Chain cleaning solvents

On Apr 4, 9:55 am, suzyj
wrote:
Hi guys,

I used to use kerosene to clean my chains, but it became shockingly
expensive (nobody had it at the bowser anymore)


Wow, it sounds like you use a lot. Is this in a bike shop? I keep my
chains pretty clean, doing about 300 km/week on two bikes and cleaning
every 2-3 weeks. I would only use about 50ml each time, applied with a
brush and/or chain cleaner. One bottle of kero from the supermarket
lasts me months. The cost is insignificant.

Donga

John Henderson wrote:



I agree about biodiesel's superior solvent properties. Carry a
spare fuel filter if you switch to it in a high-milage Diesel.


And if it is an old diesel prepare to replace fuel lines....

I wonder if it might be less of a skin irritant, too...

I believe it is. There are (unconfirmed) reports of people
drinking the stuff to prove a point.


Gee I hope they knew what they were doing when they batched the BD in
question Methoxide being fairly high up on the "kill you deader than
hell" list.




--

Donga wrote:

Wow, it sounds like you use a lot. Is this in a bike shop?

Naah - I'm just peeved I can't get kero from the bowser any more. I
probably only go through a couple of litres a year.

Next time I'm filling up, I'll be sure to take a container along, and
give it a go.

In response to other posters, my car did 700km on petrodiesel (and thus
far about 50km on petro/bio blend), so I don't think there are many
deposits to be cleaned out :P


--
suzyj

suzyj wrote:
Donga wrote:


Wow, it sounds like you use a lot. Is this in a bike shop?


Naah - I'm just peeved I can't get kero from the bowser any more. I
probably only go through a couple of litres a year.

Tried your local supermarket?
1L containers are probably convienient.

suzyj wrote:
Hi guys,

I used to use kerosene to clean my chains, but it became shockingly
expensive (nobody had it at the bowser anymore) so I changed to
petrodiesel, which has been pretty good for getting gunk off chains.

Last night I filled the car up with biodiesel, and I started to wonder
if it's any good for cleaning chains. From what I've read on the web,
it's a better solvent than petrodiesel (in as much as it removes
deposits from your fuel system so they can gum up filters and
injectors), and it's certainly safer to store than petrodiesel, having
a higher flash-point.

I wonder if it might be less of a skin irritant, too...

So has anyone tried it? I'm kicking myself now for not tsaking a fuel
container with me last night when I filled the car...


I use the mechanical chain cleaner and sugar soap. Seems to work pretty
well.

"Terryc" wrote in message
...
suzyj wrote:
Donga wrote:


Wow, it sounds like you use a lot. Is this in a bike shop?


Naah - I'm just peeved I can't get kero from the bowser any more. I
probably only go through a couple of litres a year.

Tried your local supermarket?
1L containers are probably convienient.

I used kero (from supermarket) for a long time but recently I was in super
cheap auto and bought a bottle of "biodegradable degreaser" that is in a
blue bottle. I have used it about 3 times so far and I am pretty impressed
with it. It is almost odourless and seems to do a reasonable job of
degreasing - means the wife doesn't complain about me smelling like kerosene
anymore!!!

The other thing I bought that I should have years ago was a decent pair of
rubber gloves.........not sure why I didn't do this earlier but it is
definitely easier now as I don't have to scrub my hands forever when I get
back inside from a degreasing session in the shed.

Gags

On Apr 5, 5:53 am, "Gags" wrote:
"Terryc" wrote in message

...

suzyj wrote:
Donga wrote:

Wow, it sounds like you use a lot. Is this in a bike shop?

Naah - I'm just peeved I can't get kero from the bowser any more. I
probably only go through a couple of litres a year.

Tried your local supermarket?
1L containers are probably convienient.

I used kero (from supermarket) for a long time but recently I was in super
cheap auto and bought a bottle of "biodegradable degreaser" that is in a
blue bottle. I have used it about 3 times so far and I am pretty impressed
with it. It is almost odourless and seems to do a reasonable job of
degreasing - means the wife doesn't complain about me smelling like kerosene
anymore!!!

The other thing I bought that I should have years ago was a decent pair of
rubber gloves.........not sure why I didn't do this earlier but it is
definitely easier now as I don't have to scrub my hands forever when I get
back inside from a degreasing session in the shed.

Gags

I get worried about degreaser. I used a few cans of that $2 spray
degreaser a few years ago. For my pains, I destroyed the alloy finish
on a 105 and an Ultegra crankset. I twigged too late that it was the
degreaser - I think because of its high alkalinity. Why change from
kero? If you have dirty hands, just wash them in kero ;-)

Donga

TerryC wrote:

Tried your local supermarket?
1L containers are probably convienient.

They are (and I do have a bottle of kero from Bunnings at the moment),
but I get really p**ed off at paying $3 or $4 a litre for something
that was $1 a litre from the bowser.

Bit like bottled water really.


--
suzyj

On Wed, 4 Apr 2007 09:55:31 +1000, suzyj wrote:

I used to use kerosene to clean my chains, but it became shockingly
expensive (nobody had it at the bowser anymore) so I changed to
petrodiesel, which has been pretty good for getting gunk off chains.

I use turps in a plastic container - if you let the gunk settle and pour
off the rest, you only need to top it up a little each time.

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

Gags wrote:
The other thing I bought that I should have years ago was a decent pair of
rubber gloves.........not sure why I didn't do this earlier but it is
definitely easier now as I don't have to scrub my hands forever when I get
back inside from a degreasing session in the shed.

Yes a good quality pair would be the go. I have a packet of those throw
away latex gloves in the shed but a few minutes in petrol/kero/whatever
and they start to disintegrate.

DaveB