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

[Alexandrumarian]

This is great as i always have pure alcohol in my shop for making varnish. What is the current thinking, is simple paraffin wax enough or additives are a must?

[mag]

AFAIK alcohols aren't great paraffin solvents. You can see in that video that he uses like 10:1 alcohol to paraffin ratio and then he has to heat it up thoroughly and repeat the heating procedure like every week. You shouldn't need that with more effective solvents.

Once I run out of my current stuff I'm going to try some camp fuel (basically naphtha) which is known to be quite good paraffin solvent. Toluene and xylene are even more effective, however these aren't something you'd want to deal with on daily basis.

But maybe I'll end up with something like the BananaSlip Tungsten All Weather lube which looks quite promising.

Note that I run Campy (=not so easily removable) chain so "cooking" the chain is out of the quetion (I don't really want to mess with some non-system quick links).

[BdaGhisallo]

This is great as i always have pure alcohol in my shop for making varnish. What is the current thinking, is simple paraffin wax enough or additives are a must?

Others have had good luck with plain paraffin but, after using MSW for a few months I decided to try it. I used exactly the same procedure using identical slow cooker pots and temperatures. The plain wax was very chunky and did not seem to do as good a job as the MSW did. The plain threw off a lot more wax flakes onto the bike than the MSW did.

[Alexandrumarian]

Campy and quicklink anxiety here too. I once tried, for fun, to drop a bit of hot paraffin on each link when I ran out of squirt. Wasn't the fastest chain lube job for sure but it worked. I simply started a candle (the type in alu shallow can) waited for it to melt, placed it near the chain and moved a drop at a time with a qtip. Basicaly the same i do to lube the wood / holes for guitar machine tuners.

As for naphta, the problem is it might take days to evaporate fully. But definitly worth a try!

[DaveS]

Oz is clueless when it comes to solvents. There is nothing better or faster drying than naphtha/camp stove fuel/white gas to dissolve paraffin. I use about 30% heavy gear lube mixed with melted paraffin, then add 4-6 parts naphtha. That's all I ever use and reapply about every 150 miles, which is 3 rides for me. I never ride in the wet. You couldn't pay me enough to do that.

Naphtha does not take very long to evaporate, but I always lube right after a ride or on a rest day, so there is plenty of time to dry.

[pdlpsher1]

I gave the Oz link because someone asked for a drip wax DIY formula. I don't use a drip lube since I switched to hot melt wax. I just don't feel the need to mix two different methods. If one doesn't feel like hot melt wax is adequate, just wax it more frequently.

[talltales]

Reading through the comments its appears you just love to faff around. Its the same in every wax and lube thread. Overly elaborate cleaning and waxing regimes that is bound to take foever.

I have found cleaning the chain in a pickle jar of white spirit/paint thinner and melting the wax in a sauce pan on the stove is just fine. You dont need a 5 step cleaning plan, a ultra sonic cleaner or a crock pot. It doesnt help, except satisfy your OCD

I would suggest using old school motor cycle chain wax insted of hard paraffin. Clings to the chain much better.

[rpowell]

Ive used MSW for about a year and it got a lot easier when I quit using all the solvents to remove the factory oil prior to waxing. Since parrafin is a petroleum product then all chain lube oils are completely soluble. I dont believe the shit that you need to get all the oil off to get good wax bonding. If oil wasnt soluble then sure but otherwise it doesnt make sense. Ive not noticed a difference in longevity from when I was doing the MSW recommended solvent process to just wiping the free oil off the chain and throwing into the wax crock pot. The melted wax freely goes into the rollers and the small amount of oil gets dissolved into the bulk wax. It may lower the wax melting point going forward but not enough to notice or measure. A couple grams of oil in 500 grams of wax is nothing.

Someone mentioned about dripping parrafin on a chain and this is a terrible idea. Bike chains have a huge thermal mass and are at room temp. So that hot wax will solidify long before it ever gets in the rollers. This is the worst of all solutions.

Im a fan in theory of those wax based lubes dissolved in some solvent. The problem is that the solvents are always low vapor pressure so never really evaporate after application and that solvent just attracts dirt the same as any oil. As a product it would be a lot better if the solvent evaporated (prob not for the environment though). Ive not explored any options in this space but its clear based on use that this is a big limitation.

[DaveS]

One thing I can tell you for sure is that naphtha does completely evaporate and leaves behind the same dry paraffin that flakes off, just like a hot dip product. It does not attract dirt. I've been using this type of lube for 2 years now. I deliberately add about 30% automotive gear lube that both softens the wax and adds a lubricant with extreme pressure additives.

To make sure that excessive oil wasn't being used, I experimented with increasing amounts add to melted paraffin. If 50% is used, there will be free oil that does not remain mixed with the paraffin, after it cools to a solid. That would attract dirt.

