Mothercare My4 Pram puncture : how to repair

Scarcely believable but my wife managed to get a puncture today with the pram!
Needless to say its been quite a while since ive got the tyre levers out and fixed an inner tube.

Luckily mothercare pram had easy remove wheel spindles.

Wonder if I should for lower profile and wider tyres while I'm at it lol
Just off to halfords now to buy a kit.

Now fixed : thought Id quickly write it up.


Tools required

working area e.g. kitchen table
Halfords Bike Tyre Puncture
Repair Kit £2.99
Wheel levers (optional) or pair of normal dinner knives
soapy water
bike pump

Procedure

1. remove wheel (Mothercare My4 pram makes this soooo each, just a simple tab retainer and each wheel just pops off)
2. scan wheel for the offending article that punctured the casing. (if my case a very small but strong thorn),
if found mark tyre and note location in relation to the wheel valve.
remove the item and dispose of carefully so it doesn’t happen again !
3. Now time to remove the inner tube. For this we need to release one edge of the outer tyre.
Best way is with tyre levers, these are just kinda blunt ended spoon like things. They work well but in reality you dont need them if youre careful.
A pair of sturdy knives is enough (not really sharp or pointed end ones though!)
pick an area opposite the valve on the inside rim of the wheel (that way if you damage or mark the rim it wont be so visible) , insert one knife under the tyre bead edge. Leaver up gently (trying not to 'nip' the delicate inner tube)
You need to hold that in place then come in with a second knife and start levering the same way in small cm increments away from your first knifes position.
Once youve done a small amount it 'breaks free' and the rest can be done by hand.
4.You should now be able to see the inner tube. remove tube valve cap, and push valve out gently, noting position.
Always note orientation then it should be easy to find the leak.
now pull out the inner tube gently.
5. now pump up the inner tube a little, the leak should become obvious. If not you can stick it in some soapy water that always works but gets messy.
If you can find it without doing this its better as you arent getting the tube wet, so any repairs have a better chance of working.
Which ever way you find it use the chalk (from the puncture repair kit) to mark the position
6. release all air from inner tube (press the centre piece of the valve)
7. Prep the working area to match a suitable sized repair patch. lightly rub with the rough area on the box.
8. Open glue and apply to inner tube, wait until it becomes tacky
9. peel off patch backing and apply in one movement , dont try and move it once it touches the tacky glue.
Press down roudn the edges. and maybe place a light item (e.g. cup) over the patch to apply some weight while drying
10. Allow to dry (2 hrs in my case, but its dry much sooner)
11. remove your 'weight' , take the chalk (from kit) and rub against rough bit of box (there are 2 areas on the kit box, 1 for roughing up, 1 for chalk creation).
Then tap this onto the repair around the edges. It gets taken up by any free glue and prevents it possibly sticking to the outer tyre once re-assembled
12. Now refit the inner tube, reverse of the way it came out.
13. You should be able to refit the outer tyre bead for 90% of the rim, with only the knives needed for the last bit.
BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO PINCH THE TUBE WHILE DOING THE LAST BIT IF YOU ARE USING KNIVES
14. If you have time I would pump the tyre up a small amount and leave overnight , if not just go for it ......
15. refit to buggy , confirm tyre pressures same for rear wheels.
16. Enjoy your regained freedom, and a well earned beer/cuppa

Note :
For this type of wheel we only need repair the 'inner tube' , the outer tyre tends to self heal to some extent once the thorn/nail is removed.
If you have a large hole in the outer tyre that remains once the nail is removed, you may want to consider apply a patch to the inside of the tyre itelf.
Normally though its not needed.