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#1
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New chain waxing technique
So as part of our college team's sponsorship with Ritchey, I bought a big
bottle of chain wax lube (wax with a solvent carrier) a long time ago and decided to finally use some now. I shook it up, applied it liberally on the dry chain, and noticed big clumps everywhere. It's a rainy 60 degrees here in Gainesville, and the wax solidified up hard as soon as it hit the chain, rendering it useless for lubing within. I remembered some of the hot wax ideas mentioned here before, and I figured I could use heat from my torch to melt it down into the rollers. I picked up the torch and forgot that I had broken off the safety head on it a while back. So I grabbed a bottle of alcohol and planned to drip it on, then light it. It turns out that there was no need for the alcohol. The solvent carrier of the Ritchey lube lit right up, and the burning chain, chainrings, and rear cog were a sight to see. Thirty seconds later, the fire goes out, the wax is well-distributed around the chain (although a longer burn would have been prefereable to ensure the pins heated up sufficiently.) This was quick, easy, and kinda fun. Maybe White Lightning will do the same... -- Phil, Squid-in-Training |
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#2
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New chain waxing technique
"Phil, Squid-in-Training" wrote: (clip) the burning chain, chainrings, and rear cog were a sight to see. (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ How about a picture of you riding the bike at night, with the chain lit up? |
#3
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New chain waxing technique
Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote: The solvent carrier of the Ritchey lube lit right up, and the burning chain, chainrings, and rear cog were a sight to see. Thirty seconds later, the fire goes out, the wax is well-distributed around the chain (although a longer burn would have been prefereable to ensure the pins heated up sufficiently.) This was quick, easy, and kinda fun. Maybe White Lightning will do the same... I think you are onto something... sort of a "flame cleaning/lubing method"... burn off all that old nasty oil residue. I think the trick will be to get the right proportion of flammable agents in the mix to just melt the wax... without also melting your chainrings. Opps... what about those plastic jockey wheels? |
#4
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New chain waxing technique
On Tue, 31 Jan 2006 01:19:25 -0500, "Phil, Squid-in-Training"
wrote: So as part of our college team's sponsorship with Ritchey, I bought a big bottle of chain wax lube (wax with a solvent carrier) a long time ago and decided to finally use some now. I shook it up, applied it liberally on the dry chain, and noticed big clumps everywhere. It's a rainy 60 degrees here in Gainesville, and the wax solidified up hard as soon as it hit the chain, rendering it useless for lubing within. I remembered some of the hot wax ideas mentioned here before, and I figured I could use heat from my torch to melt it down into the rollers. I picked up the torch and forgot that I had broken off the safety head on it a while back. So I grabbed a bottle of alcohol and planned to drip it on, then light it. It turns out that there was no need for the alcohol. The solvent carrier of the Ritchey lube lit right up, and the burning chain, chainrings, and rear cog were a sight to see. Thirty seconds later, the fire goes out, the wax is well-distributed around the chain (although a longer burn would have been prefereable to ensure the pins heated up sufficiently.) This was quick, easy, and kinda fun. Maybe White Lightning will do the same... If you've got a light colored frame this could make for an interesting paint effect when you're done. Don't forget the asbestos chainstay protector. Ron |
#5
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New chain waxing technique
On Tue, 31 Jan 2006 01:19:25 -0500, "Phil, Squid-in-Training"
wrote: [snip] The solvent carrier of the Ritchey lube lit right up, and the burning chain, chainrings, and rear cog were a sight to see. Thirty seconds later, the fire goes out, the wax is well-distributed around the chain (although a longer burn would have been prefereable to ensure the pins heated up sufficiently.) This was quick, easy, and kinda fun. Maybe White Lightning will do the same... I think, in deference to my desire to not meddle with the tempering of the sideplates and/or risk torching the paint job on my chainstays, that I will not attempt to duplicate this experiment. -- Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to reply via email. Words processed in a facility that contains nuts. |
#6
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New chain waxing technique
Ron Ruff wrote:
Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote: The solvent carrier of the Ritchey lube lit right up, and the burning chain, chainrings, and rear cog were a sight to see. Thirty seconds later, the fire goes out, the wax is well-distributed around the chain (although a longer burn would have been prefereable to ensure the pins heated up sufficiently.) This was quick, easy, and kinda fun. Maybe White Lightning will do the same... I think you are onto something... sort of a "flame cleaning/lubing method"... burn off all that old nasty oil residue. I think the trick will be to get the right proportion of flammable agents in the mix to just melt the wax... without also melting your chainrings. Euh... what kind of chainrings do you use? Non-metal ones that can't handle a couple hundred degrees? Opps... what about those plastic jockey wheels? I forgot to mention that this was on my singlespeed townie. No plastic anywhere. -- Phil, Squid-in-Training |
#7
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New chain waxing technique
Werehatrack wrote:
I think, in deference to my desire to not meddle with the tempering of the sideplates and/or risk torching the paint job on my chainstays, that I will not attempt to duplicate this experiment. Hi there, Werehatrack Your concern about paint makes sense. But I doubt that the flames have enough total heat to affect the steel in the chain. The lowest temp I'm aware of to cause even a minor permanent change to steel is ~550F. Perhaps Mr. Beam could bring some of his expertise to bear on this? Sounds like fun, knida like Jessie James on Monster Garage, John |
#8
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New chain waxing technique
Ron Ruff wrote:
I think you are onto something... sort of a "flame cleaning/lubing method"... burn off all that old nasty oil residue. I think the trick will be to get the right proportion of flammable agents in the mix to just melt the wax... without also melting your chainrings. Perhaps a peaceful use for napalm? Brush it into the chain and ignite to remove the old lubricant - in the morning of course, because of the great smell. Apply the wax when the fire is out but before the chain is cool. Opps... what about those plastic jockey wheels? Well, maybe we haven't got all the bugs ironed out yet. -- Dave... |
#9
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New chain waxing technique
at a world cup event back in 97 i was show this method by one of the
mechanics working for the Toyota/RAV4 team (Bob DeGregorio). been doing it ever since. it also works with white lightning and finish line's krytech. so long as you set the chain in the largest ring and some large cog, there's hardly a chance to do damage to anything. and if you pedal while it's flaming.....no need to worry about the pulleys. funny that this comes up several years later....i've been passing this on to most people i know and meet at races. it's the absolute WORST method for cleaning chains though. |
#10
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New chain waxing technique
john wrote:
Werehatrack wrote: I think, in deference to my desire to not meddle with the tempering of the sideplates and/or risk torching the paint job on my chainstays, that I will not attempt to duplicate this experiment. Hi there, Werehatrack Your concern about paint makes sense. But I doubt that the flames have enough total heat to affect the steel in the chain. The lowest temp I'm aware of to cause even a minor permanent change to steel is ~550F. Perhaps Mr. Beam could bring some of his expertise to bear on this? Sounds like fun, knida like Jessie James on Monster Garage, John if you're just melting wax, there will be no effect on chain temper. if however the chain is heated enough to cause any coloration, you can use this chart to identify the temperature you've reached, and get an idea of the effect it'll have. http://www.threeplanes.net/toolsteel.html |
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