Yet another thread on chain cleaning

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 23:45:33 +0000 (UTC), "asqui"
may have said:

There's also the potential that the existing chain may not be as good
as the ones you can buy as replacements.

Hm? It's a brand new (/was/ a brand new) SRAM 9-Speed chain.I assume this is
as good a chain as I'm going to get (for a reasonable price).

I won't disagree with that, based on what I've heard; I haven't used
an SRAM chain long enough myself to say for sure, but people whose
opinions I value say they're good.



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Snip
!!! Now this is why I am so shocked to see my chain wearing so rapidly, when
someone tells me that they have no measurable wear with 2000 miles on, when
using heavy oil for lubrication!

Motor oil is an excellent lubricant. But it gets dirty on the chain
and it is the dirt that does the damage. So, the trick is to decide
how dirty is too dirty. For me it's 200 to 500 miles or so depending
on where I've been riding and, frankly, the weather. If it is nice
out, I'll ride, if not, I may do maintenance work on the bikes. The
exception is if the bike gets muddy. Then it gets hosed and brushed
off at the end of the ride.


Hmmm, well I'm afraid to say that any polluted traces of the original
lubricant are now nowhere to be seen on my chain. If you like it so much why
don't you find out what it is and buy yourself an industrial size vat of it
from SRAM or their supplier?

I've never seen it advertised for sale but that's a poor excuse. I'll
email SRAM and see what they say.

Regarding Simple Green, it is a brand of cleaner available here in the
USA. It is the least expensive one I've seen, but it does not smell
as nice as citrus cleaners.

Steve Shapiro

Ok, I wonder if anyone has tried the following method.

After you clean your chain by your preferred method, you smear some grease
on it (while on the bike) and then gently use a propane torch to melt and
liquify the grease so that it penetrates into the chain.

Of course, you would put something behind the chain to protect the bike.

This method is attractive to me because the grease, when cool, will not
fling off the chain at all, and it would seem to be an excellent and durable
lubricant, especially if using a water-proof grease.

Anyone ever try this?

Ed Chait

"Phileas" wrote in message
...

I have two chains either of which at any given time is "in cleaning/lubing".
Cleaning just means shaking the chain in solvent which is then filtered and
used again with the same chain.

Filtering is unnecessary, anything that a filter will catch will settle out
quickly. I've used the same solvent for years, doing more than a dozen
cleanings/year with the same quart or so of paint thinner.

Lubing means leaving the chain in bath of
oil for a while and then hanging it up for the excess to drain off,
following which the chain is wiped with a cloth and is then ready for use.

I don't see where soaking a chain in lube does anything that simply oiling a
chain on the bike does. Sounds messy.

Having said this, I don't know how clean my chains really are (inside) after
all this and whether they will last longer but I like putting a "fresh"
chain on every week or so!

I find that if I flex a chain after a solvent shake, if there's any grit left
on the pins you can easily feel it once most of the lube is washed out.

Hmmm, well I'm afraid to say that any polluted traces of the original
lubricant are now nowhere to be seen on my chain. If you like it so much why
don't you find out what it is and buy yourself an industrial size vat of it
from SRAM or their supplier?

I checked with SRAM about the factory applied lube on their chains.
They responded promptly, something I sincerely appreciate. Here is
what they said,

"Thanks for contacting SRAM. We do not sell Gleitmo (SRAM's name for
the lube) aftermarket, and it is intended for a one-time use during
the manufacturing process. This is not something you would want to use
on your chain after it has been in use.

Besides, it is extremely expensive and is only available in 55-gallon
drums."

So, I'll continue to have fun experimenting with chain saw bar oil to
see if I like it better then motor oil. It's a thing to do on rainy
days when I prefer not to ride.

A poster mentioned the idea to heat grease to lower the viscosity for
better penetration into the chain. I've never tried to burn grease,
but I think a tourch would ignite it so I would not do it. Besides,
lubes like white lithium grease are stable at higher temperatures...we
are not talking about Crisco here.

But one could mix in a solvent that reduced the viscosity of the
grease or oil. When the solvent evaporated, it would leave thickened
lube behind. This is how the white lithium grease spray cans work.
The spray is downright runny until the propellant or solvent
evaporates and it thickens up. It works on car door hinges. I've not
tried it on a chain. I think this is the idea behind some of the
specialty bike chain lubes. They have a strong odor of heptane
(rubber cement) and similar solvents. So, the instructions say to
pour the stuff on the chain and it cleans and lubes. Actually, much
of it evaporates and leaves some oily, waxy or fluorocarbon residue
behind. These products are not for me. I find it is too easy to
clean chains thoroughly without volatile solvents and then lube them
with very effective, inexpensive motor oil or bar oil.

Steve Shapiro

On 1 Aug 2003 11:11:07 -0700, (Steve Shapiro)
may have said:

I find it is too easy to
clean chains thoroughly without volatile solvents and then lube them
with very effective, inexpensive motor oil or bar oil.

Have you considered using motor oil of a higher viscosity (SAE50) or
adding an inexpensive viscosity improver (of the Slow-To-Pour variety)
to improve the ability of the oil to remain on the chain? (I can't
say for sure what effect, if any, this would have on dirt attraction
and retention, but I suspect it would only make matters worse in that
area.)

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