White Lightning vs. Purple Extreme

2700 miles on a chain? Sounds like the lubricant isn't too good for the
chain. I typically get 8000 miles out of my Dura Ace chains before they
get 1/8" "stretch" over the ENTIRE length, my criteria for replacement.


I use a Quicklink (against recommendations of Shimano, of course) to
allow easy removal. I clean in an $40 ultrasonic cleaner with paint
thinner, changing the solvent twice. Final rinse is with acetone for
quick dry.

I lube with White Lightning, letting it dry overnight. Chain cleanings
are every 500 miles, give or take a few. If the rollers are rattling, I
brush the chain with a large nylon brush until clean, then reapply WL.
This gets the majority of the road grit off but the fresh WL looks dark
when it dissolves the inside crud.

Post mortems of worn chain indicates no perceptable wear of the pins.
Only the side plates and rollers are worn. The pins have some kind of
carbide/nitride/chromium plating which resists wear.

The benefit of my process is a chain that is never too "gunky" to touch
and a good year's worth of riding.


--
Weisse Luft

g.daniels Wrote:
where does lufte live? what kind of road dirt? sand?
Oh yes, there is sand on the roads where I ride. There is also silt
and clay. In the cleaning solvent sediment, I can definitely feel the
grit that doesn't get attracted to the neoydium magnets (salvaged from
old hard drives). Being a chemistry buff, I know a bit on elemental
analysis. Since I no longer have access to a XRD, the only elemental
analysis I can do is wet chemistry on the sediment.

About 22% by mass of the sediment off my chain washings is magnetic
ferrous. This is a very fine powder that takes several days to
accumulate on the side of the container where the magnet is taped to
the outside. I decant the rest of the sludge and wash with 1N NaOH.
The washings are collected and allowed to evaporate. From the total
mass addition of NaOH and its eventual conversion to Na2CO3*10H20,
estimated mass of aluminum is 8%.

The remainaing sediment is then treated with HCl to dissolve any
non-magnetic metals like Ti (Dura Ace cogs) and non-magnetic ferrous
residue. It also dissolves mineral carbonates. This is evaporated
mass is a whopping 38% of the total.

The rest (32%) is probably silica, silicates and other extraneous
lubricant that escaped the initial solvent washings. Since I used
non-polar solvent (paint thinner), very little metal is lost in the
washings. There is also some losses due to carbonate dissociation but I
assume this to regain upon drying and exposure to atmospheric CO2.

Keep in mind, it took several chains to accumulate enough sediment to
run this test and it was only done for more than subjective reasons.


--
Weisse Luft

g.daniels Wrote:
where does lufte live? what kind of road dirt? sand?
Oh yes, there is sand on the roads where I ride. There is also silt
and clay. In the cleaning solvent sediment, I can definitely feel the
grit that doesn't get attracted to the neoydium magnets (salvaged from
old hard drives). Being a chemistry buff, I know a bit on elemental
analysis. Since I no longer have access to a XRD, the only elemental
analysis I can do is wet chemistry on the sediment.

About 22% by mass of the sediment off my chain washings is magnetic
ferrous. This is a very fine powder that takes several days to
accumulate on the side of the container where the magnet is taped to
the outside. I decant the rest of the sludge and wash with 1N NaOH.
The washings are collected and allowed to evaporate. From the total
mass addition of NaOH and its eventual conversion to Na2CO3*10H20,
estimated mass of aluminum is 8%.

The remainaing sediment is then treated with HCl to dissolve any
non-magnetic metals like Ti (Dura Ace cogs) and non-magnetic ferrous
residue. It also dissolves mineral carbonates. This is evaporated
mass is a whopping 38% of the total.

The rest (32%) is probably silica, silicates and other extraneous
lubricant that escaped the initial solvent washings. Since I used
non-polar solvent (paint thinner), very little metal is lost in the
washings. There is also some losses due to carbonate dissociation but I
assume this to regain upon drying and exposure to atmospheric CO2.

Keep in mind, it took several chains to accumulate enough sediment to
run this test and it was only done for more than subjective reasons.


--
Weisse Luft

guys, get a life...
"justen" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 21:31:53 GMT, "Monty"
wrote:
I used it for over 1,000 and was very happy with it. The chain was
quieter
and the bike shifted better. I recently put a new chain on the bike and
thought I would document the difference. For the first 150 miles I used
White Lightning. Then photographed the chain. I then thoroughly
cleaned
the chain and used Purple Extreme. At 150 miles I, once again,
photographed the chain. I rode the same road on both tests. (Wisconsin
back roads, generally blacktop or seal coated)

When you got the new chain, did you thoroughly clean it before applying
White Lightning? Or did you just apply the White Lightning over the
lube that came on the chain?

justen

guys, get a life...
"justen" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 21:31:53 GMT, "Monty"
wrote:
I used it for over 1,000 and was very happy with it. The chain was
quieter
and the bike shifted better. I recently put a new chain on the bike and
thought I would document the difference. For the first 150 miles I used
White Lightning. Then photographed the chain. I then thoroughly
cleaned
the chain and used Purple Extreme. At 150 miles I, once again,
photographed the chain. I rode the same road on both tests. (Wisconsin
back roads, generally blacktop or seal coated)

When you got the new chain, did you thoroughly clean it before applying
White Lightning? Or did you just apply the White Lightning over the
lube that came on the chain?

justen