# Puncture Sealants.



## vardy (Sep 1, 2006)

Whilst not being very keen on the idea of DIY cans to spray into tubeless tyres, I am more eager to know about the stuff that was on the caravan channel

I only caught the end of the demo - but apparently it's done at shows or their premises and gives puncture protection for the life of the tyre. I saw them doing a caravan tyre - but assume it is for vehicle tyres too.

£30ish per tyre they said. 

My reservations are that if it keeps working, do I eventually run on tyres with more holes than Compo's jumper? Are they really safe? Does it work 'quick' while you're bowling along, or does the tyre go down somewhat?

What happens to the nails? 

Might do this - so any downside to their 'positive sales chat' would be welcome.

Many thanks, - Helena.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I have Ultraseal in my tyres. It works well as far as I can tell, till yesterday I had no punctures. It is water based and so can be washed out to allow a repair unlike some products. 

Yesterday I got a big nail through the tyre but the Ultrseal could not cope with it entirely because as the wheel turned the nail moved around. When I stopped to check the tyre sometimes I could hear a little air escaping at other times not so I think it was sealing and unsealing. However the tyre did stay up for long enough to reach a tyre depot and have it repaired, Alan.


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## vardy (Sep 1, 2006)

Thanks Alan - I had a feeling it might not cope with objects. My punctures usually involve a really impressive old nail or some such. 

Like the idea of being able to drive to depot - but still a bit torn between whether instant deflate is worse than dodgy ongoing seal that I don't then know about!

It seems a bit 'roundabouts and swings'. Going to have a think.


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## Wizzo (Dec 3, 2007)

Ultraseal is demonstrated at many of the shows. They show the ultraseal sealing a hole which they make with a punch or similar.

The reality of most of the punctures I have had is that the object is still in the tyre and with a tubeless tyre it will often seal it enough to keep it inflated for some time. Blowouts and instant deflation is often caused by structural failure. The last puncture I had which was only a couple of weeks ago was a nail in the car tyre. The tyre could be reinflated and would stay up for a few hours allowing me to drive to a tyre centre.

I would seriously think twice about paying £120 to have 4 tyres treated but then Mrs W says I am a tightwad.

JohnW


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## vardy (Sep 1, 2006)

Thanks John. 

It really is the 'nail stuck in' bit that's putting me off. I like the able to get home idea 

- but I may not notice an ongoing problem of intermittent sealing.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Wizzo said:


> I would seriously think twice about paying £120 to have 4 tyres treated but then Mrs W says I am a tightwad.
> JohnW


Mrs Wizzo may well be correct, and Mrs Zeb would certainly include me in that character assassination. 8O  

I did the job myself for £32 and it was technically dead easy, but I would definitely not recommend a woman to do it Helena. I had to jack each wheel off the ground to avoid damaging the tyre when it was fully deflated, and pumping the damn things up again nearly wore out my compressor!! 8O 8O

Putting the stuff into the tyres was as easy as squeezing a plastic bottle - literally, but the "_before and after_" were not so much fun!!

I'd get it done at a show if I were you, and probably pay about £50 at a guess - especially if you haggle a bit. The stuff itself costs pennies, and the professional installers don't have to deflate the tyres.

There is none in the new van yet . . . but there will be soon. 

Hope this helps

Dave


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## davesport (Nov 12, 2006)

I've had experience of the pre-installed type of goo in motorbike & bicycle tyres. Due to the places I used to ride punctures were a fairly regular occurence.

The sealers I've tried never knowingly completely stopped the air escaping after a puncture. Usually resulting in the goo escaping even when the puncture was rolled round to the bottom of the wheel.

It definitely makes fixing the hole a messier job than if the sealer had not been used.

If I get a puncture, which I've only had a couple in 30 years of driving a car/MH, I'll know as the tyre will deflate. Then I'll put the spare on & get the puncture fixed. I don't want a potentialy damaged tyre sealed with goo driving at motorway speeds without me knowing. This is a possibility that exists using sealer. I carry all the tools needed to change a wheel at the roadside. I've found the best way to avoid punctures is to have good tyres with plenty of tread.

On the balance of probabilities I'll get another two punctures in the next 30 years  (touches wood) I'm doing without the goo  

As an aside, I've also tried using the tyreweld stuff. That's rubbish too in my experience. 

