Ultrasonic cleaning?

Was just thinking... I used to use a bucket of carb dip to "deep clean" a chain, but I haven't had one in a while because movers don't like to pack up a gallon can of highly volatile solvents for some reason...

I now have an ultrasonic cleaner that I primarily use for LPs but it does a great job with glasses, showerheads, etc. Can I use it to deep clean a chain, and what do you use for a solution? Obviously if I were going to do this it would be before cleaning the cleaner and putting in fresh LP cleaning solution.

thanks for any advice!

nate

On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 7:36:52 AM UTC-7, N8N wrote:
Was just thinking... I used to use a bucket of carb dip to "deep clean" a chain, but I haven't had one in a while because movers don't like to pack up a gallon can of highly volatile solvents for some reason...

I now have an ultrasonic cleaner that I primarily use for LPs but it does a great job with glasses, showerheads, etc. Can I use it to deep clean a chain, and what do you use for a solution? Obviously if I were going to do this it would be before cleaning the cleaner and putting in fresh LP cleaning solution.

thanks for any advice!

I use a product called "SuperWash" that comes in a purple container and is little more than a soap. I allow the solution to heat to 50 degrees C and run the ultrasonic for 5 minutes. Anything and everything off of a bike comes out sparkling clean though I would not put anything with sealed bearings into it. Chains come out sparkling clean and then I put them in a wax hot pot. Cogsets come out showing only the wear marks, It cuts absolutely everything off. That soap is also biodegradable so I can through it out into the garden.

On 4/13/2021 9:36 AM, N8N wrote:
Was just thinking... I used to use a bucket of carb dip to "deep clean" a chain, but I haven't had one in a while because movers don't like to pack up a gallon can of highly volatile solvents for some reason...

I now have an ultrasonic cleaner that I primarily use for LPs but it does a great job with glasses, showerheads, etc. Can I use it to deep clean a chain, and what do you use for a solution? Obviously if I were going to do this it would be before cleaning the cleaner and putting in fresh LP cleaning solution.

thanks for any advice!

nate


A mild soap. Detergents seem to make various kinds of
trouble in ultrasonic cleaning machines.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 11:29:23 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 7:36:52 AM UTC-7, N8N wrote:
Was just thinking... I used to use a bucket of carb dip to "deep clean" a chain, but I haven't had one in a while because movers don't like to pack up a gallon can of highly volatile solvents for some reason...

I now have an ultrasonic cleaner that I primarily use for LPs but it does a great job with glasses, showerheads, etc. Can I use it to deep clean a chain, and what do you use for a solution? Obviously if I were going to do this it would be before cleaning the cleaner and putting in fresh LP cleaning solution.

thanks for any advice!
I use a product called "SuperWash" that comes in a purple container and is little more than a soap. I allow the solution to heat to 50 degrees C and run the ultrasonic for 5 minutes. Anything and everything off of a bike comes out sparkling clean though I would not put anything with sealed bearings into it. Chains come out sparkling clean and then I put them in a wax hot pot. Cogsets come out showing only the wear marks, It cuts absolutely everything off. That soap is also biodegradable so I can through it out into the garden.

thanks. Was also thinking about wax so I guess that's the follow up question. I might be interested in trying that, I know that paraffin based wax is recommended but I'm assuming you all aren't using Gulf wax from the grocery store (or are you?)

nate

On 4/13/2021 11:38 AM, N8N wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 11:29:23 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 7:36:52 AM UTC-7, N8N wrote:
Was just thinking... I used to use a bucket of carb dip to "deep clean" a chain, but I haven't had one in a while because movers don't like to pack up a gallon can of highly volatile solvents for some reason...

I now have an ultrasonic cleaner that I primarily use for LPs but it does a great job with glasses, showerheads, etc. Can I use it to deep clean a chain, and what do you use for a solution? Obviously if I were going to do this it would be before cleaning the cleaner and putting in fresh LP cleaning solution.

thanks for any advice!
I use a product called "SuperWash" that comes in a purple container and is little more than a soap. I allow the solution to heat to 50 degrees C and run the ultrasonic for 5 minutes. Anything and everything off of a bike comes out sparkling clean though I would not put anything with sealed bearings into it. Chains come out sparkling clean and then I put them in a wax hot pot. Cogsets come out showing only the wear marks, It cuts absolutely everything off. That soap is also biodegradable so I can through it out into the garden.

thanks. Was also thinking about wax so I guess that's the follow up question. I might be interested in trying that, I know that paraffin based wax is recommended but I'm assuming you all aren't using Gulf wax from the grocery store (or are you?)


That's what I use, with a little bit of oil blended into it. I think the
oil I used is actually the stuff intended for manual transmissions, but
I mixed my batch so long ago that I don't remember for sure.

IME pure paraffin wax causes the chain to start squeaking once it gets
rained on. IME adding maybe 5% to 10% oil stops that problem, but still
gives a much cleaner drivetrain, and probably longer chain life and less
friction as well.

