at the shop I am working at we are starting to get into hot wax as a service. I’ve been tasked with figuring it out- we’re gonna be trying the Rex Black Diamond Hot Wax. Im looking for tips for setup: whats your solution for cleaning? Multiple jars/bidons/bottles? Couple of containers and an ultrasonic cleaner (im thinking of couple of glass tupperware/whatever boxes numbered 1, 2, 3 etc as first, second third bath in a degreaser/white spirit and then one in IPA). Whats your set up for drying chains, some hooks made out of old spokes or sth more fancy? Any trays etc needed? What are your guys thoughts in general? Any tips are greatly appreciated
My local shop does this - great service btw. The only part I can talk to is the cleaning process: my local shop has an ultrasonic cleaner that it uses both for cleaning chains (new + already in use) + other drive train components (e.g., cassettes).
Tupperware box with mineral turpentine, fill with a splash, soak and shake, then throw on some shop towel to dry
Tupperware box with methylated spirits, fill with a splash, soak and shake, then throw on some shop towel to dry
Ready to wax
Both fluids get re-used for more new chains / cassettes and stay clean for quite a few cycles
My cleaning process for used chains (contaminated with oil/grease/who knows what) is:
Stainless bowl with mineral turpentine, fill with a splash of old mineral turpentine, soak and shake, then throw on some shop towel to dry. The turpentine gets filthy quickly and goes in its own container, not to be used for new chains. TBH i only do this for fancy chains that i really want to re-use, otherwise just start with a new chain.
Into the ultrasonic cleaner (its a vevor cheapie) for ten minutes, at 50deg C, in a 1:14 solution of extreme simple green (not the normal one, it messes up anodisation)
Tupperware box with methylated spirits, fill with a splash, soak and shake, then throw on some shop towel to dry
Ready to wax
For chains that need a rewax:
chain off bike, wipe down with microfibre cloth
straight into the wax pot
Waxing process:
Silca wax in a very small deepfryer with temperature control (great as it comes with a submersion basket)
chain goes in basket, shake and bake for a few minutes
lift basket, let chain drip for a bit
flip over onto a large ceramic tile on the bench (this cools it down real quick)
throw chain onto bike in stand and spin
clean up wax bits from floor
The last bit would benefit from some sort of spinny device that i can run the chain through before putting it on the bike
Cassettes and chainrings go through the same process. Its time consuming when they have been used with oil-based lubes previously so prefer starting with new parts. For re-waxing i just give them a wash and water rinse whilst the chain is in the wax pot.
I used to do the ultrasonic, mineral spirits, alcohol, jar, rinse, repeat method then just got bored with it bought a biodegradable chain stripper. It’s expensive but it’s fast and it’s one and done. Couple of coat hangers and a crock pot. I do 4 chains at a time.
For a shop I would use an ultrasonic cleaner that can also be used for other parts. I’d then have a crockpot that is big enough to do multiple chains at the same time. I’d create some sort of labeling system to track the chains like color coding the wire coupler/chain holder. While hard in a shop environment, I’d try to do all the chains in a single batch once a day.
Sounds like a fun task. I think the right answer will really depend on the scale you’re looking to do. Some questions to answer that may help get you to a good solution:
How many chains a week do you think you’ll need to prep?
How many chains will already be prepped and just in for re-waxing?
Will you offer the prep service for pre-existing (dirty) chains, or will the customer need to purchase a new chain from you?
How much space do you have available for this? Does it need to be packed away?
I used to do the ‘two jars-method’, but switched to the Silca Chain Stripper.
It is not cheap, but you only need one product, and it seems to hold better when kept in a jar compared to solvents.
I also use it for rewaxing (which in my case happens a lot more often than removing factory grease). Before rewaxing I wipe the chain and throw it in a jar with chain stripper. Then I rinse the chain with warm water and give it a quick scrub with a brush. Then I blow the chain dry with compressed air before it goes in the hotpot. When the chain stripper gets dirty, you can pour it through a coffee filter and get a lot of dirt out.
