rydabent

No mixing necessary. I still say that just pure Mobil One is all you need. Since I change my own oil I alread have the bottle. I just pour some in my oiler as needed.

Mondo734

I use the 3 to 1 mix and I just mixed it in an empty cleaned out coke bottle. The benefit of the bottle is its got a screw on cap. To apply it I use an old baby medicine dropper; this works perfect for lubing the chain.

davidad

4 to 1 with chainsaw bar oil. I have an old Pro-link bottle that I use to apply the lube after I clean the chain in an ultrasonic cleaner.
I saturate the chain on the bike and wipe off the excess.

Fred Smedley

My 40/60 OMS-oil solution always separates when sitting. I figured that to be a good thing, that the OMS would evaporate off. The oil rises to the top in the bottle.

PatrickGSR94

methinks I need to get an ultrasonic cleaner...

Al1943

Shouldn't separate. Are you using real mineral spirits or the environmentally acceptable substitute?

Fred Smedley

The latter , it will stay mixed for long enough, but a week later it will be separated. I can't seem to find the real stuff. Maybe a paint store?

dbg

Back to containers... I just picked up these

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I like the 1oz better than the 1/4oz but I was looking for something to carry on the bike as well. Both seem to be workable with screw tops and sealable spouts.

Al1943

I buy mine at Lowes, and it is available at most hardware stores and paint stores. I buy a gallon at a time because it has many uses around the house and cars. It's a relatively clean solvent, great for removing tar, cleaning tools, bike parts, grease spots on floors, paint brushes, etc. Crown and Klean Strip are 2 of the common brands.

blinky

Davidad , could you post some info regards the ultrasonic , i.e. make, model, manufacturer .

FBinNY 

A paint or decent hardware store. Real mineral spirits will say "petroleum distillate" & "flammable" and not have any reference to being green. If you're unsure, you can buy naphtha which is a slightly more refined version of what's in mineral spirits.

Plimogz

A few months ago I spent $1 on a cheap medicine dropper (I believe it holds 30ml). Best $1 I've spent in a long time: now I keep whatever mineral oil mix I'm using in a repurposed glass jar large enough to just leave the oily dropper inside it when I'm not using it.

The eye dropper is just so nice to precisely lube the rollers one by one that I picked up a couple more since then.

I just wish that I lived somewhere near a Chain-L re-seller -- I'd love to try out that "one free taste" promotion.

Homebrew01

I would be happy to !

sknhgy 

#1 and not having to bother to go out and buy a little bottle of lube when you've already got a jug of it in the garage.

Looigi

To be clear, green OMS is white.

HillRider

Yogi Berra would have been proud to make that comment!

rootboy 

I dunno. I just order those little bottles of Chain-L and dump it out and put in some oirl.

FBinNY 

I'd be happy to save you the effort, and reduce pollution by selling you empties at a hefty discount.

PatrickGSR94

Alright so I mixed up a batch of lube using 1:3 bar/chain oil to OMS. 24 fl ounces of OMS and 8 ounces of oil. I had already used some of the OMS for cleaning my MTB chain off the bike, so there was enough room in that 32 oz. bottle for my new mixture. I also dumped out what was left of my old 2 fl oz. bottle of White Lightning lube and put some of my DIY stuff in there. The mixture itself seems quite thin, almost like water. Not sure if I should have used less OMS or not.

So on to the cleaning procedure. I decided to try this out on my MTB, which has a new chain with less than 100 miles on it, but was somewhat dirty from a few trail adventures. I disassembled and cleaned the entire drivetrain off the bike, and then threw the chain into my new Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner (the smaller version for $32). Chain came out nice and clean.

So after putting everything back together, I went after lubing each chain roller individually using the homemade lube in the 2 oz. dropper bottle. I applied about 2 drops per each roller, which may have been too much. As I was rotating the chain around it was dripping quite a bit onto the metal drip pan I placed on the floor under my work stand. Then when I went to wipe off the excess, it made my paper towel VERY black.

Did I do it right? Was I supposed to let it dry and let the OMS evaporate away before wiping the chain? It seems like the whole drivetrain is going to stay dirty, or at least stay LOOKING dirty with this stuff. Even now if I run a paper towel over the chain rollers, there is still a good bit of black residue that comes off.