--
- Frank Krygowski

On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 8:38:25 AM UTC-7, N8N wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 11:29:23 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 7:36:52 AM UTC-7, N8N wrote:
Was just thinking... I used to use a bucket of carb dip to "deep clean" a chain, but I haven't had one in a while because movers don't like to pack up a gallon can of highly volatile solvents for some reason...

I now have an ultrasonic cleaner that I primarily use for LPs but it does a great job with glasses, showerheads, etc. Can I use it to deep clean a chain, and what do you use for a solution? Obviously if I were going to do this it would be before cleaning the cleaner and putting in fresh LP cleaning solution.

thanks for any advice!
I use a product called "SuperWash" that comes in a purple container and is little more than a soap. I allow the solution to heat to 50 degrees C and run the ultrasonic for 5 minutes. Anything and everything off of a bike comes out sparkling clean though I would not put anything with sealed bearings into it. Chains come out sparkling clean and then I put them in a wax hot pot. Cogsets come out showing only the wear marks, It cuts absolutely everything off. That soap is also biodegradable so I can through it out into the garden.
thanks. Was also thinking about wax so I guess that's the follow up question. I might be interested in trying that, I know that paraffin based wax is recommended but I'm assuming you all aren't using Gulf wax from the grocery store (or are you?)

Waxing is something you may not want to do. It is very messy. After you bring the pot up to temperature and you put the chain in it (mostly wax with enough Teflon powder in it to make the wax REALLY slippery) you pull the chain out of that after it is hot and hang it on a hook to cool. Unfortunately it never drips enough of the wax off and the chain is then stiff as a board and you have to work it quite a bit to get the links to all most well enough to get the chain mounted on the bike. Then it throws flakes of wax everywhere for a week. After than it seems to work very well for about a month. So you're cleaning the bike for a month. If you do not want to go through this rather arduous procedure you should simply buy a bottle of Rock n Roll and follow the directions. This seems to have the same effect. You apply it and let it dry overnight. The RnR is the same Teflon I use but with a solvent carrier so that it can clean a dirty chain and re-lube it at the same time.

On 4/13/2021 10:38 AM, N8N wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 11:29:23 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 7:36:52 AM UTC-7, N8N wrote:
Was just thinking... I used to use a bucket of carb dip to "deep clean" a chain, but I haven't had one in a while because movers don't like to pack up a gallon can of highly volatile solvents for some reason...

I now have an ultrasonic cleaner that I primarily use for LPs but it does a great job with glasses, showerheads, etc. Can I use it to deep clean a chain, and what do you use for a solution? Obviously if I were going to do this it would be before cleaning the cleaner and putting in fresh LP cleaning solution.

thanks for any advice!
I use a product called "SuperWash" that comes in a purple container and is little more than a soap. I allow the solution to heat to 50 degrees C and run the ultrasonic for 5 minutes. Anything and everything off of a bike comes out sparkling clean though I would not put anything with sealed bearings into it. Chains come out sparkling clean and then I put them in a wax hot pot. Cogsets come out showing only the wear marks, It cuts absolutely everything off. That soap is also biodegradable so I can through it out into the garden.

thanks. Was also thinking about wax so I guess that's the follow up question. I might be interested in trying that, I know that paraffin based wax is recommended but I'm assuming you all aren't using Gulf wax from the grocery store (or are you?)

nate


Yep, that's the food-grade version

https://askinglot.com/what-is-gulf-wax

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 10:16:19 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
On 4/13/2021 10:38 AM, N8N wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 11:29:23 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 7:36:52 AM UTC-7, N8N wrote:
Was just thinking... I used to use a bucket of carb dip to "deep clean" a chain, but I haven't had one in a while because movers don't like to pack up a gallon can of highly volatile solvents for some reason...

I now have an ultrasonic cleaner that I primarily use for LPs but it does a great job with glasses, showerheads, etc. Can I use it to deep clean a chain, and what do you use for a solution? Obviously if I were going to do this it would be before cleaning the cleaner and putting in fresh LP cleaning solution.

thanks for any advice!
I use a product called "SuperWash" that comes in a purple container and is little more than a soap. I allow the solution to heat to 50 degrees C and run the ultrasonic for 5 minutes. Anything and everything off of a bike comes out sparkling clean though I would not put anything with sealed bearings into it. Chains come out sparkling clean and then I put them in a wax hot pot. Cogsets come out showing only the wear marks, It cuts absolutely everything off. That soap is also biodegradable so I can through it out into the garden.

thanks. Was also thinking about wax so I guess that's the follow up question. I might be interested in trying that, I know that paraffin based wax is recommended but I'm assuming you all aren't using Gulf wax from the grocery store (or are you?)

nate

Yep, that's the food-grade version

https://askinglot.com/what-is-gulf-wax

I had been looking at a waxing video and used what the hell they recommended. It came in large blocks. They had recommended some commercial grade of Teflon but it wasn't available so I found another commercial grade that supposedly had slightly larger particle size. That doesn't seem to have made much difference. When I was messing about with Cassettes yesterday, I could not hold the waxed chain tight enough to remove the lock link while keeping the chain on the small ring and small cog. I had to pull it completely off of the chainrings so that it was completely loose. That's pretty slippery. I'm on my 10th ride and today I did a short hard ride with 1800 feet of climbing. My discovery yesterday of that non-Campy cassette not being spaced properly and the replacement of it with a real Campy seems to have pretty much solved the shifting problem in the small ring. Even not having done this route in two months I did it at an average speed of 9.4 mph and my record is a 9.6 mph average. I did have a whole lot of traffic interference today as well. I'm getting a real 10 speed freehub so that I can get rid of that extra spacer. That should end the slight skipping now and again.

