So, this solves it. Kerosene is what I am using already. Was confused with the word paraffin.
I left my wax on overnight by mistake, on medium temp, but it also turned a light brown color, similar to your pic, no longer clear white. its also likely a bit dirty as well, Its white when it turns back to a solid, so I am still using it. I might pop it out and scrape the bottom. I don’t think its ruined, as it seems normal on the chains I have waxed.
Just refer to the Zen guide from Zero Friction Cycling. The answer
(about burning) lies within.
[/quote] Q – How do I know if I have overheated & damaged my wax?
A – You can be a bit concerned if you raise the lid and there is a lot of fuming coming off the wax. After you have switched off if the wax goes a yellow colour when it cools – its damaged. If the wax cools to its usual grey / white – it is still fine.
Interesting regional difference with the names of things.
I am in Canada.
For waxing my chain I used 100% paraffin wax for canning.
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/canning-wax-0422510p.html
Everything is working well I think (only waxed once so far in slow cooker).
If I should be concerned with the wax I used please let me know.
I ordered some PTFE powder and will add it to my paraffin wax in my slow cooker once it arrives.
I wanted to post a follow-up describing my experience waxing my first chains.
At the time of writing my post I had only done 2 brand new chains.
I have subsequently prepared 2 used chains that were previously lubed the traditional way.
As described in my original post I first rinsed chains in mineral spirits. I did 2 baths I believe.
I then did baths in 99% isopropyl alcohol (2-3). It seems to me the mineral spirits didn’t do much in either of my cases (preparing brand new chains or previously lubed chains). ONLY in the isopropyl alcohol did the solution go dark-ish with the lube getting pulled out of the chain I assume.
- I should let readers know I am in Canada which may explain the names of some of the products I am using (I cannot find denatured alcohol or methylated spirits here in Canada) -
I am curious if this is similar to other’s experiences?
I am feeling there is no need for the mineral spirits and to just go straight to isopropyl alcohol?
Anyway, one of my previously used chains the process went pretty smooth and as expected. I have waxed it and have put it aside for future use (as I also did a brand new chain for the same bike and that is currently on one of my bikes).
I also just did another previously used chain for a 9-speed bike (Rocky Mountain solo - cyclocross bike I mostly use to ride around with my kids). The chain is fine still so I didn’t see the need to buy a brand new chain. The cleaning and stripping process has been more of a hassle for this chain. I degreased the chain with simple green. I did a mineral spirits bath which didn’t seem to do much. And then I did about 10 baths in isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol remained quite clear after the 3rd bath or so but little dark flecks and specks continue to come out in rinses so I just continued to do more rinses, however, these flecks and specks just keep coming off. So, I called it quits and I have decided to just use Squirt lube I got for this chain as I don’t want to put it in my crock pot and dirty the wax if these specks continue to come off. I am guessing a new chain would solve this issue but for the use this bike is getting at the moment I can probably hold off.
Lastly, for wax I have used just plain paraffin wax.
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/canning-wax-0422510p.html
I see this can mean different things in different parts of the world and I hope what I have used is OK. Everything seems good and fine so far after just one wax. I have ordered some PTFE (teflon) powder that I will add to my crock pot once it arrives in a few weeks.
I hope someone finds this helpful.
I’ve been curious about waxing and opted to give the Wend Rub On stuff a try.
Some quick lessons.
- What you think is enough, isn’t.
- Rubbing it in and “flowing” it with thier remover just created un-waxed spots on my chain first time around
- Put “enough” on second time and re-flowed it with a heat shrink gun. Just enough to have it melt into the rollers, then let it set up again.
So I have a nice blue-ish chain, but I don’t think it’s as bullet proof as a proper hot dip. Picture is from the first round.
For those in the US who are getting PTFE - where are you getting it? Amazon? Ebay?
Doesn’t the dirt settle to the bottom? A friend of mine who waxes says that he lets the wax harden up every now and then cuts the dirty part off the bottom.
I guess every now and then you’ll want to just start over as wax is inexpensive.
I understood that. If you had a metal grate in there the chains could be in the upper level of the wax and the dirt down in the lower level.
Does anyone else see a disparity in buttery smoothness between chains? I have a Wipperman Connex 11s chain and a couple KMC 11s chains. I feel like the Wipperman chain is much smoother after I wax them.
yep amazon.
