Thread: Are you old enogh to remember ................

I'm pretty sure they are a vulcanising patch.
You basically clamp it to the tyre and set fire to the back. The heat fuses the patch to the tyre.
The ones I remember had a small dish of, what I will call, match heads. You dragged a piece of sandpaper type material across them to ignite them.
They worked ok as far as I remember

Hi Les,
I remember patching bicycle tubes with something similar. As I recall, you lit one side, with the rubber patch pressed against the puncture, and the heat activated glue would seal against the tube. Or something. It's been a while. There was a rough surface on the tin to prepare the tube in advance (so the glue would have some purchase).

Regards,
Chris.

And for some reason the ones for pushbikes are no longer available. Have no idea why and no-one seems to be able to tell me.

They'd rather sell you a new tube than have you repair your old one.

Seems to be the way of the world, these days.

Les,
They worked well when new but didn't always age well. Your's have te benefit of being individually sealed so their age may not be an issue. You do need a good clamp though.

Originally Posted by _fly_

And for some reason the ones for pushbikes are no longer available. Have no idea why and no-one seems to be able to tell me.

The glue version patch kits work better, generally have a longer shelf life, you don't need to carry a clamp and can seal punctures that are near the valve stem.

In my riding days, I considered them temporary. The tyre usually needs to come off again after you get home so a new tube is a sometimes timely.

The reason they are not used on bikes today is because they would throw the balance of the wheel out of kilt. On the old klunkers that i used to ride it did not matter.
Just remember, the old penny farthings never got a puncture.

Got to get my mind out of the gutter...was thinking they were condoms for a min

Les, I will put my hand up and say I remember them. But my recollection is from when I was a young lad (no its true). The clamp was a small G clamp with a disc on the bottom side about 2" diameter while the upper part of the G clamp that pressed the patch against the tube was a 4 legged star made if pressed metal while the body of the clamp including the disc was dicast alloy. I remember you would roughen the surface, apply the patch tighten the G clamp and light the patch. I think (vague memory) the flame was white and very intense for maybe 20 seconds. It could have been magnesium possibly. I do remember it being very exciting to watch.
On Ebay in the Old Tools Section you often see the clamps for sale. They must have been a real seller in their day because it is not uncommon to come across those clamps
How old do we have to be?

Yep, I remember them, you could still buy them in the 70's. I also remember the G-clamp to hold them down, if you didn't tighten the heck out of it then the patch didn't stick. To light them you needed to lift/break part of the surface to give something for the flame to 'stick' to. Regards, Polie

Originally Posted by Da bunny lover

Got to get my mind out of the gutter...was thinking they were condoms for a min

Nice to know I wasn't the only one...

Hi Guys,
I remember them well, In the 70s the outfit I worked for had a vulcanising kit in each truck. The lid of the can had a punched surface for roughening the tube. They came in various sizes and shapes and there were obviously different brands as well.
The patch consisted of a tin tray with a pad of felty orange coloured (NCArchers match heads) material and on the other side of the tray was the patch, this had a protective plastic cover over it. The kit also came with the clamp previously described by Chambezio made of alloy or steel.
In practice you would clean your tube and give it a good scrub with the
roughener around the puncture, peel the protective layer off the patch, apply the patch to the tube then put the clamp on it.( careful Polie don't clamp it too tight or you'll buckle the tin and it won't stick properly) Polies right about picking a bit of the fuel up to stick the flame to or jam the match on it quick while it's still flaring. I think some may have also come with an igniter attached to the patch. Once the heating pad had finished spitting and hissing you'd give it a few seconds and remove the clamp and the tin tray should fall off.
The advantage over glue on patches is that you could reassemble your tyre and inflate it straight away whereas the glue on type you had to wait a few minutes for the glue to go off and also not forget to sprinkle talc over the patch or it'd end up stuck to the inside of the tyre.
Back at the workshop we had a big electric vulcaniser mounted on the wall. The patch material for this was in a roll with a protective plastic sheet on one side and you'd cut your patch to suit your puncture with a pair of scissors.
Regards,
Geoff.

This is the directions printed on the container:

Speaker MATCH PATCH
Motorist's Repair Kit

Directions:

-Roughen space larger than patch around injury.
-Shake dust from surface.
-If a hole or slit in tube, cut some gum from patch and fill the opening level
-Peel cloth from rubber patch
-Center rubber over injury and clamp patch tightly
-Turn up a little flap of fuel and light
-When the clamp has cooled take off clamp and pan

The one's I remember would have a piece of sandpaper for roughing the tube. The metal roughing gadget was used to powder the talc which came as a stick.
All new bkes (not that I ever had a new one) would have a little leather bag with the kit in that fastened to the back of the saddle. The kit also include a piece of tougher material to put between the inner-tube and the tyre if you'd made a hole in the tyre.
Cheers,
Jim

I doubt if it was magnesium; more like a cardboard backing being impregnated with something like sulphur, no pun intended to the condom thinkers. We used to dig the end of a screwdriver into the back to give the match-flame something to take to. Loved watching it burn but I doubt the dense smoke would have been very healthy; they didn't call them vulcanising patches for nothing.