My adventures in chain waxing: goals, reviews, suggestions...

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MagicShite
Posts: 425
Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2016 3:33 pm

by MagicShite

C36 wrote:
Wed Nov 23, 2022 11:12 am
Regarding fresh wax contamination by the “old” one. I don’t see how it will happen if you properly “dewax” the chain (i drop the chains in large amount of boiled water, that removes all the wax that was exposed to elements).

I get it’s an extra step over the simple “drop the chain in the wax and let the contamination dilute in the fresh wax. But usually by the time the wax is melted my chains have been cleaned.
try doing that with mtb chains. It's not possible to clean it 100% if you ride dirt frequently.

Road chains are far simpler to keep the pot clean from contamination for significantly longer.

TidyDinosaur
Posts: 75
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2022 6:48 pm
Location: Central EU

by TidyDinosaur

This works for me to more or less clean the wax...
The contaminants seem to sink to the bottom of the pot. Of course it would be impossible to get those out if the wax is molten...

But you can try this trick: turn on your slow cooker and wait until only a little outer layer of the wax has melted. Now you can take out the entire block of wax and turn it upside down (on some paper or a rag...). You will now see a distinct border between the clean wax and the contaminated wax. Now scrape off the bottom black part of the wax and afterwards just put the rest back in the pot, melt and add a little more new wax.

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C36
Posts: 2471
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2017 3:24 am

by C36

The potential risk is that at the bottom you have both dirt and the fancy additives (now I have no idea of the additives are so much heavier that they overcome wax viscosity and really sink…

I try to rely on not pouring a dirty chain. As mentioned above, may not work in mtb but on the road I believe it’s really doable.

TobinHatesYou
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Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

C36 wrote:
Tue Dec 06, 2022 9:19 pm
The potential risk is that at the bottom you have both dirt and the fancy additives (now I have no idea of the additives are so much heavier that they overcome wax viscosity and really sink…

I try to rely on not pouring a dirty chain. As mentioned above, may not work in mtb but on the road I believe it’s really doable.

When I experimented with adding MoS2 and PTFE to the mix, they would definitely settle at the bottom and leave the top layer looking a very light translucent gray instead of a more opaque dark gray. Because I was replacing the lid on the Instant Pot, the wax did take longer to solidify than if the lid were left off, so there is also that.

In practice, my Ceramic Speed UFO Drip lube doesn't completely wash out from inside the chain when I pour boiling water over it. My plain paraffin turned light gray with only a couple dips of an old chain.

sovereign
Posts: 103
Joined: Mon Sep 05, 2011 1:59 am

by sovereign

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Last edited by sovereign on Thu Dec 08, 2022 1:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

Turrifik
Posts: 100
Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2020 5:08 pm

by Turrifik

Another question about durability. My cockpit has poor temperature control and ramped up to ~220-230F on a new batch of SS. Any concerns with overheating?

Once cooled I didn’t notice any major changes relative to prior batches.


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BdaGhisallo
Posts: 3261
Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2004 1:38 pm

by BdaGhisallo

Turrifik wrote:
Wed Dec 07, 2022 8:11 pm
Another question about durability. My cockpit has poor temperature control and ramped up to ~220-230F on a new batch of SS. Any concerns with overheating?

Once cooled I didn’t notice any major changes relative to prior batches.


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I forgot that I had a pot heating up some Silca wax a few weeks back. It was at about 290F when I remembered. I haven't noticed any issues resulting from that episode.

TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12455
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

Turrifik wrote:
Wed Dec 07, 2022 8:11 pm
Another question about durability. My cockpit has poor temperature control and ramped up to ~220-230F on a new batch of SS. Any concerns with overheating?

Once cooled I didn’t notice any major changes relative to prior batches.


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Not a problem with good quality paraffin.

