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Chain Wax Recipes

Old 10-10-19, 06:21 PM
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Chain Wax Recipes

I hate to do this, and I really did try to search, but came up with nada. Please share your chain wax recipes. I recall @DrIsotope had one, I believe with one of those high-tech petroleum additives along with wax and some Dr. Zoggs. I just can’t remember the high-tech additive, though. I’m having some issues with my DI2 derailleur feeling weird and I’m wondering if my regular, bland Gulf wax application is needing additional slippery.
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Old 10-10-19, 06:28 PM
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Slick 50 Recharged High Mileage Engine Treatment

1 fl/oz of that, mixed with ~4oz of paraffin, 2oz of paraffin oil, and a puck of Mr. Zogs. I think the Mr. Zogs makes the biggest impact, because it softens the wax the most. Smells nice, too.

I'm getting a full month out of each dip, which is around 400 miles (per bike.) meaning the amount of materials I bought should last until the 2030s.
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Old 10-10-19, 07:42 PM
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Does it matter which Mr. Zoggs? Thanks.

Glenn
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Old 10-10-19, 07:45 PM
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Doesn't appear to. I've used both Cold Water and Warm Water formulas.
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Old 10-10-19, 07:49 PM
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Thank you.
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Old 10-10-19, 08:52 PM
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Ultrafast Wax Recipe

1 pound food-grade paraffin wax
5g pure Teflon (PTFE) 3-micron powder. (Available from https://www.howardpianoindustries.com...e-ptfe-powder/)
1g pure Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2) sub-micron powder.

I get about 300 miles between dips. My last 2 chains each lasted ~7000 miles lubed with this mix.
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Old 10-10-19, 09:01 PM
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I tinkered with the Ultrafast recipe, and found the teflon and moly to do absolutely nothing beyond straight paraffin. Maybe a touch quieter immediately after install, but no change in service interval or perceived efficiency compared to straight wax.

I get the feeling that the commercially available waxed chains like the UFO chain have a whole lot more teflon and (possibly) moly in the mix-- orders of magnitude more. Those chains are chalky white.
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Old 10-10-19, 09:34 PM
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What do you mean the derailleur feels 'weird'? Unlikely the problem is caused by lube.
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Old 10-11-19, 03:26 AM
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I used plain Gulf wax/paraffin for a couplafew years in a small crock pot. Works great, very clean. But I need to replace that crock pot.

Meanwhile I've been looking for a premixed liquid wax. I hoped Boeshield would be good but it needs to be replaced every ride (assuming my usual 20-50 miles per ride), and seems to attract almost as much gunk as every chain oil I've tried. The carrier doesn't evaporate quickly and cleanly enough. Lots of splatter on the wheel, chainstay and surroundings - it gets flung off if I'm too enthusiastic spinning the chain.

On a lark I grabbed a bottle of White Lightning Easy Lube at Target the other day. Pretty good, better than Boeshield T-9. Splatters less, less cleanup off the rims and chainstay, very few splatters on the floor (well, newspaper on the floor). Doesn't get flung off the chain as easily as Boeshield T-9.

Chains still need to be refreshed often with the Easy Lube. The chains on both road bikes ran smoothly and quietly for the first 30-40 mile rides, but by the next ride I could hear the chain again. On the plus side the carrier evaporates quickly and cleanly so there's less residue to attract gunk.

I got caught in the rain on the way home from Thursday's club ride, about 10 miles in the rain, and the Easy Lube didn't completely wash out. So that's about 75 miles over two rides, with the final 10 miles in rain. Very good performance for a light lube, knowing in advance that it would need to be reapplied fairly often.

Supposedly it isn't even necessary to degrease the chains before using White Lightning. Supposedly the carrier and wax will eventually displace the original lube and it'll run cleaner after several applications. The carrier smells and feels like naptha, so it might work as claimed.

I'm gonna keep using the White Lightning for awhile before replacing the crock pot for hot waxing chains.
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Old 10-11-19, 06:13 AM
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https://www.maximausa.com/product/chain-wax/
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Old 10-11-19, 11:46 AM
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Originally Posted by DrIsotope
Slick 50 Recharged High Mileage Engine Treatment

1 fl/oz of that, mixed with ~4oz of paraffin, 2oz of paraffin oil, and a puck of Mr. Zogs. I think the Mr. Zogs makes the biggest impact, because it softens the wax the most. Smells nice, too.

I'm getting a full month out of each dip, which is around 400 miles (per bike.) meaning the amount of materials I bought should last until the 2030s.
That's it! Thank you, sir!
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Old 10-11-19, 11:58 AM
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Originally Posted by gregf83
What do you mean the derailleur feels 'weird'? Unlikely the problem is caused by lube.
For lack of a better term, it feels like the bottom bracket has about 100 ball detents. This is most pronounced in the largest cog. The feeling is pretty much gone by the forth or fifth cog. The bike only has about 2,000 miles. The bottom bracket is smooth as can be when the chain is removed.