£0.02

D.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Here comes a minor difference of opinion (I think :? ) with Dave (above). 8O 8O

The sort of puncture that scares me is the slow one. If you are doing a sustained and fairly high speed journey on the motorway, the tyre will gradually lose pressure, and as it does so the increased friction with the road will heat up the tyre and expand the remaining air . . . so the pressure doesn't actually drop much *at first*.

Until a critical point is reached when the tyre will suffer a catastrophic failure (_i.e. explode_) due to the heat build-up, and the van may well do a couple of cartwheels into the ditch. 8O 8O

According to an AA man I quizzed (_as he tried to persuade me to join - but already a member_ 8) ) that is the major contributory cause of this type of fairly terrifying tyre failure. :?

Ultraseal offers some protection against this, and although it can never be the curer of all ills I think on balance I would rather have it in my tyres.

Dave


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## EJB (Aug 25, 2007)

Having been involved in the trials, very many years ago, with the early 'magic' antipuncture products I have never had any faith in any of them.
Having a 6" nail thrashing around at speed whilst attached to a tyre has got to be worse than a tyre that deflates and requires changing.
Having had only 3 punctures in over 40 years of very high mileage motoring (2 blowouts and one when parked) I see no reason to use such products!
The right tyres in the right condition are a much safer bet.

But, that's only my personal opinion on this fairly emotive subject :wink:


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## Briarose (Oct 9, 2007)

Last Nov we decided to pay to have 'Puncturesafe' in our MH tyres whilst up in Yorks, we picked the MH up and it ran like a dream...............until one week later when we took the MH to Lincoln to Camper Uk for its hab and engine service, this is where the fun began because when we went to pick it up the MH was banging like it had one tyre off or a wheel bearing or something gone.

Took it straight back into Camper UK for investigation, and had to travel home fourty miles, next day they said they couldn't find anything wrong with it and that it must be the Puncturesafe and has we had a holiday booked in the next couple of days they suggested they removed it. I scoured the internet to see if I could find any such problems and must admit nothing came up with anything (Royal Mail use the stuff).

We contacted Puncturesafe who said that they couldn't see it would cause this problem........we were kind of stuck between a rock and hard place, and in the end agreed to let Camper Uk remove the stuff, picked the MH up and all seemed OK, now to this day we don't really know what had happened and despite trying to sort it all out with both Puncturesafe and Camper UK basically we are about £100 out of pocket.........Puncturesafe have offered to put the stuff back in, but we are wary now of what would be the best thing to do, we have wondered if somewhere along the line something has been done wrong ie did the tyres need special balancing bla bla bla. I don't think we will have it re-done as to be honest what with travelling expenses etc etc it has put us off the idea.


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## bodgerco (May 23, 2005)

The real issue for us was that the new van came without a spare wheel so the options were either to buy a spare which raised additional problems regarding storage and weight . 

On balance we decided to fit Ultraseal.

OK if we get a failure we dont have a spare and that will create problems too but I get the feeling that this is the way that things are going.

A bit like the starting handle. Remember how we were horrified when they dropped them? How would we start the car when the new fangled starting motor failed? Well it didn't - very often anyway. 
So I suspect that spare wheels will become rare raising this question more often.

Roy


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

This problem has been reported quite a lot Nette, especially a couple of years ago

It seems likely that the installers gave it "_one for the pot_" when they put it in.

If there is too much it can pool and form a heavy sector of the tyre - which obviously causes imbalance, usually at around 50 - 60mph if the reports are to be believed.

I'm wavering, and Ted's comments make a lot of sense. 

Dunno. I enjoy a bit of a dither, so I'll do just that and not rush into it. :roll:

Dave


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## Briarose (Oct 9, 2007)

Just to add the stuff we had, was something put into all four tyres as a prevention rather than the tyre repair kits to use when you have a puncture.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Zeb/Dave is correct, too much will cause a problem. 

I have faith in the stuff because as a landscape contractor I was plagued with punctures in small machines and ride on grass cutting machines. I was first offered a similar product around twenty years ago and tried it with very impressive results. 

I got the six wheels on my van done for 100 pounds, Alan.


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