On 4/13/2021 3:45 PM, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 10:16:19 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
On 4/13/2021 10:38 AM, N8N wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 11:29:23 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 7:36:52 AM UTC-7, N8N wrote:
Was just thinking... I used to use a bucket of carb dip to "deep clean" a chain, but I haven't had one in a while because movers don't like to pack up a gallon can of highly volatile solvents for some reason...

I now have an ultrasonic cleaner that I primarily use for LPs but it does a great job with glasses, showerheads, etc. Can I use it to deep clean a chain, and what do you use for a solution? Obviously if I were going to do this it would be before cleaning the cleaner and putting in fresh LP cleaning solution.

thanks for any advice!
I use a product called "SuperWash" that comes in a purple container and is little more than a soap. I allow the solution to heat to 50 degrees C and run the ultrasonic for 5 minutes. Anything and everything off of a bike comes out sparkling clean though I would not put anything with sealed bearings into it. Chains come out sparkling clean and then I put them in a wax hot pot. Cogsets come out showing only the wear marks, It cuts absolutely everything off. That soap is also biodegradable so I can through it out into the garden.

thanks. Was also thinking about wax so I guess that's the follow up question. I might be interested in trying that, I know that paraffin based wax is recommended but I'm assuming you all aren't using Gulf wax from the grocery store (or are you?)

nate

Yep, that's the food-grade version

https://askinglot.com/what-is-gulf-wax

I had been looking at a waxing video and used what the hell they recommended. It came in large blocks. They had recommended some commercial grade of Teflon but it wasn't available so I found another commercial grade that supposedly had slightly larger particle size. That doesn't seem to have made much difference. When I was messing about with Cassettes yesterday, I could not hold the waxed chain tight enough to remove the lock link while keeping the chain on the small ring and small cog. I had to pull it completely off of the chainrings so that it was completely loose. That's pretty slippery. I'm on my 10th ride and today I did a short hard ride with 1800 feet of climbing. My discovery yesterday of that non-Campy cassette not being spaced properly and the replacement of it with a real Campy seems to have pretty much solved the shifting problem in the small ring. Even not having done this route in two months I did it at an average speed of 9.4 mph and my record is a 9.6 mph average
.. I did have a whole lot of traffic interference today as well. I'm getting a real 10 speed freehub so that I can get rid of that extra spacer. That should end the slight skipping now and again.


I generally ignore toxic chemical warnings but hot teflon
fumes are an actually dangerous thing. You might check into
that.

https://www.fluoridealert.org/wp-con...fects.lung.htm

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 12:02:35 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 8:38:25 AM UTC-7, N8N wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 11:29:23 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 7:36:52 AM UTC-7, N8N wrote:
Was just thinking... I used to use a bucket of carb dip to "deep clean" a chain, but I haven't had one in a while because movers don't like to pack up a gallon can of highly volatile solvents for some reason...

I now have an ultrasonic cleaner that I primarily use for LPs but it does a great job with glasses, showerheads, etc. Can I use it to deep clean a chain, and what do you use for a solution? Obviously if I were going to do this it would be before cleaning the cleaner and putting in fresh LP cleaning solution.

thanks for any advice!
I use a product called "SuperWash" that comes in a purple container and is little more than a soap. I allow the solution to heat to 50 degrees C and run the ultrasonic for 5 minutes. Anything and everything off of a bike comes out sparkling clean though I would not put anything with sealed bearings into it. Chains come out sparkling clean and then I put them in a wax hot pot. Cogsets come out showing only the wear marks, It cuts absolutely everything off. That soap is also biodegradable so I can through it out into the garden.
thanks. Was also thinking about wax so I guess that's the follow up question. I might be interested in trying that, I know that paraffin based wax is recommended but I'm assuming you all aren't using Gulf wax from the grocery store (or are you?)
Waxing is something you may not want to do. It is very messy. After you bring the pot up to temperature and you put the chain in it (mostly wax with enough Teflon powder in it to make the wax REALLY slippery) you pull the chain out of that after it is hot and hang it on a hook to cool. Unfortunately it never drips enough of the wax off and the chain is then stiff as a board and you have to work it quite a bit to get the links to all most well enough to get the chain mounted on the bike. Then it throws flakes of wax everywhere for a week. After than it seems to work very well for about a month. So you're cleaning the bike for a month. If you do not want to go through this rather arduous procedure you should simply buy a bottle of Rock n Roll and follow the directions. This seems to have the same effect. You apply it and let it dry overnight. The RnR is the same Teflon I use but with a solvent carrier so that it can clean a dirty chain and re-lube it at the same time.

I think that's what I've been using, so you're saying just keep using that?

nate