Paul Patzkowsky quite reasonably asks:
I've been successfully repairing tubes for 35 years and now the patches don't want to stick. Can the adhesive in the Rema patch kits lose it's effectiveness? TIA ++++++++++++++++++++++ I suggest trying to think about it as a system rather than just the glue, and will share what works fairly well. Our "fleet" is large enough that I do a bunch of flats every year.
1) Start at the end: I put talcum powder on tubes as I install them in my shop, to ruduce the likelihood of a fold getting caught while inflating. Might be folklore, but seems effective. But, this talcum powder, and all other grease and dirt, must come off for any patch to stick.
2) Yes, I bless the tube with a bit of sandpaper, but the real magic comes from rubbing the area with some "Rubber buffer" or "Rub-R-Flux" which removes all the talcum, soapstone, silicone, and other junk, leaving a very clean rubber surface. Darned near anything will stick to that. Check the local auto supply store - they can get it, but it is about $10/quart - lasts me several years, even though most of it gets used for other "off-label" cleaning purposes.
3) I bought a hundred Rema patches a year ago, so I needed glue. I buy 8 oz tins of rubber cement from the same auto supply house. Probably use 4 oz before enough evaporates to make it useless, but it is not very expensive.
4) Once the patch is applied to the super-clean surface, now covered with tacky glue, I press the patch on really hard, and let it set a while. Then powder the area before using the tube again.
All this ritual just takes a few minutes, but it is a shop repair, not done in the field. I carry a spare tube on rides. Sometimes two.
harvey sachs
mcLean va