Dry Rot

[Bluefoot]

Does anyone know what causes rubber tyres to crack and perish and suffer from "Dry Rot"? Is it humidity? heat? sunlight? proximity to toxic chemicals? termites?

What are the best conditions to store rubber parts to prevent this from happening?

[WillyChang]

all of the above -termites +age.

[ideal2k]

I have not had any substantial dry rot to any of my ageing models.

I live in a very cold country, so my cars have not been exposed to heat, sunlight or humidity.

I believe that what is harshest on the tires is actual sunlight and heat. Other factors are not so important, but if you leave the car in the window stuff will happen.

If you leave a pair of sneakers in the front window of your 1:1 size car, and park it in the sunlight, and leave it for a day, you will come back to find the rubber sole of the shoe has shrunk to half the original size.

This, is the ultimate proof that heat and sunlight is bad.

[WillyChang]

You remind me of the time when someone put my Nike X-trainers into the microwave to help it dry faster.

(yes they use thermal glue too)

[jozza]

A quick search on Google shows that the 2 main enemies of rubber tyres are UV light (sunlight) and ozone. The sunlight speeds up the reaction of the tyre to the ozone apparently. One site mentions that tyres should be flexed regularly to allow the additives which slow this reaction down to reach the surface, all the sites are talking about 1:1 cars though so I'm not sure if the Tamiya tyres would have these additives in them or not. Some of the useful info I found:-

http://www.303products.com/techinfo/tires1.htm

http://www.autoswalk.com/tirexrubandv.html

http://www.detailingdynamics.com/tipnov04.html

http://www.carcareonline.com/viewarticle.aspx?art=12

Do a Google search for "uv rubber rot" or "tyre rot" for more, but it seems that they all agree it's UV + Ozone = sad tyres

[Bluefoot]

So...Keep them in the dark and squeeze all the tyres regularly. Or use one of the sponsors fine products! (non-silicone based of course!).

Dang! I'm going to have to take all my cars out of the sunroom and hide them in the basement again! And the wife had just got used to them in there too.

I should think the advice given in these sites would apply to most of the compounds used in our model tyres too (thanks for the links by the way []). I think they have all been reading the same textbook too.

[mymonsterbeetleisbroken]

so if its sunlight that messes up tyres, what can we do to help our shelf queens unused tyres from dry rot? apart from sticking them in a box LOL

is it direct sunlight that causes the problem, or simply a room lit up by daylight?

[mr_pushrod]

Time to pull out the vaseline, lol.

[Dirt Racer]

quote:Originally posted by mymonsterbeetleisbroken

so if its sunlight that messes up tyres, what can we do to help our shelf queens unused tyres from dry rot? apart from sticking them in a box LOL

is it direct sunlight that causes the problem, or simply a room lit up by daylight?

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id="quote">id="quote">

If its on the shelf then why not just design and fix curtains around the shelf? []

[jozza]

I would think that all sunlight would be a problem, but direct light has higher UV concentration. If you leave your CD collection in a shelf by a bay window, the covers will all fade, but if they are kept at the back of the room it takes longer, I suppose it's the same with tyres.

Perhaps for the shelf queens you could get some of those little parasols that go in cocktail drinks and place them tastefully next to each tyre []

[Mowerman]

After 10 years working for a major tyre manufacturer I know a bit about tyres - full size! However the principles are the same and the major cause of rubber degradation is drying out - and I mean that literally. Often the tyres on a car (1/1)that does low milage may not be worn out but have to be changed due to ozone cracking, where the outer layer dries due to UV and temperature change. So, yes to preserve shelf queens either wrap the tyres (!)or keep them in a dark room with regulated temperature control, and rotate them on the axle once a week to prevent flatspotting. It is not sunlight but light that will degrade the rubber. Tyres have a"life expectancy" of 5 years. All artificial rubber products have the same basic chemical make up, it is how they are utilised in a final product that differs (Yawn, I'm boring myself now!)

cheers

[mymonsterbeetleisbroken]

quote:Originally posted by jozza

Perhaps for the shelf queens you could get some of those little parasols that go in cocktail drinks and place them tastefully next to each tyre []

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id="quote">id="quote">

nice idea [8D]

[jozza]

quote:Originally posted by Mowerman

After 10 years working for a major tyre manufacturer I know a bit about tyres - full size! However the principles are the same and the major cause of rubber degradation is drying out - and I mean that literally. Often the tyres on a car (1/1)that does low milage may not be worn out but have to be changed due to ozone cracking, where the outer layer dries due to UV and temperature change.

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id="quote">id="quote">That happened on my first real car, a Mini that was 18 years old and had 20,000 miles on the clock. Tyres looked fine, deep treaded. We went out for a spin when we got it, the front tyres burst. When the tyre shop looked at them, they had dried out and cracked, as soon as we took it out they were just too weak to keep inflated.

