As with most chain lube threads, this one is full of unnecessary cleaning rituals and misinformation. Let’s begin:
Originally Posted by
michaeldb
I agree with a few of the posters above. remove the chain to get a good deep cleaning.
On very badly rusted, dirty chains I start with industrial de-greasers and regular dish soap in a container in the sink.
I keep working the chain until it loosens up and no more dirt seem to be coming out of the links, than rinse with water.
Next I soak it in denatured alcohol and continue agitating. alcohol will help remove smaller particles and remove water from the rinse.
Next I soak in WD40 and keep agitating. if the alcohol or wwd40 changes color its still has dirt trapped in the links so do a fluid change and repeat.
one pint soup containers w covers work great for soaking and shaking the chain.
It a slow process (1hr), but I just savaged a sedis that looked like it was trashed and when cleaned looked and functioned as new.
Why? Why try to salvage a rusted chain to begin with? Chains are cheap and not worth the time to recover them.
And why do unnecessary cleaning? Water based degreasers and dish soap may work on some grease but the volume needed is prohibitively high. I understand the rinsing with alcohol after water but if you don’t use the water, you don’t need the alcohol. Start with the WD40 minus the mineral oil in it and just start with mineral
spirits which is most of what is in WD40. Shake your chain in mineral spirits and let it dry. One and done.
Originally Posted by
Racing Dan
Im sure your method is great, but it sure does sound like a chore. Did you ever try just shaking the chain about in a jar with 1/2 a cup of mineral spirit for a minute or two. I find that method perfectly adequate.
Yup. Not much mess and not nearly as much fuss. Personally I have better things to do then take an hour to clean a chain. I go one step further than you, however. I clean the chain
once to remove the factory lube. That’s the last cleaning, or even removal, until I replace the chain. I use a wax based lube (Rock ‘n’ Roll or White Lightning) and don’t have to clean the chain ever. My chains...well my hands when I have to handle the chain.... look like this even in the middle of their life
2013-07-26 08.06.29 by
Stuart Black, on Flickr
Life is way too short to spend much time on cleaning chains.
Originally Posted by
rumrunn6
rubbing alcohol is so easy to find & we probably already have a bottle in the closet at home. wonder if that's all we need?
Nope. Too polar. If it dissolves in water, it probably won’t dissolve in oil. Rubbing alcohol...2-propanol or isopropanol...will dissolve in water in all proportions. That means that it is almost as polar as water. 1- and 2-butanol might work but it’s far too expensive and not that easy to get.
Originally Posted by
rumrunn6
lol, good to know! "Only when a dirty chain is oiled, or has excessive oil on it, can this grit move inside to cause damage. Commercial abrasive grinding paste is made of oil and silicon dioxide (sand) and silicon carbide (sand). You couldn't do it better if you tried to destroy a chain, than to oil it when dirty."
Gotta disagree here. Any lubricant that is mobile enough to move from inside the chain to the outside, and vis versa, will carry grit with it. The grit that gets thrown at the chain consists of a wide range of particles from macroscopic (what you can see) to near atomic range. Any particle that is small enough to get into the chain will wear the chain.
Additionally, any solvent that will remove the oil will remove the grit. Most all chain lubricants have a carrier solvent that is meant to flush out the old lube...and any grit with it...and leave fresh oil behind. It’s not perfect but it’s good enough.
Waxes stay cleaner because they don’t serve as a trap for grit (and wear products). They aren’t as mobile so they don’t fill back in like oil can but they don’t carry grit with them. That means there is more metal to metal wear.
All this boils down to chains wear either though trapped grit or due to starved bearing points. They wear about the same rate so no matter what you do, the chain will last about the same. One lubricant method is cleaner than the other.
Originally Posted by
HerrKaLeun
Wipe it off after each ride and lube every month or as needed.
Who cares if it looks dirty... the dirt you see isn't what wears it down anyway. All that degreaser is doing is remove lube where the wear actually happens. So that cleaning may even shorten chain life.
Replace chain at 0.5% elongation.
All that time and money spent on cleaners costs you many riding miles.
I agree with some of this but disagree with other parts. I don’t wipe (don’t need to) but I lube as needed (300 to 700 miles)
Dirt, on the other hand, is a different matter. While it is true that the dirt you can see is of little concern, it is the source of grit that wears the chain comes from the dirt on the outside. Solvent that gets the old lube out gets the grit out. Oil that traps dirt drags grit into the chain.