Flammable tire repair foam.

Only used it once on a slow puncture to get me home. Turned out the problem was with the valve, so it accumulated around the valve and formed a sort of fungus looking item inside the tire.

Phil Collins

I have had success with a wheelbarrow tire. Held for years until the rubber perished and had to be thrown out and replaced.

I've used this on four or five tires, always wondered what it actually is. It does work great for small punctures or leaks, and will actually last a verry long time! Did 5000+ km this fall with a trailer that had that stuff in the tire, from Trondheim (Norway) to Geneva (Switzerland) and back, 3/4 of max load for the return trip. No issues what so ever... It does say on the bottles i have used to completely deflate and reinflate the tire a few times as soon as possible to get the gas out. Some types also come with a red valve cap to put on the tire so the tire shop knows what to expect. I usually tell them anyways, they seem to appreciate that. Some new cars come with no spear tire, but instead have a bottle of this and 12v air compressor, seen that in a couple of Audi's. Less fire hazard that way.

Thor Syvertsen

I used to work at a tire place and can say without a doubt that that stuff can work under the proper circumstances; however, it does make life harder for the folks replacing the tire as it it wet, it stinks, its sticky and it stinks.

Michael Thompson

I only ever use a floor-standing pump, which I keep in my boot. The worst puncture I had since I started driving led to my tyre going flat after about 20 minutes of being pumped up. That was enough time for me to drive to a garage that repairs tyres and the puncture is repaired for €5 (typical around here). The reason I use a floor pump is that it doesn't buckle on uneven surfaces like how foot pumps usually fail and pumps the tyre from flat up to ~30 PSI in just 2-3 minutes, unlike portable electric compressors.

Seán Byrne

On my car they supply a can of tyre repair which is meant to use in conjunction with the supplied compressor. Not had to use it yet. Not yet found a definitive answer as to whether it writes the tyre off or not.

the product Ben used looks like it would be quite flammable too - it had a good amount of naphtha in it. He definitely loses some points by not trying to set it on fire - a pillar of scientific research!

I didn't realise Ben had made a video about this stuff. His appears to be the version with the non-flammable propellant. I've added a link to his video in the description.

Big Clive

Many years ago, I found a "tyre inflator" in a box, which according to my father was one of the most stupid things his father ever bought. It had a spark-plug fitting, 2 simple check valves, and a long rubber hose. You were supposed to take a spark plug out, hook this thing up, and start the engine, to fill your tyres with a perfect mix of air and petrol. This foam stuff, though, I've been using for years as a bead sealant on trailers and it's been very good at that - only tried it once to fix a puncture and it didn't work. It also makes a right mess of the valve which needs to be taken out a couple of days after use, and all the stringy bits pulled out.

Andy Brown

Also called "tubeless sealant" for bicycles (no propellant). 60ml or so in the tyre, and automatically fixes all small punctures, should they appear.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO-l1zaSJvk" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO-l1zaSJvk</a>

Kadah

i think Ben Krasnow at Applied Science did a video on this stuff. He made a test vessel (i mean of course he did, that guy is mad) and I think he said he left it in his tire for a couple months. Not sure if he blew up or not, but i think it took out his tire pressure monitor

It's cheap, and it works for very small punctures or unfindable slow leaks. Back when I was a poor college student and couldn't afford to replace my cheap winter tires every summer, they'd start developing slow leaks. A can of this stuff was much cheaper than a new tire or even repairing the old tire.

George Dorn

I have used it and it does work pretty well on small holes. I have used it for a long term fix(about 3 months) on a small hole The problem I found is when it gets below freezing if you did use it to fix/fill a tire they will go flat in the cold. I think my record is 7 cans in a tire before getting it fixed. Yes, I am that lazy. The tire change places here(Alaska) get upset if you don’t tell them you used it on a tire. The cans do seem to work better upright as they get towards the end of the fill. Edit: They have larger cans for truck tires.

Lostngone

The problem is that the tire repair shop folks don't know what's in the tire, and several have been severely injured or killed when they worked on tires "fixed" with this stuff. I don't think it's sold here any longer.

My understanding is that what's terrible about these is that they mess up tire pressure sensors and make a huge nasty mess for whoever changes the tire. :)

Jamie Magin

Not until it's empty as that would make a huge foamy mess. If you've ever got latex liquid on clothing it's a one way trip.

Big Clive

They're in the next video that I just released.

Big Clive

Yes it arrived, but I've not played with it much yet. It will be part of a different recording setup and will take a bit of getting used to.

Big Clive

Rubber? I hardly know her

We use a version of this for bicycle tires except we use it as a preventative measure. The tire or tube is injected with a couple of ounces (no flammable propellant) through the air valve and then re-inflated. If you get a minor puncture it usually self heals while you are riding and you only hopefully only lose a few pounds of pressure.

Chris Parsons

It might be interesting to try filling a balloon that has a pinhole to see how it reacts on a small scale. Probably best done outside, though... On the off chance it actually works, you've got a butane-filled balloon, which sounds like fun.

You didn't use excessive force to open the can...? ;)

Daddy Bearcat

They use butane as its a liquid in the can then expands ALOT in the tire to help inflate a much higher volume tire. It also has small amounts of other chemicals to clean, etch, and chemically vulcanize. From my days working at a few tire shops it seems that it either dose nothing to help them or they say they forgot they used it was so long ago. But I will tell you if it sits in the tire for some time it makes for a huge clean up job. Also no one tells you they used it so you have no clue until you spill/fling it all over the mounter and or shop.

Zach Allin

Given that people drive around on space-savers for weeks or months - I'm sure they'd try to do the same with this stuff (people are stupid - who knew?) That's if it even works - it's really quite rubbish and you'll end-up paying the tyre shop to clean-up the mess it makes whether it does or not. It exists only because cars MUST have some solution to flat tyres and there isn't always room for a spare or even space-saver - I'm amazed it's even still allowed, it really is a crap solution.

but no led's ... how disappointing

God 420

Did that new camera you ordered a while back ever come in? I remember you saying you weren't sure if it'd work out.

David Bodenheimer