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Final steps when chain cleaning
I ride a Trek Liquid 20 in Singapore. That means inordinate amounts
of mud and water. I've been wondering about the cleaning and lubricating process. I end up doing things the way Park Tools advocates... http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/CM5.shtml Where I'm puzzled is the "drying the chain with a rag" bit, after cleaning/rinsing the chain and before lubricating it. The thing I've noticed is, "yeah, I can get the moisture off the plates and things, but if you look in the cracks and crevices, you can see that there is definitely water trapped here and there. All the rag-wiping in the world isn't going to drain it out. I think about the only thing you could do would be to run a hair dryer on the chain. Or perhaps if you let the chain sit out overnight it would mostly evaporate (or rust...) So what should I do? and how long to wait after "wiping with rag" to actually spray on the lubricant? |
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Final steps when chain cleaning
Michael Slater wrote:
I think about the only thing you could do would be to run a hair dryer on the chain. Or perhaps if you let the chain sit out overnight it would mostly evaporate (or rust...) I know a lot of people who go to a gas station where they have a device to inflate tires. They use that to dry the chain. I would move to a drier country after reading what you have to go through when cleaning the chain ;-) Greets, Derk |
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Final steps when chain cleaning
On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 12:22:51 GMT, Paul Kopit
wrote: On 27 Jul 2003 01:03:09 -0700, (Michael Slater) wrote: I think about the only thing you could do would be to run a hair dryer on the chain. Or perhaps if you let the chain sit out overnight it would mostly evaporate (or rust...) So what should I do? and how long to wait after "wiping with rag" to actually spray on the lubricant? Keep 2 chains and one can dry while the other is in use. It would take a long time with a hair dryer. In the oven or in a frying pan might work. Yea but he's keeping the chain on his bike. I don't see why it would take so long with a hair dryer. 5 minutes? If drying the chain became a regular ritual, I'd rinse in 99% isopropanol (rubbing alcohol). Acetone would work better but it costs more. How does this work? Does that stuff replace the water and then evaporate? Thanks, Thunder9 |
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Final steps when chain cleaning
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#7
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Final steps when chain cleaning
"Werehatrack" wrote My advice: Don't wait at all. If your chain lube doesn't displace the moisture that's present when you're lubricating it, will it really be able to protect the chain while you're riding in wet conditions? If you're adventurous, then you may want to try the chain cleaning and lubricating method advocated by another of the frequent contributors here. He suggests a hot wax dip immediately after using conventional cleaning methods; heat paraffin wax to slightly more than the boiling point of water, drop the wet chain in it, wait until the sizzle subsides (which shows that the hot wax has both removed the water and fully penetrated the chain) and then fish the chain out with a piece of wire. As soon as the chain cools just enough to be safe to handle (but before the wax has fully hardened) the chain is reinstalled and the bike is *immediately* ridden, to prevent the chain from freezing in position due to wax adhesion. This also removes the excess wax. He contends that no additional lube is needed, and that the chain will pick up less dirt with this method than with regular lube. I have one bike on which I'm trying his method, and it seems to be working so far, but it hasn't been in service long enough for me to be able to say for sure. The principal problems with the method lie in the area of heating the wax without running the risk of igniting it. He suggests doing it in a pan on the stove; I melted it in a small, covered baking pan in an oven set for about 120C. You must make sure that you do not approach the flash point of the paraffin, which is at just about 200C, as it will spontaneously ignite if you do. I experimented with waxing chains for a while- I found that the safest method of melting the wax was a double boiler. I would put the wax in a small open can, and put the can in a pot of boiling water. The boiling water would be hot enough to melt the wax, but a long ways below the flash point of the paraffin. A second benefit was that the water in the pot would keep the wax hot and molten for a good while after I took it off the stove, allowing better penetration of the wax into the chain. This used to be a popular method of cleaning and lubing chains, especially in wet climates. Opinions vary as to whether additional lube is needed; I've seen bike chain specific waxes on the market, and heard reports of people blending lubes into the wax. Lately I've been removing the chain from the bike, dunking it in citrus degreaser (or automotive Simple Green), wiping it dry, and lubing it and putting it back on the bike. Would combining this with waxing the chain be appropriate in a humid climate? -- mark |
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Final steps when chain cleaning
http://draco.acs.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/8d.2.html
-- Robin Hubert "Michael Slater" wrote in message om... I ride a Trek Liquid 20 in Singapore. That means inordinate amounts of mud and water. I've been wondering about the cleaning and lubricating process. I end up doing things the way Park Tools advocates... http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/CM5.shtml Where I'm puzzled is the "drying the chain with a rag" bit, after cleaning/rinsing the chain and before lubricating it. The thing I've noticed is, "yeah, I can get the moisture off the plates and things, but if you look in the cracks and crevices, you can see that there is definitely water trapped here and there. All the rag-wiping in the world isn't going to drain it out. I think about the only thing you could do would be to run a hair dryer on the chain. Or perhaps if you let the chain sit out overnight it would mostly evaporate (or rust...) So what should I do? and how long to wait after "wiping with rag" to actually spray on the lubricant? |
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Final steps when chain cleaning
On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 14:56:41 GMT, "mark"
may have said: I experimented with waxing chains for a while- I found that the safest method of melting the wax was a double boiler. I would put the wax in a small open can, and put the can in a pot of boiling water. The boiling water would be hot enough to melt the wax, but a long ways below the flash point of the paraffin. This also keeps the temp of the wax just below the boiling point of water, though, and part of what I was trying to accomplish was to use the vaporization of the water to drive out all the moisture and carry any small amount of remaining crud with it; sort of an instant steam-cleaning. The flash point of the wax is at 200C (395F), so heating it in the oven at 250F seemed to be a reasonable procedure, and in fact presents no apparent major hazard as long as the pan is handled with due care and the oven is turned off when the pan is being moved. (The latter is simply a safety precaution; I have a gas oven.) Lately I've been removing the chain from the bike, dunking it in citrus degreaser (or automotive Simple Green), wiping it dry, and lubing it and putting it back on the bike. Would combining this with waxing the chain be appropriate in a humid climate? That's similar to what I've done with one of mine; I used an automotive degreaser, then pressure-washed the chain, and then waxed it. This is a wet climate by some people's reckoning[1], but I seldom ride in the wet since I don't have fenders on any of my bikes yet. I just waxed that chain a week or two ago, so I'm not ready to pronounce the experiment either a success or a disappointment just yet. So far, though, it's working, and if it turns out to be less effective than I'd like, I doubt that the presence of the wax will interfere with simply relubricating the chain conventionally. Ergo, there appears to be no *drawback* to using the wax. There's a bike shop nearby that rents units for people to ride on the bike trails in the large city park that's close to them. I may stop in and ask them what they use for lube on their fleet, since those trails get muddy when it rains and they're sandy and dusty when it's dry. [1] I don't consider Houston particularly wet, but then, I grew up in Miami, where there's probably three times as much rain. I get the strangest looks when I tell folks that I moved here for the cool, dry climate and the presence of four distinct seasons...but that's the way it seems to me. -- My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy. |
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Final steps when chain cleaning
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