The feeling is much less pronounced with a freshly waxed chain and slowly gets worse. By the time I get to say, 200 miles or so, the feeling is quite annoying.

When I got this bike a couple of months ago, I started waxing my chains. I really like how clean the chain stays. I've never experienced this problem on my other bikes, but my other bikes aren't Di2 (probably isn't part of the problem) and I used traditional chain lube on the other bikes.

It occurred to me the other day that maybe the wax needs some additional lubricant, since the problem gets worse as miles on the waxed chain add up.
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Old 10-13-19, 10:18 AM
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I prefer to apply a home made liquid wax lube, to minimize chain removals. I dissolve 1 ounce by weight of paraffin in 6-7 ounces of naptha or camp stove fuel and add about 1-2% auto gear lube that has extreme pressure additives. It's very dry and the cleanest lube I've ever used, but I do apply it more often that those who dip their chains. One fluid ounce will lube a chain about 6 times, if only a drop or two is applied to each roller.
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Old 10-17-19, 06:48 PM
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Mr. Zogs arrived today. Time to play mad scientist. Now where did I put my Bunsen burner and beakers?
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Old 10-17-19, 10:12 PM
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The last soak I was using paraffin wax and Slick 50. I added paraffin oil and Zog’s on tonight’s soak. The chain links definitely move more freely. Thanks for the recipe, @DrIsotope!
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Old 10-21-19, 02:13 PM
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I may have changed my mind about recommending White Lightning Easy Lube, last week.

It seemed good at first. Quiet, smooth running. I applied it every two or three rides per the directions.

Over the weekend I replaced the wheelset on one road bike to try some semi-aero rims, rather than my usual old school low profile 32 spoke wheels. I'd used the front aero wheel only before and it seemed fine.

On the first ride something felt wrong... sluggish. After I got home I checked the rear wheel and the freehub felt sluggish. Just to troubleshoot I squirted in some penetrating fluid/lube. It loosened up the freehub so I know it needs to be overhauled. But I decided to ride it as-is over the weekend. The hub itself is a rebadged DT Swiss, good hub with sealed cartridge bearing, felt like it spun okay. Just the freehub felt gummy at first.

But on the second ride everything still felt sluggish. Like I was pedaling in goo.

I had planned to swap from a short cage to long cage rear derailleur to accommodate a larger cassette, so I swapped chains as well. First thing I noticed was a thick layer of waxy gunk all over the cassette and between the chain link plates. I had to scrape off most of it, then used solvent on the rest, flossing the cassette and brushing the chain links.

Apparently the White Lightning Easy Lube doesn't work quite the same way as melted paraffin or Boeshield T9. It appears to be paraffin in naptha, a little different from Boeshield T9. I'm not sure what solvent Boeshield uses but it doesn't smell like naptha. On the fingers both evaporate and leave a waxy film, but the Easy Lube film feels a bit tacky while the Boeshield feels dry. Boeshield left a bit of grime on the chain but no buildup. With melted paraffin any excess flakes off quickly, leaving no tacky residue to attract road grime.

Switching to a new chain and clean cassette fixed the "pedaling in sludge" feeling.

Based on that, I can't recommend White Lightning Easy Lube as a quickie substitute for melted paraffin, or even Boeshield T9. It's not much cleaner than wet lubes like Park CL-1, and doesn't last as long per application.

However I will admit I didn't apply either the Easy Lube or T9 precisely as directed. Both recommend allowing plenty of time for the lubes to dry -- basically, for the solvents to evaporate -- before riding. I don't do that. I apply it, spin the chain and ride. So the un-evaporated solvent is picking up road grime.

Next time I'll follow instructions, but remove the chain from the bike, apply the lube, let it dry overnight, then try again. However that's no easier than the melted paraffin in a crock pot method. If I can't just drizzle the Boeshield T9 or White Lightning Easy Lube directly onto the chain, there isn't much advantage over wet lubes. And the video for Easy Lube demonstrates drizzling the lube directly onto the chain as it passes over the cassette/freewheel. This is why so much of the tacky wax buildup created a sticky mess between the cogs within only a couple of weeks.
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Old 10-21-19, 02:34 PM
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Even though I don't use wax currently, although I've switched to the Rock-n-Roll Gold as an experiment on the velomobile (so far, so good) I always clean/lube my chains either after a ride (normal maintenance spray/wipe) or on the weekend when I know I won't be riding for a bit. Even a lot of lubes that say it doesn't matter seem to work better if allowed to set and evaporate before riding.

My experience is based mostly on years of commuting in AZ, where there is year round dust, and only occasional rain. I did it the same way when I lived in Seattle though, and I can usually get 6-7k miles out of my chains no problem.
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