Life's a Bitumen

28/11/2012

We received an email from fellow skiker Jonathan Spring following his experience “tearing up the road” with his skikes last Sunday at Lake Mountain.

“I skiked from Marysville to Lake Mountain on Sunday afternoon and experienced a very soft road. There was a car rally in morning from the ticket office up to the top of the mountain and so the road had lots of liquid bitumen on its surface. I stopped at the timber yard about 2km from the top as my wheels had bitumen and stones stuck to them and rubbing against the frame.

I started cleaning my skikes last night and there are sharp stones embedded in 2 - 5 mm of bitumen and also stuck between the back wheels and the frame. I used a screw driver to chip away at the thick pieces and tonight I will be taking the wheels off to clean them properly and get to all sections of the frame. Turpentine was a good solvent to get the bitumen off my shoes and it didn't seem to damage the rubber.

I intend to use Turpentine to clean the wheels after I have already removed the thicker sections of bitumen. Unfortunately the bitumen has remained quite soft and sticky rather than hardening as I had expected.”

We think that turps, eucalyptus oil or a citrus based degreaser, liberal amounts of elbow grease and some old rags would probably be the way to do the job safely. Allowing the bitumen to go hard and using a screwdriver or a metal scraper may mark the powdercoat finish or score the wheels. Other commercially available products such as Tar & Bug Off may also work. Do not use things like acetone or WD-40 as they may work but will also attack rubber.

Other comments both helpful and humorous have also been received:

Kerosene would probably work, similar to turpentine. Its a thinner for the bitumen sprayed onto the road for sealing. It slowly evaporates and the bitumen hardens up, but on hot days the bitumen gets very tacky if there has not been much time for the kero to evaporate, as seems was the case.

Of course, you can just "wear" the bitumen off the tyres. It might be a bit slow and bumpy at first... :-)

Have you ever needed to clean bitumen, an incrustation of filth, or any other crud from your skikes? If so, what did you use? Add a comment to this blog and help another fellow skiker.

3 Comments

Marshall link

29/11/2012 08:55:27 am

The following information gratefully received from Andrew Walker:

Advice from our bitumen lab is:

Turps - Effective - what we normally use, probably the best option, as Jon has found

Shellite - not as effective as turps, but use to clean off the turps residue

Kerosene - should work, but we don't use, also added to bitumen as cutback to reduce viscosity in spraying

Diesel - should work, bitumen tools stored in this - use shellite to clean off residue

Preen - Left field item - there is a Preen stain remover/degreaser that is effective - used by spray gangs to remove overspray on vehicles

Mortein - Right field item - used to clean graffiti off road signs

Regarding effect of all these on rubber, some /all may soften rubber depending on time of exposure/soaking. Crumbed rubber, from tyres, is often added to/dissolved in bitumen to help stiffen & harden the bitumen, so you can expect most of these solvents/degreasers to react with the tyre rubber after lengthy treatment.
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Thanks Andrew for your detailed research and advice.

I think it should also be noted that shellite will give you a cheap high and possibly a headache if not used in a well ventilated area. Probably best avoided.

Preen will also work if your skikes are soiled by food residues or things like red wine.

Mortein may even be capable of killing insects if used in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

Len

11/12/2012 03:52:58 am

A sequel to the story: After a huge clean up effort Jon found that the rubber on his tyres had been weakend in spots so he replaced them with new wheels. In the process of hastily pumping up the new wheels last Sunday (9/12/12) we partly over inflated above 100psi one of the new wheels. Jon then drove to Mt Donna Buang and started skiking up it on what was a much cooler day than the Lake Mountain skike two weeks earlier. Two thirds of the way up the mountain road the tube in the over inflated tyre blew out. Luckily Jon's wife Fiona and children were not far behind him, on their way driving up the mountain to meet him at the top. So they were able to rescue Jon from what could have been a very long walk. Lessons have been learned for the benefit of others thanks Jon

Marshall

10/6/2013 10:28:25 am

From an industrial chemist, a word of caution to anyone thinking of using solvents to remove bitumen from tyres.

Any solvent capable of dissolving the tar will also be capable of 2 other notable effects.

1. The solvent will dissolve and leech out chemicals which are included in the rubber compound to extend its life. Thus, some shortening of the lifetime of the tyre will occur. Obviously, this will depend on which and how much solvent is used, and the time of contact. One cannot put numbers on it.

2. The solvent will penetrate the rubber compound itself, causing it to swell and soften. This is only a temporary effect, as once application ceases, it will evaporate from the surface of the tyre whilst the solvent penetrating the rubber will migrate slowly to the surface. Thus no permanent damage need occur from this softening and swelling, but there is potential. If the tyre is left at or reinflated to full pressure whilst the solvent remains . . . I think you get the picture.

I would recommend that as much of the bitumen is removed physically before trying the use of solvents.
If solvent is used at all, lower the tyre pressure, minimise exposure, and don't reinflate to full pressure until the smell of solvent has left the tyre.

I guess most will know not to use solvents in an unventilated area, and to avoid sources of ingnition.

Thanks to Bruce Mc Dowell for this information.

Authors

Len - Well known in the Australian XC skiing community as a competitor, coach, race organiser and instructor who is also passionate about skikes.

Marshall - The first to introduce and import skikes to Australia. Enjoys outdoor pursuits and has a strong attraction to anything with wheels.

Life's a Bitumen

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