I have a tire 6581 which is stretched to the point it doesn't fit perfectly with the balloon designated for it, at one place it is kinda popped out. It is caused by my stretching it when I was younger for the sheer curiosity how much it can stand. Is there any way to undo this stretching and make the tire once again fit perfectly?
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Some more information about this type of damage can be found in this answer from another question bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/739/…– pcantinOct 26, 2013 at 15:08
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3 Answers
You won't be able to make it fit perfectly again. If plastic is stretched over a certain point it is irreversibly damaged.
But you can try to heat it a little to shrink the wheel overall. But it's not guaranteed to work. If you use a lighter you can affect a smaller area but be sure not to burn your part.
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If using heat to try and shrink something round, it might be worth putting a Jubilee clip (hose clip) round it first, tightened slightly to apply pressure inwards, and left on until it cools– Chris HSep 14, 2021 at 12:33
As someone already mentioned, I doubt there's any way to make it fit "perfectly" again but it may be possible to reduce the damage.
Another way to apply heat is to use hot water. As for how hot, I've got no clue what temperature that particular material starts to soften at, but I'd start out with the hottest water you can get from the tap and increase the temp gradually from there if that doesn't work. According to LEGO, 104F is the maximum "safe" temperature for most of their products, so it may not take as much heat as you might think. Since it's only a specific area, I'd recommend using kitchen tongs to hold the tire and dip only the area that requires softening in the hot water.
You describe it as both "stretched" and "kinda popped out"... without a photo, it's hard for me to picture what exactly the damage looks like. If it's to the point where part of the tire is misshapen rather than just stretched, a pair of thick plastic gloves (ie for house-cleaning) might allow you to reshape the damaged area while it's hot enough to be somewhat malleable.
I'm thinking sunlight heat. My rubber sandals shrunk about 3-4 sizes after I left them out in 85+ degree F (30 C) heat and direct sunlight. But be careful with this because the sun will also cause your tire color to fade
