How long to soak cassette in OMS?
07-19-12, 05:45 PM
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How long to soak cassette in OMS?
After being stuck on the mindset that chemicals are "bad," I finally decided to try out odorless mineral spirits. Previously, I used degreaser on chains and cassettes, but it doesn't get them particularly clean. So right now, I am soaking my cassette in OMS in a cake pan. How long should/can I leave it there? It's not particularly gunky, but I got a new chain, so I want it to be as clean as possible.
I am going to pour the lightly contaminated OMS from soaking the cassette into a bottle and soak the old chain in it (I'll be making keychains and stuff out of it). How long can I safely soak the chain in it?
I am going to pour the lightly contaminated OMS from soaking the cassette into a bottle and soak the old chain in it (I'll be making keychains and stuff out of it). How long can I safely soak the chain in it?
07-19-12, 07:06 PM
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A few minutes with some agitation should be enough. Use an old toothbrush, stiff paintbrush or similar to scrub the teeth and between the cogs and it should clean up fast. I use OMS/Kerosene to solvent clean my bike components (derailleurs, brakes, etc.) during overhauls and they don't require more than a few minutes in the solvent if I scrub them a bit.
07-19-12, 08:03 PM
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You don't need to soak for more than a few minutes. Maybe less than a minute would be fine. It doesn't hurt a steel part to soak for a long time in mineral spirits. You could leave it for weeks with no problems.
07-20-12, 04:47 AM
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Never occurred to me to soak a cassette - a rag and some of the spirits should clean it up pretty well (you can drag the rag through the slots between the cogs as you pedal the system backwards to get out stuff in there).
As ^^ says, it shouldn't do any harm to soak for longer, the metal doesn't care, but the spirits should loosen the gunk pretty quickly. However, if you want the chain to be clean enough to make jewellery etc out of, you may need to do some repeated soakings/scrubbings with fresh spirits. I've made a handful of old chain bracelets and keychains, and they do trap dirt (i.e. oil infused with black crap) inside the rollers for a long time unless you clean them extremely thoroughly (I ended up running multiple strips of paper between the plates and rollers to soak out the blackened solvent). You'll want to get this out unless you want nasty random stains from clothing contact with an improperly cleaned chain.
There's a reason that most chain jewellery uses new chains, not old ones. It's hard (but not impossible) to get the last of the black grease out.
As ^^ says, it shouldn't do any harm to soak for longer, the metal doesn't care, but the spirits should loosen the gunk pretty quickly. However, if you want the chain to be clean enough to make jewellery etc out of, you may need to do some repeated soakings/scrubbings with fresh spirits. I've made a handful of old chain bracelets and keychains, and they do trap dirt (i.e. oil infused with black crap) inside the rollers for a long time unless you clean them extremely thoroughly (I ended up running multiple strips of paper between the plates and rollers to soak out the blackened solvent). You'll want to get this out unless you want nasty random stains from clothing contact with an improperly cleaned chain.
There's a reason that most chain jewellery uses new chains, not old ones. It's hard (but not impossible) to get the last of the black grease out.
Last edited by robo; 07-20-12 at 04:50 AM.
07-20-12, 05:02 PM
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I'll do repeated soakings in OMS, scrubbing with a clean (old) toothbrush in between. I'll be replacing the OMS each time.
I was soaking the chain in OMS overnight, in a glass snapple bottle. I left it outside on the front porch (even though it's "odorless", it still smells). When the newspaper got delivered this morning, they hit the bottle and shattered it. OMS on the newspaper is just what I wanted
. AND that caused me to lose about 16oz of mineral spirits, HALF of what I have. I'll get a gallon jug of it next time.
I was soaking the chain in OMS overnight, in a glass snapple bottle. I left it outside on the front porch (even though it's "odorless", it still smells). When the newspaper got delivered this morning, they hit the bottle and shattered it. OMS on the newspaper is just what I wanted
. AND that caused me to lose about 16oz of mineral spirits, HALF of what I have. I'll get a gallon jug of it next time.
07-20-12, 05:34 PM
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No need to dispose of dirty MS. Let it sit undisturbed for a few days and all the gunk seperates and settles to the bottom of the container. You can use most plastic food jars by the way. After it's settled, pour the clean MS into another container and re-use for the next cleaning. Use a rag to wipe up the gunk from the container and dispose. Better for the environment than using water based cleaners that just get poured down the drain or your neighbors garden.
Last edited by Crankycrank; 07-21-12 at 03:36 PM.
07-20-12, 06:04 PM
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07-20-12, 06:29 PM
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07-20-12, 06:33 PM
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No need to dispose of dirty MS. Let the it sit undisturbed for a few days and all the gunk seperates and settles to the bottom of the container. You can use most plastic food jars by the way. After it's settled, pour the clean MS into another container and re-use for the next cleaning. Use a rag to wipe up the gunk from the container and dispose. Better for the environment than using water based cleaners that just get poured down the drain or your neighbors garden.
I use the regular OMS.
07-20-12, 10:04 PM
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A few minutes should do. If you want to get the cassette really clean, disassemble it. Even if it's riveted together, you can remove the rivets (grind the head off and punch them out) and clean in between the cogs. You don't need the rivets to put the cassette back on either. Just slide the cogs into place and tighten the lock ring.
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07-20-12, 10:07 PM
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A few minutes should do. If you want to get the cassette really clean, disassemble it. Even if it's riveted together, you can remove the rivets (grind the head off and punch them out) and clean in between the cogs. You don't need the rivets to put the cassette back on either. Just slide the cogs into place and tighten the lock ring.
07-20-12, 10:33 PM
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Never occurred to me to soak a cassette - a rag and some of the spirits should clean it up pretty well (you can drag the rag through the slots between the cogs as you pedal the system backwards to get out stuff in there).