Does it help to regularly add one of the tyre dressing products to keep the rubber from drying out? Or would they be a waste of time?

[Bluefoot]

I'm glad it's not heat alone that does the most damage - having just boiled a pair of brand new oval blocks for half an hour.

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...=29987&sid=2193

It has removed that waxy coating though so I will be on the lookout for one of those tyre dressing products.

quote:Perhaps for the shelf queens you could get some of those little parasols that go in cocktail drinks and place them tastefully next to each tyre

id="quote">id="quote">

I'm ordring some in. Or maybe I should get the missus to knit some "socks" like what they put on golf clubs?

[DJTheo]

Don't forget that normal home windows glass (not plastic) filters almost up to 90% of the UV radiation, so its not that bad at home (otherwise we would also get nicely tanned or even sun burned at home []) but also beware that halogen spots have a pretty high UV light precentage, so better avoid them spotting directly your cars.

Check also http://www.tamiyaclub.com/xforum/topic.asp...Terms=glycerine,

Cheers

[Mowerman]

quote:

id="quote">id="quote">Does it help to regularly add one of the tyre dressing products to keep the rubber from drying out? Or would they be a waste of time?

quote:

id="quote">id="quote">

Jozza, it would probably help to dress the tyres with preservative - as a crude example if you covered them in silicone or vaseline they would last ages. As Theo points out ,most UV is stopped by glass but constant changes in temp/humidity are nearly as bad (as with central heating). Dont put shelves over radiators!

Another idea would be to swap the tyres corner to corner and left to right, but also outside to inside on the same rim. Nearly all tyre failures of this nature are in the outer sidewall so with a body that covers the inner wall (like a tl01 subaru) the inner wall is really well protected.

cheers

[fatboyslim]

Hmmm been thinking about this!![xx(]

So drying out and UV light cause the damage

Rubber has an oil content

So how about rubbing on some tanning lotion??

The oil in the lotion would soak into the rubber helping to keep it from drying out, and if you got say a SPF 40 with UV blocking then that'd help protect it from UV damage!!

PLUS as a bonus all your tyres would smell of coconuts!!

Sound good or just plain stupid??

[Bluefoot]

Mowerman, Several of the sites listed above mention the effect of using silicone based products on your tyres. The first one includes:

quote:Other Degradants

Petrochemicals and silicone oils can remove the protective waxes and increase the rate of degradation. Common automotive "protectants" and "tire dressings" are typically devoid of UV stabilizers of any type and contain petrochemicals and/or silicone oils which dissolve away the protective waxes and can actually aggress the sidewall. In the event of warranty sidewall failure, one of the first things tire manufacturers look for is evidence of the use of these types of products. When found, this is often cause for not warranting the sidewall failure.

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Is it just the removal of the waxes that is the problem or do these products actually "aggress" the rubber as this article suggests?

[Mowerman]

sorry, Bluefoot, my comment re silicone was a bit flippant - I meant cover them in say black silicone to prevent ozone damage. Petrochemicals degrade tyres by reacting with the chemicals in the rubber compound and causing cracking that is very similar to ozone damage. I had a warranty claim once on a large number of tyres from the MOD where the tyres were failing too quickly and it turned out they were on fuel bowsers - the splashes were causing the tyres to crack up. So yes, petrochemicals will damage the tyres. Silicone is used as a releasant so that the tyres can come out of the mold easier, but thats about it. We used to clean tyres (for exhibition use) with "Armor All" but it was not to protect them.

Regarding fatboyslims idea - dunno about that, we never tried it!!

[tamartin]

Hi,

I had amazing results with 100% pure Glyzerine.

It is very nice to your skin too []

Put some in your hands and work to liquid into the sponge tires, you will be amazed how soft they become over night.

Rubber tires will become black again.

And glyzerine will not dry out the tires as AmorAll and will not destroy them like Vaseline.

I think thats the cheapest and best way to make your shelf queen stay longer on the shelf.

Bye

[nmunn]

Glyzerine

 

were do i get this??

any links

[DJTheo]

Here in Germany you can get it at drug stores.

Cheers

[jacolouw]

HI

Ive tried some products and found some of the best results in 1:1 car products to protect the leather/vinyl/plaatic/rubber parts e.g. dashboards, window trimming etc.  Most of these products are silicon based, thus protects and shine and cut UV rays.

Another way being used to protect rubber tires is to polish them with a polish very similar to the wax based shoe polish (not the liquid).  The polish is/was used to polish floors and stone floors.  Work very good for it almost seal the tire from air and cuts a large percentage of the UV.

Jakes