Finding molten speed wax or food grade paraffin wax in denmark/europe

[DaveS]

Isopropyl alcohol usually contains 10-30% water, in the USA. There is no point in using it instead of naptha, for a final rinse. As far as lubricity is concerned, I have at least 25% high quality lubricating oil that has extreme pressure additives, in my liquid lube, so it should lubricate better than plain wax. The difference is that less wax is left after the solvent evaporates, so I will apply my lube more often.

My lube is NOT an emulsion, it is a clear solution of wax, oil and solvent. After the solvent evaporates, all that's left is a paraffin and oil mixture. Up to 1 part of oil to 3 parts wax will mix completely with no free oil to attract dirt.

[TobinHatesYou]

Wouldn't the added oil make it an emulsion? It would at least plasticize the wax and reduce its lubricity.

[DaveS]

Isopropyl alcohol usually contains 10-30% water, in the USA. There is no point in using it instead of naptha, for a final rinse. As far as lubricity is concerned, I have at least 25% high quality lubricating oil that has extreme pressure additives, in my liquid lube, so it should lubricate better than plain wax. The difference is that less wax is left after the solvent evaporates, so I will apply my lube more often.

My lube is NOT an emulsion, it is a clear solution of wax, oil and solvent. After the solvent evaporates, all that's left is a paraffin and oil mixture. Up to 1 part of oil to 3 parts wax will mix completely with no free oil to attract dirt. You can prove this by melting the wax, adding the oil, then letting the mixture cool to a solid.

[TobinHatesYou]

Both Poertner and Smith hint that any plasticization and/or wetting of lubes reduces performance. You are welcome to ship a bottle of your lube to Smith/Friction Facts for testing though. Every other wax drip lube performs worse than pure wax. Not even Ceramic Speed claims its wax drip lube is better than a wax-dipped chain.

[DaveS]

Better for friction or wear? The tiny friction reductions most lubes claim mean nothing to me. I'm more interested in chain life. High quality oil like auto gear lube should improve chain life. Paraffin mixed 4/1 with oil still behaves mostly like pure paraffin. Lubricity is most often related to reducing wear. Most applications require a lubricant that can flow.

If you want pure paraffin, just mix it with 4-6 parts naptha and you'll have pure paraffin left, when the solvent evaporates. The less naptha, the higher the room temperature needs to be for the solution. If the solution turns into a mush, place the applicator bottle in some warm water to restore it's clarity and water like viscosity.

Never add paraffin oil/lamp oil/kerosene (all the same stuff). Those are fuel oils, not lubricating oils. The idea of adding these products to hot dip wax was to plasticize the wax, so it might not flake off so fast. What was probably not done was test the wax days after the wax was applied to see if it stayed softer. Fuel oils, will eventually evaporate, leaving no oil residue. Adding oil may plasticize the wax slightly, but not a lot, even if the maximum solubility amount is used. Beyond that level, free oil is present, that would attract dirt.

[DaveS]

I did some more research on solvents and came up with the one that should evaporate the fastest - toluene. It can usually be bought in quarts at the hardware store, but a search at home depot shows a product called painter's solvent that replaces toluene, MEK, xylene and naptha. No telling what's in it.

Right now, Crown brand white gas camp stove fuel is my choice to dissolve wax and serve as an all purpose degreaser and chain cleaner.

I also figured out that none of the common alcohols make a decent degreaser and none will dissolve paraffin. They are only good at mixing with water. Same for acetone.

I also found where to buy a lifetime supply of cheap paraffin, with varying melting points.

Blendedwaxes.com

[kdawg]

Why do you want something to dissolve wax?

Oz Cycle's method once you've got your chain clean and waxed is just to rinse it in boiling water and then rewax.

I'm not sure why I'd want to completely strip the wax from the inside every time.

Today I repeated the petrol soak and shake a few times until it was clear and then the final ethanol soak was clear.

Hanging up just now and going to wax it tomorrow.

[TobinHatesYou]

He uses a fraction of oil to plasticize/wet the wax so it's not completely solid. I'm betting some of the VOCs he uses as a carrier also get entrapped in the wax and don't evaporate.

Pros:
He can use it as a drip lube
Might be better at protecting the chain in wet conditions

Cons:
VOCs
Doesn't last as long
Picks up more contaminants in dry conditions...and will probably lead to faster chain wear than plain wax.

[kdawg]

Ah, okay - I was thinking of solvent to clean the chain not as a carrier for the wax.

The actual waxing of the chain part is the easiest - other than the hour it takes my to melt properly. The main downside is that you obviously can't just give it a quick squirt if you notice it needs it and you're heading out.

