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

[TobinHatesYou]

And this all kind of circles back on a previous discussion where I mentioned clumping of lubricious solids is a real thing that happens if you use too much of it or don’t have a proper carrier agent for it (solid, liquid or both.) And it hurts efficiency while also fooling all chain checkers.

If WS2 clumps in the chain (I doubt it does, but it will fill scratches in the metal) that would be a good thing because it would prevent metal to metal contact.

No, it wouldn't. You want what is essentially two polished surfaces for the highest efficiency. A clump results in greater sliding friction even if overall wear is reduced.

[MikeD]

And this all kind of circles back on a previous discussion where I mentioned clumping of lubricious solids is a real thing that happens if you use too much of it or don’t have a proper carrier agent for it (solid, liquid or both.) And it hurts efficiency while also fooling all chain checkers.

If WS2 clumps in the chain (I doubt it does, but it will fill scratches in the metal) that would be a good thing because it would prevent metal to metal contact.

No, it wouldn't. You want what is essentially two polished surfaces for the highest efficiency. A clump results in greater sliding friction even if overall wear is reduced.

I'm not seeing any clumping in my Silca SS. I think people aren't shaking the bottle vigorously/long enough if they are seeing that or a white color of the wax when it is being applied (or that may be indicative of a Silca QC problem). WS2 is a heavy metal compound and separates out from the wax.

[velomane]

I was having the aforementioned problems with my Silca SS. This morning, I shook the bottle like crazy, and it flowed very smoothly, promptly entering the links, unlike before.

[MarkoP]

Just did the UFO cleaning on 3 new chains. Followed the direction of 5 min UFO soak, 1 minute agitation and then transfer to clean container and soak in boiling water and then dry with hair dryer.


I know the UFO instructions say it might still feel greasy and that's been my experience. A bit unnerving as I'm used to the long overnight process with terps etc. and a very dry chain.


Fingers crossed this method worked as I'm about to move on to the crockpot. 

[MarkoP]

So I went through my first instant pot waxing with 3 chains and it seems to have worked well.

I just broke all the hardened wax off the links to get them moving but the outside of the chain is still pretty waxy. Should i just leave it or run a silca wipe across to remove the outside wax and little hardened clumps?

[pdlpsher1]

I wipe off the wax from the chain when the chain just came out of the pot. Using a clean paper towel.


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[MarkoP]

I wipe off the wax from the chain when the chain just came out of the pot. Using a clean paper towel.


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Ah, I didn't do this step. Next time I will. I'll try to see if I can remove the outer wax with a microfiber cloth. Guessing Silca wipes might not be the best choice.

[BdaGhisallo]

I wipe off the wax from the chain when the chain just came out of the pot. Using a clean paper towel.


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Ah, I didn't do this step. Next time I will. I'll try to see if I can remove the outer wax with a microfiber cloth. Guessing Silca wipes might not be the best choice.

That's the way to do it. Just grab a rag or an old t-shirt and wipe down the chain to clear most of it off the outside of the plates. Any excess wax remaining will quickly flake off once you are riding the chain.

[tleo]

I wipe off the wax from the chain when the chain just came out of the pot. Using a clean paper towel.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ah, I didn't do this step. Next time I will. I'll try to see if I can remove the outer wax with a microfiber cloth. Guessing Silca wipes might not be the best choice.

That's the way to do it. Just grab a rag or an old t-shirt and wipe down the chain to clear most of it off the outside of the plates. Any excess wax remaining will quickly flake off once you are riding the chain.

I find this has drastically reduced the flaking for me.

[MysticRiver]

Curious how everyone decides that their bag of wax is "old." Recently switched to waxing and about ~10 waxes in. How will I know when to put a fresh batch of wax in?

[MrRolandos]

Hmmm, I was using this hotpot : https://www.amazon.de/-/nl/gp/product/B ... =UTF8&th=1 but it melted the wax way to fast and hard to control the temperature. It was going to 100C in 5-6 mins and then back to 70 in like 2-3mins. Even tho its small and i feel like the wax dind get enough control. So I also ordered a crockpot 2.4L before and its much better. Way more control and I also feel like the MSW penetrates the chain much better, easy 500km and still perfect. Today I used my SSS, I noticed you can fully open it and also a tiny bit, if you open it way less, you have more control and can apply 1 spot per chain plate. Much better this way...

[Roadbiker10]

I've done about 800km on my chain, topping of every 200km. Last ride was in really heavy rain, so I decided to clean it again.

Now I think I made a mistake because I thought I needed to do the whole cleaning version that I did first time. That's what I did. First in degreaser, then ultrasonic cleaner, mineral spirits and then Isopropyl alcohol. Even then there was some black left on the towel afterwards.

What should I have done instead of this? I think they said to top of every 200 miles and then clean chain again after 1000 miles or something like that. So how do you clean the chain after it's been used for a while?

I had wax residue stuck everywhere and it was difficult to clean. On the back of the cassette, between the 28 and the one below, there was a lot stuck. Then on the rollers too. I don't know if I'm putting on too much or that is normal.

[Roadbiker10]

I'm seeing some posts above about Silca SS clumping. How do I notice if that is happening? I am shaking the bottle, although not like crazy.

[Lakal]

I've done about 800km on my chain, topping of every 200km. Last ride was in really heavy rain, so I decided to clean it again.

Now I think I made a mistake because I thought I needed to do the whole cleaning version that I did first time. That's what I did. First in degreaser, then ultrasonic cleaner, mineral spirits and then Isopropyl alcohol. Even then there was some black left on the towel afterwards.

What should I have done instead of this? I think they said to top of every 200 miles and then clean chain again after 1000 miles or something like that. So how do you clean the chain after it's been used for a while?

I had wax residue stuck everywhere and it was difficult to clean. On the back of the cassette, between the 28 and the one below, there was a lot stuck. Then on the rollers too. I don't know if I'm putting on too much or that is normal.

Boiling water is fine.

[rhender]

Just curious how people re-wax when your chain needs it? MSW says that for a training chain, there's no need to do the whole extensive cleaning process again--just dip the chain again.

Is that what most people are doing. Do you need to re-strip the chain if you use something like SILCA or UFO to top up in between re-waxes?