I mix the melted paraffin with oil, then add the mixture to the naphtha. A minimum of 3 parts naphtha is needed to each part of paraffin. The more naphtha added, the lower the temperature at which it will remain a liquid. I've had to warm a chain with a hot air gun, so the liquid penetrates properly. I usually have to warm my applicator bottle in some hot water to turn it into a liquid with a water like viscosity.

[Alexandrumarian]

Someone mentioned about dripping parrafin on a chain and this is a terrible idea. Bike chains have a huge thermal mass and are at room temp. So that hot wax will solidify long before it ever gets in the rollers. This is the worst of all solutions.

I wasn't advocating it, just an anecdote of something I did as last resort. Still, I could see it run down a fair amount before freezing so there must have been a little bit of penetration. That particular ride was ok without noise etc so I guess it did work some. But even if it would perfectly penetrate everything, it would still be simply way too tedious to do regularly.

[Ymerej]

I must live a pretty dull life not much adventure in the life of chain waxing haha

• ultrasonic cleaner Amazon 50 USA dollars

• nail salon wax melter thingy Amazon
45 USA dollars

• 1 gallon jug simple green Home Depot
5-8 USA dollars

• Beer of choice price varies USA dollars

Throw chain in US with simple green let it buzz 10-15 minutes have a beer

Heat MSW wax 200F throw dried clean chain in wax melter thingy for 10 minutes or so have another beer

Take chain out of wax melter thingy let it drip cool onto cardboard or something

Break links once cooled
Slap back on bike

It’s only a chain remember that your not building a grand piano.

Mine lasts 300 ish miles or so give or take

Remember unless your splitting hairs and your career is on the line for a multi million dollar contract.

It’s just a chain no need for an electron microscope and a petroleum engineer.

It’s just a chain
Have a beer and melt away

[DaveS]

Using a liquid wax lube is whole lot easier than the above hot dip procedure and the chain can be removed half as often, or perhaps not at all. I relube about every 150 miles. Takes a couple of minutes. Removing the chain for cleaning is at the discretion of the user.

[aosjimzaw]

Hey guys, I'm glad to see my original post has provoked such a lively debate. I've seen myself in almost every single process described and again, I ultimately find all boil down to one single word to me: hassle.

Bathing: too much equiment needed--though I bought them all;
too many things to do--and no, it was never that easy for me as described by Ymerej though I'm happy it is for him and many others
etcetc..

DaveS' naptha's treatment and finely tweaked recipe: borders on wizardry, though again, I'm happy he's found a solution that works for him.
I've tried myself adding petroleum distillates to my own stuff and turn bathing wax to drip but oh gosh.. finding "naphta" here was an adventure in itself since as you may know, every country has same names for wildly different hydrocarbures and I couldn't get my hands on US naphta (camp fuel)..
then anyway, go buy alternative solvent (and stuff you wouldn't really buy in normal conditions), go finely measure ingredients on a scale to get proportions right, make them cling together, make sure pfte powder isn't left behind on the bottom, etcetc...
and the stuff was smelling nasty so I had to bring my bike down in the humid basement the night after applied/before the ride;
then I had to put the little bottle with the wax+solvent in the microwave to heat it up, hairdry the freaking cassette and crankset to warm all things up, collect the dripping excess which was more than what was sticking to chain, then let it dry and then clothe off the excess--all again smelling horrible.
gosh...

as of today, I'm on 3rd application of Bananaslip all weather and I'm still being pleasantly surprised by it. I pushed it over 300kms on the 2nd application and it was still doing ok: no shifting problems and/or chain sluggishness felt, though the noise by then was of loose metallic parts rather than snug stiff chain, if it makes sense. Before the 3rd application I ran a clothe through the chain and jockey wheels and easily caught most of the black residue (BUT NO TRACES OF GRIT AT ALL). I was asked if the stuff is silent: it is super silent. This is not a primary requirement for me but I'll take it nonetheless. The first time I applied it on a perfectly clean system (chain three solvent baths + one 99% alcohol bath, cassette and crankset cleaned of all previous wax) was more silent than on this third application, but it's still remarkably silent nonetheless.

[talltales]

Overcomplication is the nature of the forums and "amateurs". I too am an amateur and went through the samme routines. However, over time, I have learned that most of the cleaning and lubing processes can be cut way back, to a pickle jar of petrol/naptha/... to soak and shake about the chain ... and a home made lube made from lawn mower gas mixed with molten old school MC chain wax. About 5:1. Cheap as chips, works well and very little hassle.

[nachetetm]

I just finished a bottle of squirt and I ordered Smoove because it's supposed to last longer between applications, but since I read this thread I cancelled the Smoove and ordered Banana Slip. My doubt now is if it's worthy stripping the squirt rests or not bother and apply Banana Slip on top. What do you think?