Removing old glue

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Permalink Reply by Slonie on August 15, 2011 at 11:10pm

No wisdom to add here, but I'm about to have to cross that bridge myself...

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Permalink Reply by Thomas on August 16, 2011 at 5:59am

I just took benzine for lighters and put some of this on a cloth. With this I remove patches of glue by rotating the wheel through the cloth. I will end up after two rounds with a smooth surface with some remaining glue but this prevents a radial run-out of the tire and will be perfect to apply next layers of glue.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Beals on August 16, 2011 at 8:53am

i received some other comments outside of this forum and i have included them here...

from gdtoth:

"...I still think you should now clean off the thin residue with some lacquer thinner. That thin layer should now come off easy. "

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Dave Beals on August 16, 2011 at 8:54am

and from tmleonard:

"...Wow, thanks, that is really cool. I would like to see up close and personal the brush you used. Man, I just did the best I could and fill in with new glue."

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Permalink Reply by Joey Mullan on August 16, 2011 at 8:33pm

I would be weary of this method. Some aluminum rims aren't as resilient to heat like mavic rims. They could be weakened or too much material could be shaved off, or worse yet, you have too coarse of a grinder. Too much at stake if you only have 1 wheelset. I'd rather mess it up with my own two hands than with my own two hands and 2,000 RPM of sheer awesome shredding-ness.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Beals on August 17, 2011 at 3:04pm

Joe, this is a valid concern. too much heat or too much grinding down to the metal, could compromise the integrity of the rim. i am beginning to lean now towards using lacquer thinner and a lot of elbow grease. Thanks for your thoughts!

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Permalink Reply by Michael W on August 17, 2011 at 9:09am

On aluminum, I've always had the best luck with lacquer thinner. Just takes time, elbow grease and lots of clean rags. Wipe a section, flip the rag to a clean spot, repeat, repeat, repeat. If you don't use a clean patch of rag every go-round, the glue just starts transferring back onto the rim. I get painters cloths (t-shirt material) as they seem to have the least amount of lint. I have fashioned custom shaped scrapers out of the outriggers for rear racks with a grinding wheel. Those help move things along a little quicker. I know people who use old butter knives or spoons. Just be careful not to gouge the rim.

Once all of the glue is removed, clean with fresh rag and denatured alcohol, lightly sand, another cleaning with alcohol and you're ready to go. 

Crack open a fresh beer, you earned it.

Maybe it's my paranoia, but once I start thinning the rim glue with a solvent be it lacquer thinner, acetone, etc. I remove ALL of the glue from the rim. I don't want to find out what effect old glue thinned with a solvent, mixed with new layers of glue has to the bonding capabilities. 

 

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Permalink Reply by Dave Beals on August 17, 2011 at 3:02pm

Thanks everyone for all the constructive advice! This is great! Keep 'em coming.

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