[DaveS]

Some believe that a waxed chain never gets dirty, but the clearances between the parts leaves plenty of room for dirt to enter. After 700-1000km, I remove my chain for cleaning. I use two rinses with naphtha/white gas. No ethanol or alcohol because it is not compatible with wax. Using wax dissolved in naphtha, it can be applied the next day. When I install a different chain, I usually do it the day before riding and apply a second coat of liquid wax lube, so it will last through several rides before another application.

[MaxPower]

I don't bother with hot waxing. I see no advantage over liquid paraffin lube.

We might not notice it on the bike, but solid paraffin is going to be more lubricious than your emulsion. That's why Squirt, Smoove and other never beat paraffin in any independent tests. Sure it's convenient for frequent application, but it also requires slightly more maintenance/cleaning on the rest of the drivetrain. I dip 5 chains at a time, once every 2 months or so and that works for me. Different strokes for different folks.

Also the wetter the lube in dry conditions, the worse they fair on the efficiency front over time. Your emulsion would be more convenient in wet weather though. I only use my waxed chains for up to 150mi in the rain, but you could keep dripping new lube on after every ride.

I went wax to chase the efficiency gains. If I were to go back to drip, I’d probably be back with RnR Gold. I already use that on my trainer/spare bike.

How do you manage wet riding and waxed chains? any after care you do after a wet ride if you don´t swap chains?

I did 5 chains too - because of winter conditions here (march is more winter than jan and feb was!) i have not done any wet rides yet. But so far, i love it! first re-wax is comming up. with so many chains in rotation the "extra work" isn´t extra time compared to cleaning wax emulsions (came from Squirt after 5 years, so "wax" is not new to me).

[TobinHatesYou]

How do you manage wet riding and waxed chains? any after care you do after a wet ride if you don´t swap chains?

I did 5 chains too - because of winter conditions here (march is more winter than jan and feb was!) i have not done any wet rides yet. But so far, i love it! first re-wax is comming up. with so many chains in rotation the "extra work" isn´t extra time compared to cleaning wax emulsions (came from Squirt after 5 years, so "wax" is not new to me).

Basically if I ride in the wet, it's because I thought it was going to be dry and bet wrong on the forecast that day. Wipe the chain down very thoroughly because the outer surfaces of the chain are unlikely to be completely coated in a layer of wax. MSW suggest no more than two rain rides with a waxed chain and I would agree with that guidance. If you ride in the rain a lot and don't want to go through a bunch of chains, you can use Squirt or Smoove over the waxed chain...or homebrew your own like DaveS's recipe. Frankly I would probably just use NixFrixShun instead for wet climates/seasons.

[MaxPower]

How do you manage wet riding and waxed chains? any after care you do after a wet ride if you don´t swap chains?

I did 5 chains too - because of winter conditions here (march is more winter than jan and feb was!) i have not done any wet rides yet. But so far, i love it! first re-wax is comming up. with so many chains in rotation the "extra work" isn´t extra time compared to cleaning wax emulsions (came from Squirt after 5 years, so "wax" is not new to me).

Basically if I ride in the wet, it's because I thought it was going to be dry and bet wrong on the forecast that day. Wipe the chain down very thoroughly because the outer surfaces of the chain are unlikely to be completely coated in a layer of wax. MSW suggest no more than two rain rides with a waxed chain and I would agree with that guidance. If you ride in the rain a lot and don't want to go through a bunch of chains, you can use Squirt or Smoove over the waxed chain...or homebrew your own like DaveS's recipe. Frankly I would probably just use NixFrixShun instead for wet climates/seasons.

Na - i´m in the same camp - damp roads i would do, or get showered - but i´m not going out if its raining thx

[kdawg]

Redid 3 bikes' chains yesterday - and the hot water clean and rewax was really easy - the only tedious part is melting the wax but boiling water and then back in it is clean so next time I think I'll just plug it in in the kitchen.

I'm really tempted to do my spd pedals too - anyone tried that? If you soaked them standing up you could clean out the mechanism without getting anything in the bearings and then just wax them the same way. Feels like it would stop stuff getting stuck in there and keep them smooth.

[dlj2119]

DaveS, I've been using your concoction now for a couple weeks and it bothers me how loud the drivetrain is. I feel like the recipe is accurate with the naphtha, gear lube, pure paraffin...but my drive train used to be perfectly silent when clean with wet lube. Honestly, compared to before a fresh chain broken in sounds like a very poorly wet lubed chain (600+km). Not sure what I'm doing wrong or if this is normal. I've re cleaned the chain multiple times thinking some residual grease or whatever was the issue. I've applied the wax formula at just barely melted at at very hot with no appreciable change. Running sram red 1x with absolute black narrow wide up front. Thanks.