Wintergreen oil for revitalising rubber parts

[themess]

Xylene is quickly absorbed and gives the rapid swelling. If xylene is used by itself, it will draw out what remains of the original oils and softeners in the rubber part. That will leave it in worse condition.

Xylene vapors can do the same thing, and it also applies to vapors of other organic solvents. Most solvents that would work have high vapor pressures, are highly inflammable, and have various adverse health effects. The carb dip bucket is an excellent tool for soaking, to keep the vapors confined.

The trick is to get the wintergreen oil in the part as a softener. A small amount of xylene might actually speed that process.

Organic solvents other than xylene would also work, depending on the trype of rubber.

Excellent trick, using rigid PVC to preserve the shape.

[Gorminrider]

"using rigid PVC to preserve the shape."...yeah! just some hoseclamps around a longitudinally-cut piece of pvc!

... other "organic" solvents? (without you advising anyone to use them) Styrene ? (wikopedia suggests tire rubber is styrene-butyl type). Acetone?
Alcohols?

Good ol' hot water to heat soften and thereby agitate the molecules as-it- were seems safest but unlikely to be a great solvent for rubber or the Oil Of Wintergreen

NOW, A really bad idea naturally occurs to me- trying this in-situ without taking the stuff off the bike! - paint 'er up with this concoction...apply the heat gun and gas myself just before the bike explodes in flame...

[themess]

....... other "organic" solvents? (without you advising anyone to use them) Styrene ? (wikopedia suggests tire rubber is styrene-butyl type). Acetone? ....Alcohols? ...

NO! The chemists who designed Rubber Renue (or whatever it is called) probably chose xylene for safety as much as anything else. That is not to call xylene "safe". As an undergrad I mouth pippeted substituted benzenes, which is one way to describe xylene. Now, pretty much all of them are proven carcinogens, with lots of other nasty effects.

It seems smarter to me to avoid using such solvents at all, when possible. Styrene is particularly nasty. It is mostly used as for production of the polymers polystyrene plastics and stryene-butadiene synthetic rubber. Many controls are needed to prevent poisoning, long-term toxic effects, fires and explosions.

Methyl salicylate is relatively safe, being the active ingradient in topical muscle soreness remedies such as Ben-Gay. It can be thought of as a derivative of acetyl salicylic acid, or aspirin. Remember, however, that aspirin gives many people stomach pain and stomach bleeding, and that it can kill through poisoning.

A guess: Straight wintergreen oil probably works as well as Rubber Renue, but a slower. Adding xylene to wintergreen oil probably speeds up the process of softening rubber. People who use RR are looking for clear, quick results, so RR gives it to them. Straight wintergreen oil probably gives the same effects, taking more time in the process. It should be safer.

I should buy some wintergreen oil and experiment with it a bit, if I am going to continue to speculate about its use.

[SVSooke]

I'm with TM,I wasn't to impressed when I seen xylene listed on the Rubber Renue but it was the most cost effective product I could find locally.While not as safe as I would have wished for it did work.

My carbs popped into they're newly refreshed boots with less drama than usual.

[jsandidge]

no need

No need for the xylene, wintergreen oil in hot water does the trick. Just watch it so it doesn't swell too much. I did mine weeks ago, and they are fine.

[Gorminrider]

jsadidge, Recipe,please ?
I have a vial of wintergreen and a couple of otherwise-useless intake boots to test with. I'm leaving one untreated as the base-line comparison.

[GelandeStrasse]

jsadidge, Recipe,please ?
I have a vial of wintergreen and a couple of otherwise-useless intake boots to test with. I'm leaving one untreated as the base-line comparison.

I don't know what the science is for how much to use is but I had success with an old crock pot two thirds full of water

And a the whole contents of a small bottle of this size that I got at the drugs counter in Shoppers Drugmart.

Wikipedia also has an entry for "oil of winter green" for more info.
The recipe I used: Fill the pot, turn it on low, when hot add the oil and stir then add your parts and leave. Check back in an hour and repeat until desired consistency is achieved. DO NOT forget about it or you'll end up with silly putty inlet boots like I did on my first attempt

[jsandidge]

recipe

jsadidge, Recipe,please ?
I have a vial of wintergreen and a couple of otherwise-useless intake boots to test with. I'm leaving one untreated as the base-line comparison.

I just used a small pot just a little bigger than the 4 airbox boots. Filled with water about 1-1/2 inches over the top of the boots. Add the entire 7 oz bottle of wintergreen oil. I used a portable electric burner out in the garage, because it puts out a pleasant but potent minty smell. Bring it up to just under boiling for about 10 minutes. I lightly clamped the boots back onto the carbs while still hot to make sure they would settle to the correct shape when they cooled, because they do swell. Use a little metal steaming grate in the bottom of the pot to keep the rubber off of it.

[Gorminrider]

thanks, Gelandestrasse.
...Crockpot is a good idea-they've a controlled temperature. A visit to the Thrift store is in my future!
"Shoppers Drugmart",eh? -I'll have a look there too for Wintergreen source. Rexall,Walmart,London Drugs had none-around here anyways.

[GelandeStrasse]

thanks, Gelandestrasse.
...Crockpot is a good idea-they've a controlled temperature. A visit to the Thrift store is in my future!
"Shoppers Drugmart",eh? -I'll have a look there too for Wintergreen source. Rexall,Walmart,London Drugs had none-around here anyways.

I did have to ask at the counter, it wasn't on the shelf eh

[SVSooke]

Hmmmmmm.......we phoned the Shoppers Drugmart here in Sooke,said they didnt have any.

[GelandeStrasse]

Hmmmmmm.......we phoned the Shoppers Drugmart here in Sooke,said they didnt have any.

Not easy to find!
These guys have it on their website, might be worth a try.
http://lifestylemarkets.com/aromafor.../#.UnasXBlQ1Ft
Says they have two shops in Victoria
http://lifestylemarkets.com/locations/

Use a little metal steaming grate in the bottom of the pot to keep the rubber off of it.

+1 on that

[SVSooke]

Yeah but I already got and used the Rubber Renue to good effect.Good info for others at this point,might be helpful in the future as I really didn't like the xylene in the RR.

[GelandeStrasse]

Yeah but I already got and used the Rubber Renue to good effect.

lol not paying attention or reading all posts, just randomly throwing the information it there

[Gorminrider]

"just randomly throwing the information" Thanks,though. Ideas welcome.

I've been trying the experiment with straight wintergreen from the healthfood store-heatgun to warm,Q-tip to apply. I'm doing this Outside, because too much wintergreen vapour might be like smoking Aspirins... It vapourises quite easily. (Who here remembers the good ol' Vick's Vapourizer?)
The Wintergreen Oil is almost instantly absorbed and some softening is happening.
My next experiment would be to put some oil and the rubberpart in a sealed glass container (might need weights) and put THAT in the crockpot with some water to maintain a temperature.
My thinking is, I don't want to do harm, a-la the guys "polishing" their tires and inadvertently removing solvents , thereby drying them out.

two weeks later: wintergreen on the part in a jar works very well. I just put a carb-boot painted liberally with wintergreen oil in a jar, put the sealed jar in a pot of water on the stovetop and simmered at low low heat for several hours. My hope is that ,the wintergreen vapourised and permeated the rubber interstices. It did indeed vapourise. As to penetration, I don't expect much depth but I will need to cut the both boots sectionally to see and compare flexibility.(Neither boot exhibited any cracks before the test. ) Compared to the un-treated boot, it did soften the boot and it seems lasting .