I’m actually quite convinced that I’ll be cheaper off with the chain stripper than with the solvents in the long run.
I have ultrasonic parts cleaners with ultrasonic specific soap in them. I use them for general parts. I’ll throw new chains in there to get a good chunk of the packing grease off first. Since the machines are there, it takes very little extra time. Rinse and blow dry.
Then I throw the chain in a glass jar with Silca stripper, shake, let sit for approx 15 minutes. Shake vigorously again, remove, place in the stainless sink, pour boiling water over it to rinse, aiming for the rollers. Blow dry. I repeat with a second jar with fresh Silca stripper. The second cleaning is necessary for SRAM chains, optional for others. I remove low lying sediment from the first jar by slowly pouring the top portion into another jar. The first jar obviously gets dirty first, and I’ll replenish it with stripper from the second jar, which stays much cleaner for longer. I figure using two jars roughly halves the rate of stripper use.
Then it goes in the Silca pot with Silca wax and an endurance chip.
I have stopped offering waxing to used, oiled chains. I do rewax chains that have only seen wax, immersion or drip. For those, they get a wipe before going in the pot, or dirty ones get a kettle of boiling water first. I’ve also moved to having a regular crock pot with potentially older wax for the rewaxing, keeping the Silca pot with new fresh wax just for new, fresh chains.
Pretty much echoing what’s already been said but I’d recommend to keep it really simple for the shop. Depending on the shop environment, how busy it is, and how many different mechanics are doing the job it can be hard to keep a process perfectly consistent and efficient so I’d try not to get too picky.
At my shop we use the CRC bioremediating parts washers to strip most of the factory grease from the outside of a new chain before running it through an ultrasonic with Simple Green HD (the purple stuff) once or twice, then a final rinse in denatured alcohol before putting the chain in wax. We just pressed the easy button and bought a couple of the Silca wax pots.
This will not produce a perfect, ultra-fast race ready chain but will get it 99% of the way there and is good for an everyday customer chain that will most likely proceed to get drip wax for the rest of its life.
I highly recommend some workaround for breaking in the chains so they are smooth from kilometer zero. Customers highly appreciate it and it makes diagnosing and working on the bike easier for you too. We use a simple setup with a drill and 3D printed aperture with 3 pulley wheels positioned in a shape of letter V.
Having multiple waxes on offer seems to be appreciated. We have silca hot melt, rex 4+1 and rex 10+1 in three different pots. Rex is what we trust in, silca is the most used among the people.
I’m keeping a stash of used quick links for the break in process so I don’t have to use the customers quick links as they are sacred and we swear to god we never reuse them as people are completely frightened about reusing quicklinks.
We use Ceramicspeed UFO drivetrain clean (make sure to not buy the bike wash which is also called UFO clean) as it comes in 5L containers, making it much more economical than silca. Ceramicspeed claim you can clean a few chains in one small amount of solution, which seems to bear out in reality.
We only hot wax brand new chains, if someone has a near new chain they want to use with wax, I’ll do the same cleaning process and then use Silca drip wax on it so we don’t contaminate our hot wax pot. If they want to hot wax at home after that, that’s fine, it’s their wax but we do encourage new chains anyway.
Dave - your response is spot on, because depending on answers will take a different task. At our shop in Hailey, ID, we do a few chains/day. Chain off and into plain heated ultrasonic bath for 10-15min. Then dry. Then into an old probably crock pot with variable temp. Turn it on in AM, takes a bit to melt. Chain into wax for 5-10min, then out to dry. Of note, we started replacing all quick links. From the legal perspective, they are supposed to be single use, although many people use them over and over. But they cost about $5usd. We don’t use any mineral spirits. Change the water every few weeks. Trying to minimize impact on environment. Silca systems are great - I use them for my home use. But good points Dave!!