As ^^ says, it shouldn't do any harm to soak for longer, the metal doesn't care, but the spirits should loosen the gunk pretty quickly. However, if you want the chain to be clean enough to make jewellery etc out of, you may need to do some repeated soakings/scrubbings with fresh spirits. I've made a handful of old chain bracelets and keychains, and they do trap dirt (i.e. oil infused with black crap) inside the rollers for a long time unless you clean them extremely thoroughly (I ended up running multiple strips of paper between the plates and rollers to soak out the blackened solvent). You'll want to get this out unless you want nasty random stains from clothing contact with an improperly cleaned chain.
There's a reason that most chain jewellery uses new chains, not old ones. It's hard (but not impossible) to get the last of the black grease out.
As ^^ says, it shouldn't do any harm to soak for longer, the metal doesn't care, but the spirits should loosen the gunk pretty quickly. However, if you want the chain to be clean enough to make jewellery etc out of, you may need to do some repeated soakings/scrubbings with fresh spirits. I've made a handful of old chain bracelets and keychains, and they do trap dirt (i.e. oil infused with black crap) inside the rollers for a long time unless you clean them extremely thoroughly (I ended up running multiple strips of paper between the plates and rollers to soak out the blackened solvent). You'll want to get this out unless you want nasty random stains from clothing contact with an improperly cleaned chain.
There's a reason that most chain jewellery uses new chains, not old ones. It's hard (but not impossible) to get the last of the black grease out.
But for general thorough cleaning of any mechanical thing: disassemble and clean each part, relube if required and put it back together - works best.
07-21-12, 07:54 AM
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To clean my chain I use an old crock pot someone gave me, put enough OMS it it to cover the chain and turn it on high and let it sit till I clean the rest of the bike. I also position the rear tire over the pot and clean the rear gears with a brush. The chain comes out very clean. I then soak the chain in chainsaw bar oil so that oil gets around and into the chain. Wipe the chain down and you ready to go again. This method doesn't take long at all when applying a little heat!
07-21-12, 08:46 AM
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Go to this link https://www.nordicgroup.us/chain/ the guy at this site is a old mechanic and has some realy good ideas on cleaning and lubing.
07-21-12, 09:13 AM
#15
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A chain can soak in MS... well, forever. Just make sure when you take it out, you clean it up with a clean dry cloth. As far as the suggestion to take the rivets out to clean it better, under no circumstances would I ever take manufactured riveted cogs apart. They've been riveted in place for a reason. You may not agree with this reason, but there was probably some amount of engineering done on the part of the manufacturer to set those rivets in place! ...maybe he was kidding ???
By the way, glass is never the best idea for use and storage of petrolium products. There's no plastic around? No metal cans?
By the way, glass is never the best idea for use and storage of petrolium products. There's no plastic around? No metal cans?
07-21-12, 09:28 AM
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+1, Steel can sit in OMS for a very long time (maybe forever) without any issues. Soak it long enough to break down the oils or waxes so the dire is loose and comes free easily. That can be anything from a few minutes to overnight. If soaking for a long time, cover the container to minimize evaporation.
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07-21-12, 09:42 AM
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Yes, it only applies to cassettes that are riveted together. That is most cassettes. Even mountain bike cassettes can come on a spidered carrier but that is on the higher end cassettes just like road cassettes.
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07-21-12, 09:45 AM
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+1, Steel can sit in OMS for a very long time (maybe forever) without any issues. Soak it long enough to break down the oils or waxes so the dire is loose and comes free easily. That can be anything from a few minutes to overnight. If soaking for a long time, cover the container to minimize evaporation.
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Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
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07-21-12, 10:10 AM
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How long the cassettes can sit in mineral spirits depends on the mineral spirits. If the mineral spirits are the "green" type which are often called odorless mineral spirits as well. But the "green" type is water based and salts on cassettes could cause problems with that type only.
While solvent can mean almost anything, mineral spirits has always had, and for me, will always have a specific meaning. BTW, the bastardization of the term mineral spirits is one of the main reasons that I now usually recommend naphtha. At least when it says naphtha on the can, you don't have to read the fine print to know what's really inside.
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07-21-12, 08:03 PM
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Green mineral spirits are an oxymoron. There is no such thing. There are green mineral spirits substitutes or alternatives, that are mislabeled in that the words substitute or alternative or replacement are missing, or hidden in small print, but that doesn't make them mineral spirits any more than artificial chocolate flavor is chocolate.
While solvent can mean almost anything, mineral spirits has always had, and for me, will always have a specific meaning. BTW, the bastardization of the term mineral spirits is one of the main reasons that I now usually recommend naphtha. At least when it says naphtha on the can, you don't have to read the fine print to know what's really inside.
While solvent can mean almost anything, mineral spirits has always had, and for me, will always have a specific meaning. BTW, the bastardization of the term mineral spirits is one of the main reasons that I now usually recommend naphtha. At least when it says naphtha on the can, you don't have to read the fine print to know what's really inside.
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
07-21-12, 08:25 PM
#21
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I was soaking the chain in OMS overnight, in a glass snapple bottle. I left it outside on the front porch (even though it's "odorless", it still smells). When the newspaper got delivered this morning, they hit the bottle and shattered it. OMS on the newspaper is just what I wanted . AND that caused me to lose about 16oz of mineral spirits, HALF of what I have. I'll get a gallon jug of it next time.
. AND that caused me to lose about 16oz of mineral spirits, HALF of what I have. I'll get a gallon jug of it next time.With the Gatorade bottle you can also shake the thing to your heart's content without worrying about it leaking out the cap. It's the best container I've found for cleaning chains. Much better than scrubbing in a cake pan with a toothbrush.
