masi61

I accidentally fell asleep while my SRAM 10 speed chain was submerged in Molten Speed Wax in my mini crock pot in the garage. I smelled a plasticky smell the next day and realized what I did. The Molten Speed Wax in the crockpot had already been used to wax chains for all of last season so it was slightly dirty with some sediment on the bottom.

The wax no longer had the original translucent grey color, it was now a translucent brown. I was afraid that maybe the chain would have been damaged in some way due to being submerged too long. As it turned out, everything with the chain is fine? Possibly better, in fact. The quietness of a newly waxed chain compared with a waxed chain with 200 miles (sometimes less) is significant. I got the feeling that this “brown” chain maybe got more wax into the internals due to kind of boiling in the pot overnight. I can post back my results after a few more rides but that first ride was very promising - the quietness is there, you can touch it and not get your hands dirty, and the shifting though initially a bit stiff - was fine. When flexing links on my freshly waxed chain I only flex in the direction that follows the curvature of the chainring. By not flexing in the counter direction, the chain stays a little stiffer, thus allowing the wax to last a bit longer (my theory).

I am going to retire the “brown” wax for now. I already have 2 chains ready for a re-Wax. I was going to try GulfWax canning wax with some paraffin oil for my next trial. Leaving the chain in the oil for a few hours in the mini crock pot is what I want to experiment with. Last year I put the chain in for a quick dip and sloshy tooled it back and forth for just a minute or two and had a few rides where the chain became noisy in just 2 rides.

smashndash

Wonder if that brownness has to do with the extended heating period or the sediment.

squirtdad

it ts the wax carmelizing like onions

masi61

I’m thinking it wasn’t the sediment. Because I had a bit of sediment before, and it didn’t do that.

canklecat

I usually leave my chains overnight in the crock pot of melted wax. Doesn't get hot enough to damage anything.

Any change in color may be oxidation or may be discoloration from dirty wax settling into the chain's rust-resistant surface. Most chains are treated with some version of surface treatment to reduce rust. With stainless steel it's often referred to as passivating or pickling. The passive surface treatment is usually oxidation that forms a surface with a slight "tooth" that holds oil or wax to improve rust resistance. It may be brownish or grayish in appearance but it does the same thing. It's just a fuzzy surface treatment to hold oil, grease or wax.

Metal workers centuries ago realized a controlled rust/oxidation surface on carbon steel preserved it better against serious damage from uncontrolled rust. So black powder firearms were usually treated with a browning or blackening oxidation, a multi-step process that built up a controlled oxidation surface that would then be coated with fat, grease, even butter, anything to help resist corrosion from black powder and humidity.

DrIsotope

All three of my wax pots are that brownish color, because I've discarded the wax and started fresh-- so there's still some 3-year-old wax mixed in there.

I usually do my dips on Mondays, so I fired up the pots that afternoon. Didn't throw the chain on the 1X bike until I was heading out on my ride Tuesday morning, and didn't do the road bike until just a few hours ago.

So they were sitting in hot wax for a couple of days. Makes no difference. I do a 2-chain rotation, so there is always a chain in the wax. A completely stripped chain can't form rust when its sitting in a solid block of wax.

davidad

I gave up on hot wax over 20 years ago.

veganbikes

I keep wanting to wax my chains just to try it. Maybe during Modelo Time I should try it out. The idea of leaving them in overnight is interesting and wonder if it actually does make it better. Certainly love caramelized onions why not a caramelized chain?

And so I don't leave on an unfunny note: Q: What you do call a browned bicycle hub? A: A Maillard

I will see myself out!

trailangel

I usually wax on Friday morning... smooth and ready for the weekend