Has “Punctureseal” gone belly up?

The site works for me but how many cars do you have?

18.9L does 7 to 11 cars! They also do 2.6L @ £70 and 4.6L @ £114

give them a ring, it looks like the website is unwell

Well, we have three vehicles and my daughters have a car each and if the dosing cost comes down by buying in larger quantities is seems a no-brained to buy in bulk.

Tim

When was the last time you got a puncture?

Tempting fate I know but it is years since I last had a puncture. I am even getting to the stage when I think it would be no big deal to drive around with no spare at all (I currently have a full size spare).

Had two near new and very expensive tyres wrecked by wood screws on the last car. Within weeks of one another. And a third which it was possible to repair.

From the application of a cordless drill/driver?

Does sound to be remarkably bad luck otherwise.

Problem on my current car is the rim/wheel seal - apparently that starts to fail after a while. Had them cleaned and been OK - fingers crossed.

It is quite reassuring. ;-)

I first came across the concept of a pre-emptive tyre sealant at the BMF (Motorcycle) rally at Peterborough years ago with Ultraseal and used it on many motorbikes, cars and trailers after that (as did many of my fellow motorcyclists and to good effect).

Then I think there was some sort of issue with the directors of the company with one going off and producing his own stuff but still using the Ultraseal brand.

The other, not wanting to get dragged down with the other stuff not being so good, started selling something the same or better than the original Ultraseal as Punctureseal.

I gave a mate half a bottle of Ultraseal to retrospectively fix a puncture on his motorbike tyre and he was so impressed with it he bought some more and even replaced what I had given him with a full bottle of something else (different brand, *possibly* Punctursafe[1]).

I wasn't sure if it was the same stuff but just put it on the shelf and when daughters bf got a puncture on his motorbike and we tried to use this stuff as I had done several times previously to retrospectively seal the puncture. It sorta worked but even after we added more than we should, it continued to leak around the same hole so he ended up putting a new tyre on (it was fairly worn in any case).

Then I did some more research and found that it was Punctureseal that was the replacement for Ultraseal, not whatever my mate had got. ;-(

I have since bought the larger pail of Punctureseal and their dispenser and have treated all our cars and daughters van with it and so far no punctures (but that could just be luck etc).

I have used Punctureseal to retrospectively repair a puncture on one of our untreated cars and it worked as expected (so we did the remaining 3 wheels in any case). ;-)

This is the website of the stuff I use (no connection other than happy customer etc):

YMMV etc.

Cheers, T i m

[1] I'll see if I still have the container of the questionable stuff (I recovered it from the bike tyre) and confirm the brand name.

Around here (East Anglia) potholes are the big tyre killers.

A the tyres would fail in such a way that any punctureseal gunk would be unlikely to work.

snip

When it comes to tyre change or puncture repair, does it create an expensive mess? It looks quite soluble and easy enough to rinse out - I'm just not that sure how a tyre fitter would react.

Hopefully you don't know the answer :-)

Done that ...

Puncture repair?? ;-)

Nope (partly because of the above and partly because of what follows ..)

It is. I took the 7 year old rear tyre of the Mrs's motorbike that had been Ultrasealed and it just rinsed out with a hose (I rinsed it out because I was putting it away and was going to just use it as 'a tyre' whilst working on the bike before fitting new ones).

I have also transferred some from a fairly freshly installed tyre to it's replacement when someone pinched a hole out of the sidewall on a nearly new tyre against a kerb (couldn't have been an old tyre eh ...). ;-(

Given they just throw them on their heap and the stuff stays in there, I'm not sure they would even notice. ;-)

Remember, this isn't the 'foam' that's likely to fill the entire tyre void, including on the rim etc, this is a gel like liquid that is thrown to the outsides of the tyre (well, the inside of the outside, the back of the tread area ) and generally stays there and therefore not found anywhere else (like on the rim or sidewalls etc).

See above. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

I assume the 'stuff' stays liquid(ish) while in the tyre. Then, when you get a puncture, it fills the hole (or around the object etc) and 'goes off' to become rubbery.

Presumably, it is exposure to air that causes the reaction/change in state.

However, there is air in the tyre, quite a volume of it. Some must react with the initial fill of seal, and any top up of air must react with more seal.

I assume the idea is to ensure there is enough liquid left to fill any holes.

Erm, it's weird. I think 'gel' was the best way to describe it once it's been distributed round the inside of the tyre as if you leave a tyre stationary (indefinitely AFAIK), it doesn't all run to the bottom?

I think that the idea yes. ;-)

I think so, plus heat within the tyre etc.

Yes, and hence why it seems to form a very fine skin (that may hold it in place) but of you were to run your finger though it, you wouldn't be able to pull a skin off etc? As I mentioned elsewhere, the stuff that had been in the wife's motorbike tyre for 7 years was still 'mobile'.

Yes ... given that you put a set amount of stuff in for each size of tyre then that would provide a 'thickness' of sealant over the complete surface and if it lost some at one point to seal that hole, the rest would move round to maintain the uniform thickness etc.

I think if you imagined it like a grease ... that would typically stay where you put it but would level off if you were to spin it round in something. Like if you put a blob in the bottom of a paint pail then span it round your head on a line, when you stopped it would probably be spread evenly over the bottom of the pail ... but wouldn't pour down to one side if you laid it on it's side? Make a hole in the grease with your finger, spin it round again and the hole will be gone. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Tyre or rim fail, yes. ;-)

But then you wouldn't want it to work under those circumstances (and because of 'science', it doesn't). ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Had to buy two new tyres (due to wear) on Friday. First comment was ?Have you had a puncture?? when they saw the gunge. After that, business as normal.

Tim

It?s puzzling. I think it?s black magic. It does seem to work however. I stuck some in my wife?s punctured tyre (Allen head bolt gone through the tyre) the other week. A bit dribbled out with a bit of bubbling. Hasn?t lost any pressure since.

It doesn?t seem to be exposure to air that ?cures? it. Something to do with its thixotropic properties and little ?bits? in the liquid that plug the hole.

Tim

As its a gel and self levels round the circumference of the tyre. How far up the tread of a motorbike tyre does it get?

Good question and I think it would depend to some degree on the profile of the tyre and the dosage of sealant in the tyre.

Eg, The wife's bike is an XV750 'Virago' and the rear tyre particularly has a fairly wide / low profile (and the only treated bike tyre I've take off and taken notice of so far).

However, most tyres flex to form a 'contact patch' where they touch the road and as that moves about across the width of a bike tyre, so I believe the sealant spreads sideways slightly?

Plus, the chances are you were more likely to get a puncture in the bit that's touching the road?

The proof of the pudding is in the using and the lady from the BMW club that went round the world (on her old GS boxer) came back with a nearly bald rear tyre and several indicators where Ultraseal (as it was then) had fixed a few punctures (little purple dots on the rubber).

Another big success story was a mate who was a gardener who used a ride on mower on one of his customers grounds. He was regularly having to take a wheel off and get punctures (mostly from hawthorns) fixed till I put him onto Ultraseal. His client went for it (and they were fairly big 'balloon tyres so the opposite of motorcycle tyres etc) and never suffered from a puncture again (and I believe they were tubed tyres as well).

When I first saw Ultraseal they had a motorcycle front wheel in a jig on their stand and were regularly stabbing it with a bradawl to demonstrate it's function. The 'signs' (purple dots) were all over the width of the tread area of the tyre but I had no idea how much sealant it had in there of course. I was happy if it just covered the main contact area (which on our touring bikes wasn't a radical as a track racer of course). ;-)

Cheers, T i m