Originally Posted by cthenn

3 pages on rubber cement, TLDR, but I use Slime rubber cement. Came in one of those "standard size rubber cement" canisters, and cost me like $8. I'm sure it will dry up before I use it all, but the times I've used it, it's worked perfectly. Important part is getting the legitimate Rema patches though.

Originally Posted by nycphotography

I have run out of patches. Where can I get "quality patches in bulk"??

(Seriously, I am ready to order asap, as I need to glue one inside a tubeless tire that won't seal).

Originally Posted by datlas

But is rubber cement the same as vulcanizing fluid?

Originally Posted by JohnDThompson

You can get a box of 100 Rema patches for less than US$20:

https://www.amazon.com/Rema-25mm-Rou...kmL&ref=plSrch

Originally Posted by DannoXYZ

Quick glance through ingredients shows:

Elmer's No-Wrinkle Rubber Cement
>70% Heptane
20-25% natural latex rubber
1-5% Isopropol alcohol

Rema Vulcanizing Fluid
60-95% Naphtha, petroleum, hydrotreated light
1-2.5% N-Ethylcyclohexylamine
other brands also contains: acetone, heptane, trichlorethylene, zinc-dibutyl dithiocarbamate/dibutylamine

Now we can see that the office-stationary "rubber cement" is clearly of different composition than "vulcanizing fluid" regardless of how it's labeled. Leave a bottle of rubber-cement open and you end up with a ball of rubber about 25% the size of the container. Leave a bottle of vulcanizing fluid open and it evaporates to nothing; very different stuff. The N-Ethylcyclohexylamine is a vulcanizing accelerator/catalyst which speeds up vulcanizing enough to occur at room-temperature (heat does the same thing). Ever see "RTV" on various rubber-sealants like caulk? The red uncured rubber on the patches provides the sulfur and in the old days with skinwall tyres, you can see a brown circle appearing on your tyre if you install the patched tube right away. This is caused by the release of various gases during the curing process.

A lot has changed in the past 20-30 years. Just because there was only one way to vulcanize rubber 30-years ago, doesn't mean that technology hasn't improved. Look at how materials technology has improved in frame materials, and how mechanical engineering designs created index shifting. Auto and computer technology has improved significantly in the past 30-years.

In the end, it's not an all-or-nothing, black & white, yes/no issue on patches. It comes down to a shades-of-grey on how well various compounds holds a patch to a tube. I'll do a demo video of "rubber cement" versus "vulcanizing fluid" after 24-hrs curing and show how easy or difficult it is to pull off a patch using both these products.

Originally Posted by chimpanzee

You can get 8oz Slime rubber cement can for $6 at Pep Boys (more than twice expensive $15 on Ebay)

https://www.pepboys.com/slime-rubber...478?quantity=1 ]


via https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/22..._-_NA.pdf?1202



The chemicals don't match the ones for Rema (see above, in BOLD RED)

Someone correctly pointed out, it's better to match REMA vulcanizing fluid with REMA patches (which I like, you can get 100 pack for $16 from Ebay)


I've used Elmer's Rubber Cement with varying success with REMA patches. Sometimes they seal, sometimes they don't

See also this other thread:

https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-m...-cement-4.html

Originally Posted by rpenmanparker

I'm telling you that vulcanizing fluid is just rubber cement, period.

Originally Posted by RPK79

Is this the definitive answer?

Originally Posted by Spiduhman

Try this: before putting your tube of glue away after use, hold it cap side up and carefully squeeze out all the air, such that an arc of liquid is bulging out, then put the lil' lid on there - now there's no air in the tube, and you've lost only the solvent that's evaporated whilst the cap was off (an' don't leave the cap off while playing with your patch).

Originally Posted by sweeks

If you have a can of the fluid, storing it upside-down is said to achieve the same result.

Originally Posted by Spiduhman

That should keep the container from "breathing" past the lid, however, the rigid container means a new pocket of air each time the container is opened, and subsequent loss of volatile component, likely insignificant at first, but adds up quickly when the container is part full, having been opened and shut many times by then, a large batch of air each time, etc.
Ride on!f

Originally Posted by Spiduhman

That should keep the container from "breathing" past the lid, however, the rigid container means a new pocket of air each time the container is opened, and subsequent loss of volatile component, likely insignificant at first, but adds up quickly when the container is part full, having been opened and shut many times by then, a large batch of air each time, etc.
Ride on!f

Originally Posted by woodcraft

To make this a really classic thread, they should be lit on fire while on the bike.


Kudos for the inquiry.

Originally Posted by sweeks

How about running some through the old HPLC?

Originally Posted by datlas

I don't think we ever definitely solved the question, but the OP has left the building. Sad!