I don't know, maybe I should have used less OMS, like maybe 1:2 instead of 1:3. The bar/chain oil is SAE 30 weight Supertech brand from Walmart. Should I have perhaps used gear oil instead? The mixture seems so thin, which is why I'm wondering if I should have used less OMS, or perhaps a thicker oil. What do y'all think?

Wanderer

I think you are over worrying about the concoction. Butttt, you have the ratio backwards.(You don't really need that much OMS to thin it) I think it will be fine if you reapply. ..... Also, your waiting period was OK -- Buttttttt, if you got that much black off a clean chain, it wasn't clean.

I usually lay my freshly lubed chain on a newspaper, until it stops dripping. Then install after wiping "almost" dry.

You should introduce the bar/chain oil to regular motor oil, at that ratio, and then thin it with OMS.

blinky

first off I think that using readily available supplies was good rationale for "rolling your own" , better than the possibilities I listed in my earlier post & you've posted a great description of what you did - I'm interested in that ultrasonic for $32 , thought they were several hundred minimum - I'm not a chemist or viscosity expert but 3:1 OMS to Oil seems like it would be too thin - for me it would be trial & error though and even then I wouldn't know what consistency I was aiming for.

you mentioned in your earlier post that ordering "online" is a hassle - I look at it just the opposite way but it's a personal preference - also I've found that simply wiping the chain down after a ride is enough to save on Pro-Link - that small bottle lasts me quite a awhile - but you may have several bikes & use a lot - and I guess I also trust that the manufacturer of Pro-Link knows more about viscosity than I .

But like you I've tried White Lighting and years ago I even boiled the chain in hot paraffin

PatrickGSR94

I also have done the paraffin thing, on my MTB's old chain. Actually still have a pot of it sitting on a shelf in the garage.

Well I'll be darned if I got the mixture backwards. I read several threads on here and was SURE that people were using more OMS than oil. So it's actually 1:2 or 1:3 OMS to the oil? Dang it. Now I feel like I need to dump the mixture into my oil recycling drain pan and start over. Either that or use some math to see how much of my current 3:1 mixture I should discard in order to leave about 8 oz. of OMS and then add 16 oz. or so of new oil to the mixture.

As for ordering a commercially available chain lube, yeah I could, but I either forget about it when I'm ordering other stuff, or I remember it and don't want to pay shipping for just 1 or 2 small little items. And so I never end up getting it.

PatrickGSR94

Well I did a search and DID see other threads that recommended to thin oil with 3 or even 4 parts OMS. So now I'm really confused.

So I didn't get the chain clean enough? I swished it around in some OMS in a bucket, scrubbed it with a stiff nylon bristle brush (a grout brush I think), then rinsed with water. Then I ran it through the ultrasonic cleaner (using that ultrasonic cleaner powder stuff) for 2 3-minute cycles. Then I rinsed the chain with water again. Then I applied 2 drops of 1:3 bar/chain oil:OMS to each link (on the bike), and wiped off the excess. What came off the chain was quite black, and it's leaving black residue all over my freshly cleaned chain rings and cassette.

Wanderer

Don't need that much to thin it out. All you are trying o do is thin it enuf to flow faster. Then, to evaporate, leaving the thicker mixture behind. It doesn't need to be like water, more like thin machine oil. Motor oil already flows pretty well under normal bike ridin temps, and the chain oil is just stickier. If you want to use all chain oil, it's fine, but all you have to do is make it flow a little better. And, it's harder to wipe down.

I even use Hypoid Gear Oil (90wt) in my mixture, and 25% OMS thins it very well, for temps down to freezing, at least. . Don't really need that much when it's warm out, but it's easier to wipe down. Don't Toss it, just use it up as OMS for future mixes.

FBinNY 

You're confused because you're trying to make rocket science out of something that isn't. If you follow the thread you'll see that there's a broad spectrum of opinion about the "right" mix ratio, or even whether to thin the oil in the first place.

The statements that it doesn't really matter which oil you use should be a hint. Since that's what's going to be left to lubricate the chain when the thinner evaporates, the oil used should be more important than the thinner ratio.

As for cleaning, IMO, you should first clean with the OMS, and do multiple wash/rinse passes until very little dirt comes out of the chain. (the solvent can be saved for future use) Let it dry then oil as you will.