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How to clean wet sealant off inner tube so patch will stick?

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How to clean wet sealant off inner tube so patch will stick?

Old 10-17-19, 11:16 AM
  #1  
JeffOYB
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How to clean wet sealant off inner tube so patch will stick?

I put sealant inside a tubular tire. Now I need to patch it. But the inner tube is wet with sealant. I tried wiping it off and patching but the patch didn't stick.

The inner tube might be latex. Typical patches have worked for me before.

The sealant is a combination of Stan's, Bontrager and Orange Endurance!

It's crazy but there was somehow a 1/2" hole in the tube but no injury in the sidewall. A lump of sealant TRIED to plug it up and worked for awhile. It doesn't even seem to be a puncture. It's like a hole -- old tube is missing. Strange...

Well, I want to try to patch it... But this wet sealant stuff is messing me up. I've never used sealant before. How do you clean it off?

I see info on cleaning DRY OLD sealant. I suppose it's just water soluble. I also see some bits of info saying warm soapy water. I'll try that... Any other tips appreciated.
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Old 10-17-19, 11:54 AM
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Patching a 1/2" hole is going to be hard regardless. Agree it seems mysterious.

More warm water would be my first choice. If that doesn't work hang it up and let it dry for a week or six or whatever it takes. Try to close off rest of tube so it doesn't all dry and so humidity from rest of tire is not feeding towards the hole.
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Old 10-17-19, 12:08 PM
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For a tubular tire its gonna be difficult to get a clean dry surface if the sealant keeps leaking out. You may have to suck out the sealant with a syringe and rinse the inside. Or just pump water into the tube and let it drain out the hole in the tube - its big enough! Expel all remaining liquid in the tube. Then wash and dry the outside. Then patch.

I think adding sealant to a tubular tire, while perhaps offering benefits, has this very fatal weakness: it may make the tire impossible or very difficult to repair.

Last edited by WizardOfBoz; 10-17-19 at 12:15 PM.
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Old 10-17-19, 12:12 PM
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Originally Posted by JeffOYB
I put sealant inside a tubular tire. Now I need to patch it. But the inner tube is wet with sealant. I tried wiping it off and patching but the patch didn't stick.

The inner tube might be latex. Typical patches have worked for me before.

The sealant is a combination of Stan's, Bontrager and Orange Endurance!

It's crazy but there was somehow a 1/2" hole in the tube but no injury in the sidewall. A lump of sealant TRIED to plug it up and worked for awhile. It doesn't even seem to be a puncture. It's like a hole -- old tube is missing. Strange...

Well, I want to try to patch it... But this wet sealant stuff is messing me up. I've never used sealant before. How do you clean it off?

I see info on cleaning DRY OLD sealant. I suppose it's just water soluble. I also see some bits of info saying warm soapy water. I'll try that... Any other tips appreciated.
Is there any possibility that the chemicals in the sealant softened the latex inner tube contributing to the flat? Repairing a tubular tire with a latex inner tube containing tubeless sealant sounds daunting to me.
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Old 10-17-19, 12:53 PM
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sch
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Even without the sealant it will be hard to get an air tight patch on that large a hole. Back in the '70s when a good tubular was $8-15
I repaired them but it was a PITA.
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