When inspecting the tube, I noticed a bubble around the extreme edge of a previously patched area. I fiddled with it which revealed a hole there.

Poor patch technique , peel it off and do it over, more surface prep ..

You can patch a patch, the success probablity is a little lower than a virgin puncture.

is that possible???

I had a vespa inner tube with no less then 16 patches in it, but I agree to take off the ols patch and do it over- try asetone to loosen the old glue-wear gloves

ha!

Thanks, I'll keep it as a spare. I used another tube with a couple patches already on it. It had a weird bulge when I inflated it, but it seems to work fine mounted with tire on.

Can you find $5 in your couch cushions?

This....

That said I have successfully patched over a patch.

No, I didn't.

Heating the patch will make it easy to remove. I use an old knife I found on the road and heat it on my gas range.

If you have a punctured inner tube and a patch kit, a new tube would be a waste of money.

You can patch over a patch, but if the problem is a failed patch, try to remove the old one and start anew. If you can easily peel off the old patch it wasn't done very well in the first place.

yep:

last time I went to the store the bloody patch kit costs more then a new tube!

how many patches in this tube??

Great work on being frugal, everybody!

For the record, I would estimate it takes about 10 minutes extra to patch a tube compared to installing a brand new one, provided you have a brand new one on hand.

I would guess you can patch at least 5 punctures with a single $4 patch kit - that works out to $0.80 per puncture. But, in spending the extra 10 minutes, you have avoided spending $5 on a new tube, for a new savings of $4.20 per puncture. Considering it only took an extra 10 minutes, you are actually earning $4.20 / 1/6 hour = $25.20 / hour... so patching instead of buying new is like having a part time job making $25/ hour!

And for you patching aficionados who shuddered when I suggested you only get 5 repairs from a patch kit, if you manage to get 10 repairs from a patch kit, you make $50.50/hour, and if you can squeeze 15 repairs out of a kit, $75.60/hour!

I don't know about you guys, but I am going to go for a ride right now and try to get a flat tire!

I bought 100 patches for less than $17 way back. That comes out to less than 17 cents per patch. So yeah... I might as well use them.

I don't patch over patches. When they get to where the patches overlap, I give up on the tube. Aside from that I'll patch the same tube any number of times. I've never had a patch leak either.

I haven't tried it in awhile, but I've never successfully removed one of my patches either. I follow the directions on the patch kit including waiting 5 minutes for the glue to dry before installing the patch. I don't think I could get one off without tearing a big hole in the tube.

Bulk patches are fine but what do you use for glue?

Easy, I bought a 10g tube of vulcanizing fluid. That was less than $3. FYI, I didn't want too big of a tube, because it may dry out.

My thoughts exactly.

I tried *once* to patch a hole so close to an existing patch that I had to overlap the patches.
So when did it decide to leak?
In the winter, while descending Flagstaff Mt.
So there I was, with my fingers frozen numb, standing in a snowbank by the road trying to fix a flat.
The air was escaping under the new patch, right along the edge of the old patch.
Never again.