On Fri, 12 Aug 2016 20:59:28 +0100, "NY" wrote:

snip

When I had my last late-night puncture, I had to abandon the journey, stay
an extra night with SWMBO (no great hardship!) and find a garage the
following morning before driving back, which meant taking half a day's
leave. So I lost out financially as well as in terms of lost time. I was not
a happy bunny :-(

Sounds like you would be someone who might then appreciate something
that prevents punctures in the first place?

The first time across such a concept was when at the British
Motorcycle Federation rally at Peterbourough a good few years ago now.

'Ultraseal' (as it was then) had a small stand with a motorcycle wheel
in a stand so it could be easily rotated. The guy demonstrated the
concept by stabbing a bradawl into the tyre, spinning it round a few
times and then showing a small drop of the sealant coming through.

That alone was enough to get a few people buying a container
sufficient to do both wheel on a motorbike. Long-short, some big hairy
biker leant between us and stabbed the tyre with a fairly large pocket
knife and the guy, a bit taken aback, spun the wheel and again the
leak was stopped.

Example 1 of Ultraseal being used retrospectively.

The Mrs picked me up from the station in the Sierra and as we pulled
away I heard the anti static strap dragging on the ground?. We stopped
and I noticed the n/s/r tyre was very soft. We were only a few hundred
yards from home so I pumped it up with a footpump and we drove home. I
had enough Ultraseal left to do the Sierra tyre so jacked it up,
removed the valve core, applied the Ultraseal, re-fitted the core and
re-inflated the tyre with the foopump. I gave it a quick spin round
the block and the tyre was fine for many years till I eventually broke
the car myself.

When I was IT training a delegate was late in one morning and
(long-short) had found a large nail in the middle of he fairly new
rear tyre (so had to get the train in). I brought in a bottle of
Ultraseal, he took it home and applied it and came back in on his bike
for the rest of the week. He also email me some months later telling
me he had just replaced said tyre because it was worn out and it
hadn't been any issue till that point.

Just recently I went to the Meriva and found the n/s/f tyre flat. I
pumped it back up (electric pump) and found a nail in one of the outer
tread blocks. I drove it the short distance home and by the morning it
was flat again. Again I applied some Punctureseal (they changed the
name because of the bad rep all the copies were giving them) and the
tyre hasn't lost a pound of pressure since.

Punctureseal is routinely fitted in many vehicle fleets around the
world and *always* wins when any real world tests of such solutions
are conducted.

It is also supposed to (and I say 'supposed' because I have no way of
proving such) help the tyre last (chemicals), it contains an
antifreeze so won't become immobile in the cold, it's non corrosive,
water soluble and lasts the life of the tyre. More importantly it
*won't* fix a puncture in the sidewall (just because of centrifugal
force) and will only fix holes up to a certain size as the likelihood
is anything bigger could cause further damage to the carcase of the
tyre itself.

It is also to actually reduce the chance of tyre damage during a
puncture because 1) any nail or whatever would be lubricated by the
solution and thrown out quickly, minimising the time the object spends
in the tyre (potentially doing damage) and 2) prevents the tyre being
run when partially deflated, minimising the risk of tyre heating and
potential blowout.

So, I fit it in all my trailers because you have even less 'feel' with
them if a puncture is slowly allowing a tyre to run deflated and it
being destroyed before you have chance to stop.

It is also fitted in most our motorbikes (as I get roundtuit).
daughters van and Corsa. (I would like to minimise the risk of her
being caught out as you were by something that could easily be avoided
completely).

So, I work on the principal I have seen it work on may occasions with
my own eyes and considering the cost (both of a damaged tyre or worse)
of a simple puncture it's actually very cheap. It also only took our
daughter some 30 minutes to apply it to all 4 tyres on her van herself
so there was no excuse there.

So, how does it differ from a 'traditional repair'?

Well, with a traditional repair the object may well still be stuck in
the tyre and could have been there for some time. Then they would
remove the tyre and inspect the inside for damage? Then, presuming the
tyre isn't 'damaged', they run a big rasp though the hole, potentially
further severing any cords that were exposed within the hole? Then
they apply some adhesive and pull a 'mushroom' plug though. So, the
plug is supposed to fill the hole with rubber and the patch on the
inside stop the plug coming out and repair the leak.

With Punctureseal the same thing happens except you object is most
often thrown out straight away (minimising / negating any further
damage) and rubber particles in the fluid fill the hole with rubber,
that is cured into place by the heat, pressure and centrifugal force.
That must work because I have never had a puncture fixed with
Puctureseal ever fail (or those that I never even knew about) and nor
has anyone else I know (I'm not saying it never has of course because
there will always be the exception to the rule).

However and depending on where you live (and how often you get
punctures), and if your vehicle is equipped with a real spare wheel
that you keep inflated ... and you have the tools, strength and skills
to change a wheel yourself, the 'risk' isn't as great as with say a
motorbike or trailer.

The Mrs recently wrote off a fairly new tyre when she caught it on a
broken kerbstone that was sticking out. As she was local she rang me
and I popped up and changed it for her as she was parked in a quiet
side road and it was easier and safer for me to do it than her.
Punctureseal wouldn't have helped in that occasion because it doesn't
stay on the sidewall (it can't) and the tear was too big in any case.

http://www.punctureseal.com/

As I mentioned elsewhere, I have no connection other than being a very
satisfied customer / user.

Cheers, T i m