Jon_G
No Longer Active
Last week I suffered yet another puncture.. that's now a total of six in the last 18 months, including a rear blowout after hitting a half-brick at speed on a local A-road... this latest puncture was especially annoying, as the punctured tyre was almost new!
Alarmingly, this most recent puncture was troublingly close to the edge of the tread and a quick glance at tyre advice websites suggested that a repair might not be possible, as repairs outside the central 70% of the tread are not permitted. However, defining the exact point at which tread becomes sidewall is a matter of some interpretation, so I took the wheel to a local garage (where, due to my frequent visits, I am now on first name terms with their tyre specialist).
Even he was unable to give me a definite answer, merely explaining that he'd always rather play safe and avoid repairing a tyre in circumstances requiring careful interpretation. However he did agreed to remove the tyre and see how the internal repair patch would sit and, with some chin-scratching, decided that the repair patch would not overlap any part that could reasonably be identified as sidewall and so carried out a conventional repair.
Prior to the repair being performed we did discuss other repair options; he laughingly dismissed using an aerosol puncture repair, or adding any sort of liquid latex (so a poke in the eye to Honda) on the grounds that these were merely 'get you home' bodges of uncertain reliability that also create a serious mess for the tyre fitter to deal with afterwards (and may then attract an additional fee for the tyre change!).
But (and here's the real point of my post) he did confirm that a puncture outside the 70% area (or even in the sidewall) can be safely and legally repaired using a hot vulcanisation process, which involves inserting a thick repair patch into the damaged area and baking the tyre in an oven. Apparently not many places can offer this service (he doesn't) but there is a tyre repair specialist in Ludlow that can offer such repairs (presumably because this is a highly agricultural area?)... the suggested cost was 'around £30', which obviously is a big increase on the £8 (cash) that I paid.
I guess it largely depends on the comparative cost of a new tyre, but I was wondering if anyone here had ever had a hot vulcanisation repair?
Alarmingly, this most recent puncture was troublingly close to the edge of the tread and a quick glance at tyre advice websites suggested that a repair might not be possible, as repairs outside the central 70% of the tread are not permitted. However, defining the exact point at which tread becomes sidewall is a matter of some interpretation, so I took the wheel to a local garage (where, due to my frequent visits, I am now on first name terms with their tyre specialist).
Even he was unable to give me a definite answer, merely explaining that he'd always rather play safe and avoid repairing a tyre in circumstances requiring careful interpretation. However he did agreed to remove the tyre and see how the internal repair patch would sit and, with some chin-scratching, decided that the repair patch would not overlap any part that could reasonably be identified as sidewall and so carried out a conventional repair.
Prior to the repair being performed we did discuss other repair options; he laughingly dismissed using an aerosol puncture repair, or adding any sort of liquid latex (so a poke in the eye to Honda) on the grounds that these were merely 'get you home' bodges of uncertain reliability that also create a serious mess for the tyre fitter to deal with afterwards (and may then attract an additional fee for the tyre change!).
But (and here's the real point of my post) he did confirm that a puncture outside the 70% area (or even in the sidewall) can be safely and legally repaired using a hot vulcanisation process, which involves inserting a thick repair patch into the damaged area and baking the tyre in an oven. Apparently not many places can offer this service (he doesn't) but there is a tyre repair specialist in Ludlow that can offer such repairs (presumably because this is a highly agricultural area?)... the suggested cost was 'around £30', which obviously is a big increase on the £8 (cash) that I paid.
I guess it largely depends on the comparative cost of a new tyre, but I was wondering if anyone here had ever had a hot vulcanisation repair?
