- The turps + alcohol stripping method is the oldest, but there are better options now: using specific chain-stripping fluid (which can be filtered and reused) or buying a pre-waxed chain. I’d choose either of those first.
- I wouldn’t be as meticulous about cleaning the rest of the drivetrain, but I would give those parts a good scrubbing with degreaser. You can leave them in situ on the bike.
I have been trying to get someone to try this for a while on the EC Discords… The temperature scale starts low enough (and probably it is linear starting from ambient temperature), my other concern would be uneven heating of the wax (part smoking part still solid), but I’d think that would be more of an issue if the heating element is immersed into the oil/wax rather than integrated into the bowl.
The advantages seem obvious to me: more watts than in a slow cooker so the wax melts more quickly, and the basket should be a lot more convenient for letting the excess wax drip off and letting the chains cool down without having to touch them. I bet that thing can easily fit at least four chains rolled into disks (double disks on top of each other, or possibly even single disks if the basket is big enough).
Liberate yourself from the chains of Big Solvent and try waxing your next chains with factory grease and all? The initial treatment might not last as long but the amount of factory grease is so small (I have weighed a couple and it was less than half a gram) that the contamination in a pot of wax is pretty minor if you don’t wax new chains for a living. A treatment time on the longer side is advisable so entropy does its thing.
Back in ye olden days (yes I have been using paraffin wax for 30+ years) nobody talked about factory grease removal before waxing. Of course it is a different matter if you are dealing with used chains or are prepping the chain for drip waxing.
I really disagree with “Wax With Factory Grease”. I wouldn’t want that stuff contaminating my wax personally.
SILCA has a method of stripping a new chain they call “The Walter White” method which uses mason jars and shaking for 10 minutes per chemical. I’ve found this really easy and better than their chain stripper. The down side is chemical disposal.
It’s 1 jar of turps, 1 jar of citrus degreaser, 1 jar of IPA. 30 min all and the chain comes out completely stripped and rattling
None of these chemicals are particularly harsh but I also understand not wanting chemicals in general. Which, I’d then point to the Silca or Ceramic Speed strippers which are more convenient.
I am about to crack and start waxing. Is there a recommended slow cooker pot size supposing I want to do a couple of chains at a time? I doubt I’d do more than 2 since I think I will be doing the hybrid thing with drip between re-waxes. Would a 2 quart be about the right size?
I use an old instapot and it works quite well (I use different liners for different wax blends or if I want to strip the chain with boiling water. The downside is it’s pretty large so you have to decent amount of wax to cover the bottom. But I’ve done 3 chains at once with two Silca HM bags of wax.
I use the “High - Keep Warm” setting when I don’t want watch the pot and can come back after a long while without risk of overheating.
I use the “High-Sauté” setting to melt the wax in 5 min but that setting I watch to make sure it doesn’t get too hot. I don’t trust it wouldn’t burn the wax.
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A1 - I typically do washes in about 100ml of turps, and maybe more of them (4-5) if necessary (eg if the chain is dirty to start with). Less volume and more cycles is more efficient.
Turps is often recommended because it’s quite cheap here (Australia, home of ZFC, Dave Rome etc). But maybe there are alternative solvents in the UK that are cheaper? Still, it’s only once per chain.
A2 - Cassette, rings and pulleys only need a small wipe clean. maybe some solvent on a rag at best. It’s the surfaces inside the chain that are most important.
These were my thoughts, too. I’m sorry to disappoint you though. I didn’t get along with the seller and ended up buying a cheap body wax pot instead. I’m still intrigued to try one of those fryers though and will stay on the lookout for another one.
I have always seen white spirits used instead of actual turpentine (as far as I know mineral turps/mineral spirit/white spirit are all regional names for the same solvent) - white spirits are far cheaper, at least in Ireland. Goes the same for the alcohol, IPA is expensive here so methylated spirits do the job.
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It was the same for me, I didn’t start with immersion waxing earlier, because it seemed to be very complicated to degrease the chain. Solvents are also relative expensive at my place. And then one has to dispose it properly in the end..
I bought a (relatively cheap) ultrasonic cleaner with a heater. I’m using it with BGS universal cleaner, pH 10-12, 1:5 ratio, which is cheap too, and it’s labeled as compatible with ultrasonic cleaners. Specific ultrasonic cleaner liquids are often in same price range as a good bottle of wine or the Silca chain stripper, or only sold to professional customers.
Initially, I’ve also tried adding stearic acid (iirc 20g/1kg paraffin) with the factory grease chain. It worked, but the wax was turning *gray after 100km on dirt roads. This was with 56-58 deg C melting point wax. Later I switched to 64-66. My impression is that the wax with higher melting point has stronger adhesion and the chain stays silent for longer.
(*) ah, perhaps the stearic acid was worse than the factory grease?
Shame. They’re not particularly expensive new either (30 euro and up), I’d buy one myself but my current setup works fine and I’m not in an acute need of more stuff.
I prefer a double IPA, especially the fruity, hoppy ones
Edit: sorry, couldn’t resist the poke! Right, time to see if my chain is cooked…
Soooooo, I guess I‘m frying chains now. The wax melter I bought was shit quality so I went and got another mini fryer. Actually works a charm. It melts the wax to around 90 C in 5ish minutes and seems to keep the temperature quite steadily. Having the chain in the basket was quite useful aswell.
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Plus of course it goes to magic chocolate temperatures if you care about such things…
Thank you for your service.
That does look quite handy!
Nice one. How’d you shake it then? Do you use some kind of poker?
You can just lift and shake the basket itself, no extra tools needed. (I don’t understand the whole swisher religion either, I just tilt my double boiler can by lifting one side a little bit a couple of times to shake things around.)
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Swishing is all about making sure that any air bubbles between surfaces in contact are displaced so that the melted wax covers all of the surfaces in contact. I’d say it works given the air bubbles coming to the surface of the melted wax as I swish each chain. I think the swishing also helps to displace any grit still on the chain.
I’ve not measured the energy I’ve expended by “worshipping" the gods of swishing in a swishing session, but there’s no doubt the energy required is right up there with lifting a can of pop or beer a couple of times to drink the contents or maybe rolling over in bed once or twice while sleeping. In the worst case scenario, that energy needed to swish a chain in a wax pot might skyrocket to the level of the energy required to hold a phone and play a game of sudoku.
As @yoanna_yo said, I just use the basket to shake it. I see plenty of bubbles doing this so I guess it works. I threaded the chain onto some thread to be able to hang the chain to free up the basket for more chains. Maybe next time I’ll just put multiple chains in at once…