Be careful when using tyre warmers on Carbon Wheels…
as this American found out when suddenly he found himself doing a different kind of skidding :crazy:
flipping eck - was that specifically to do with tyre warmers?
yep! it warmed the carbon fibre up and caused it to snap off!
thats one momentus fug up!!:w00t:
it’s like any glued item, warm it up enough and the glue will go soft again.
what a cracking way to go though, bet it cost him a pretty penny!
Must have been faulty, tyre warmers only reach 80C max which is lower than some race tyres can run at in a race.
There are car body tubs made from glued cf which easily withstand 200C or more, in fact I’ve seen exhaust heat sheilds on turbo cars with glued cf. F1 cars have loads of cf all over the place, in fact the inlet systems are usually cf and they will be subjected to more heat than a tyre warmer can generate.
doesn’t say if this was the first time though. I’d say this was due to repeated warmings and thrashings
I can think of more sensible places to put carbon…
Like nowhere near my wheels. Ever.
BST sya that their wheels are designed to withstand 80 deg and warn against using enclosed warmers.I’d say that thar A-merican fellow didn’t read the label.
Seems v v odd… cf is cooked in an oven for fuggin hours to set in bluewrap to strenghten it… weird that heating it to 80C then breaks it…
Could it not be a stress break from inertia change… i.e. rubber on static ground and wheel trying to spin, and reverse when stopping is twisting the cf a lot… so might crack - afterall, its v v brittle so is likely to crack under such strain?? As said, better places to put it… like complete fairing bodies etc…
They also have full TUV rating, which they passed with ease - so they’re tough.
Exactamundo - they are fantastic bits of kit.
If the guy used enclosed warmers, the rims could easily have got over 80 degrees which, although ok for the carbon components, may well have been too much for the bonding agent - especially when it’s combined with some brutal acceleration forces.
Not sure I understand, I’ve seen hill climb and sprint cars with 600bhp engines where the engne is bolted to a cf tub . . . the tub is glued together just like the Lotus Elise. Maybe BST don’t use an autoclave and everybody else does ? :crazy: Those tubs have turbochargers inches away from them and are definately subjected to 150C at the very least.
Autoclaves can use 200C at tens or even 100 psi so way above the tyre warmer temp.
Firstly, carbon fibre can vary a lot…
BST wheels have got an excellent rep - their quality is fantastic.
It’s not the carbon that’s at fault here, it the bond where the spokes meet the hub that’s failed.There is obviously a reason why BST quote 80 degrees - it must be down to the bonding agent.Also the rim may have had a ding at some point - Carbon isn’t too forgiving when you batter it and tends to break rather nastily.
Yep, if the chap had hit a rock or something very hard, cf will splinter or crack very easily but I’m surprised they can’t take a tyre warmer, they must be working very near their margins in normal use in the sun on a hot day . . . think I’ll stick to metal wheels.
In fact if I was BST I’d seriously consider finding another glue to use or change the manufacturing process.
I can’t see the point in carbon wheels away from the track, TBH.There’s too many ways to kill them on the road - you only have to hit a big pothole and it could ruin the front wheel.
If I was spending big money on nice wheels thay would have to be Mags, but they need to be looked after, too.