. (I've heard of them, though.) I don't know if they're still made. I've my doubts. There are still heat curing tube patches available for the truck tire market. They'd work on a bike, but they're big and thick. You put them on with glue, like a normal patch, and then the tube is heated. A heat gun would be enough, heat, I should think.

buy a rema tip-top patch kit and be done with it.

I used to buy these at ace hardware and only about 2 months ago.Now I see they have been taken off the market.Why I dont know.They have to still be around somewhere.I just have to find some that are left.
Thanks everyone,
Paul

I remember these from the early 60s. I reckon they disappeared because they'd be more expensive to manufacture -- not only the patch and pyrotechnic container but the holding frame too. Plus you've got to carry matches with you. They worked OK but glue patches are quick, easy, and $1.50 at the local $2 shop.

M - thanks for bringing back memories of patching bike tires with my Dad -- for a kid, the smelly burning patching process was so cool that I almost hoped for another flat!

You must be doing it wrong--

The "messy glue patch kit" works fine with me! The only mess I do is when I move the chain off the rear wheel, not when I play with the glue. And I still have a few patches that are 5-6 years old.

This is slightly off-topic, but what experiences, good, bad, or ugly, have folks had with glueless patches? The consensus at my local bike shop is that glueless are OK for mountain bike tubes, but Rema tip-top is still the way to go for road bikes, with their considerably higher pressures.

The consensus I hear from many techs is that the glueless is for temporary repairs ONLY b/c they only hold long enough you for to get home, then slow leak.

Sorry Mark, but I lived through that era...and they were anything but reliable.

The gunpowder type heating element often had to be relit, and quickly, or the repair was uneven or leaked. Moisture no doubt had an ill effect on them.

Great care had to be taken with the clamping mechanism as it was cheaply made and could slip, ruining the patch job.

If the hole in the tube was too large, the patch would bond to the opposing inside surface of the tube, rendering it useless.

I would guess that the death knell for this type of patch was that it took more time, skill, expense and luck, and in the end was no better than the up-and-comer glue patch kit which was cheap, compact, lightweight, fast and had a shorter learning curve.

40 years ago I read of using resistance heating pads to soften the seams in latex goods to allow their repair. Now even the Fetish shops like Versitile Fashions use liquid glues and pressure sensitive tapes.

I still have a handful of those hot patches. The trade name is Match Patch. I quit using them years ago, as there is no need for them, that I can see. A properly applied glue-on patch is just as good as a hot patch. If the tube is not properly cleaned, a hot patch will not stick, any more than a glue-on will. These patches are 1 1/4" by 2", and a road bike tube is just over 3/4", so how would you apply a patch that is wider than the tube?

I've been putting off posting this, hoping to remember where I bought them a few years ago. Danged if I can recall...NAPA maybe? Pretty sure they were either Camel or Monkey Grip branded. I recall that I had not seen them in many years so I bought them when I saw them.

I've only ever used them on tubeless tires. In that case you don't have the clamping action of the tube against the tire.

I also have a couple of the special clamps that allow one to hold them in position before touching them off.

One advantage is that they have a very long shelf life, unlike the glue.

I see you are from Murray.I live in Ogden.Would you consider selling your remaining fire patches then I could reload the metal cups with something comparable and still use my leftover clamp
.Please advise,
Paul
Mallagante@MSN.com
Please get in touch.Thank you.

Those were the good patches when I was young,haven't seen them in a while.They still make a hot patch but it's for big truck/tractor type things.You light the glue and patch on fire to "cure" it.Go to a web site called Plews/Edelmann,look under tire repair.You can buy all the junk at any big box auto place.If they don't have it,they can get it.

Check this out on fleabay:
https://search.ebay.com/Vulcanizing-Patches_W0QQfsopZ32