TidyDinosaur
Posts: 75
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2022 6:48 pm
Location: Central EU

by TidyDinosaur

C36 wrote:
Tue Dec 06, 2022 9:19 pm
The potential risk is that at the bottom you have both dirt and the fancy additives (now I have no idea of the additives are so much heavier that they overcome wax viscosity and really sink…
I use pure parrafin with some PTFE powder added I got on Aliexpress, so I am not too worried about that :D

kode54
Posts: 3748
Joined: Tue May 23, 2006 9:39 pm

by kode54

C36 wrote:The potential risk is that at the bottom you have both dirt and the fancy additives (now I have no idea of the additives are so much heavier that they overcome wax viscosity and really sink…

I try to rely on not pouring a dirty chain. As mentioned above, may not work in mtb but on the road I believe it’s really doable.
I use a sieve at the bottom of my crock pot and occasionally stir the PTFE MSoG which are generally lighter than the grit before pulling it out to hang dry.
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MrRolandos
Posts: 251
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2021 8:19 pm

by MrRolandos

So i've been doing waxing for a bit now, cleaning with jars etc. Completely fine but I wanna upgrade to the next level and get a ultrasonic cleaner. So I can clean them easy and also clean the cassettes etc.

After looking into a bunch of reviews, the DK SONIC ultrasonic cleaner seems like the way to go. 6 liters is probably best so fit everything. This does 180W ultrasonic and 300W heating. Anyone got some experiences with other machines etc? I'm hoping to also fit a bigger cassettes in there (10-52 from MTB or gravel) to clean them out. Or would a 3 liter be sufficient enough?

The only thing is price, these are quite expensive for a cleaning solution. Then you also need to get the cleaning stuff itself. What do you guys run in your ultrasonic? Just straight up water with some soap (Mr Green etc?) or do you run actual ultrasonic cleaning stuff, like Dellwing Ultrasonic solution.

Hoping to get some on hands experiences. Also since I'm from Europe, alot of the products people advise are purchased in the US and either not available in Europe or super expensive and not worth.

TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12455
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

I fill the ultrasonic basin with water, then I fill a second plastic container with a 5:1 dilution of citrus degreaser and place that in the basin. That way the ultrasonic cleaner never needs to be cleaned.

George46GR
Posts: 242
Joined: Thu Aug 15, 2019 5:05 pm
Location: Greece

by George46GR

Happy new year, does anybody happen to now when the 12sp Connex link is going to be available ? Thank you.
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MrRolandos
Posts: 251
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2021 8:19 pm

by MrRolandos

TobinHatesYou wrote:
Sat Dec 31, 2022 8:48 pm
I fill the ultrasonic basin with water, then I fill a second plastic container with a 5:1 dilution of citrus degreaser and place that in the basin. That way the ultrasonic cleaner never needs to be cleaned.
Ah this is smart, plastic and glass containers both work? I guess for chains this isnt a problem, for cassettes you would need to get a pretty big container.

I noticed there is so many different ultrasonic that all look the same and have the same features. Just a different brand/sticker on it. But pricing is all over the place. Anyone noticed this and knows the difference or is it really just the brand?
George46GR wrote:
Sat Dec 31, 2022 9:08 pm
Happy new year, does anybody happen to now when the 12sp Connex link is going to be available ? Thank you.
Probably in 2024 or 2028.. The 12s0 is there just can't buy it anywhere. Would love it for my mountainbike..

TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12455
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

MrRolandos wrote:
Sat Dec 31, 2022 9:10 pm

Ah this is smart, plastic and glass containers both work? I guess for chains this isnt a problem, for cassettes you would need to get a pretty big container.

Both will attenuate the ultrasound slightly. Glass will honestly probably work better than plastic, but both work well enough. I do recommend moving the inner container around because on cheaper ultrasonic cleaners there are definitely "sweetspots" where they are more effective.

You never need to clean your cassette with the ultrasonic cleaner once you start waxing. Just pour boiling water over it. If the cassette is greasy from use with a different kind of lube, it's easy enough to clean with a bristle brush dipped in degreaser.

by Weenie


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