I’ve been waxing chains for a few years now. A few times now the chain “splits” where I break the chain. What I will call the inner part, comes apart and you can move the two pieces individually. It also appears to lose the metal ring part. Is this normal? Is it ok to ride with? How do I stop it from happening? Thanks.
Have had it happen on a couple myself too. I have put them back together with no issues and have thrown one away that was close to .75 wear anyway. I think its from the heating the chains up and loosening the tolerances in them as I put my chains in the oven before I put them in the wax.
If you replace the roller, it’s fine.
Easy way to prevent it: loop a paper clip through the roller opening on each side. This holds the whole assembly together when it heats up (and also gives a convenient hanging point for cooling/drying).
I use an offcut of wire as loops through each end, handy for hanging, and i use them to tell the difference between my CX and road chains. My CX chains are 2 links longer so i put a double wireloop through the end of those
If you have waxed a chain and you want to go back to lube can you just lube the chain or do you need to clean it first?
@Jonathan
I have had a slightly different experience in waxing a chain for the first time and I wanted to share as I thought I did something wrong.
I was starting with a brand new chain.
When I started with minerals spirits bath, nothing happened, that mineral spirits stayed clear and no grease appeared to come out of the chain. I still did a few baths but same result.
I proceeded to baths in 99% isopropyl alcohol and grease started to come out. I did a few baths until it stayed clear.
I then proceeded to waxing.
I was puzzled why mineral spirits seemed like an unnecessary step.
Fast forward to today and I am doing my second waxing.
I put the chain in boiling water (just in a jar I poured the boiling water as I don’t have a pot to ruin yet).
I wiped the chain clean with a rag.
I proceeded to try mineral spirits again and shazam, it was stripping out a lot of grease.
What is different now from before?
Does a brand new chain require a bit of break in before you can get the grease out with mineral spirits?
The chain is sitting in mineral spirits overnight and I will proceed to an isopropyl alcohol bath(s) tomorrow, before re-waxing.
I thought I would share in case anyone else had a similar experience.
Happy waxing.
Not sure I understand you correctly. Is this the same chain? In which case, off course it would react differently. The first time, it had factory grease on it (a special sticky grease). The second time, it had wax on it. Wax is not grease.
If it’s two different chains, the factory grease might be different.
The wax I use I purchased from the local grocery store labeled: Gulf Wax Household Parafin Wax (for canning, candlemaking and many other uses). You can buy it (or similar) on Amazon but it is about 1/3rd the price if you buy it in your local grocery store. The wax comes in a hard cake, about six cakes to a box. Cost about $3.00 US or so. Don’t use liquid parafin wax. It won’t work for waxing chains.
The PTFE I use is:
It works well however it is kind of sticky (clings to itself readily) and settles to the bottom of the wax pot after the wax melts. So you have to swish your chain around in the bottom of the pot to get to the PTFE.
I also used this stuff:
I don’t add any molybdenum disulfide as I don’t believe it’s necessary plus it leaves a gray residue on anything it touches and kind of defeats the purpose of having a “clean” chain that isn’t grimmy or leaves a residue. My opinion though. You may want to add it as it’s used in Molton Speed Wax. You can purchase it on Amazon as well.
To clean a chain that hasn’t been waxed before (brand new or one you’ve been riding on for a while) I follow the directions and chemicals from OZ Cycling on YouTube. If one follows his
directions, it does the job perfectly.
First I turn on my small oval crock pot and add the wax. I use this one:
I turn on the crock pot on high until the wax disolves - takes about a half hour or so, maybe a bit longer, then switch to low. I use a kitchen thermometer to bring the temperature of the wax to about 200 degrees F. Once the wax is melted I add the PTFE in a 50 to 1 ratio.
I start with immersing the chain in a small amount of gasoline just enough to cover the chain in a small covered container. I rinse the chain two or three times until the last chain bath is relatively clean, followed by a bath in mineral spirits (a couple baths if necessary), then denatured alcohol. After rinsing in denatured alcohol I blow the chain dry with an air hose, then let it dry on a hanger for a couple hours. I then swish it around in the crock pot making sure to swish it through the PTFE which seems to sink to the bottom of the crock pot. Naturally, I found out, that the chain is pretty hot when you bring it out of the wax bath.
It doesn’t take long for the newly waxed chain to cool down. I then run the chain over a wooden dowell or piece of small plastic pipe to loosen up the links.
Occasionally one of the chain link ends will loose one of the bearings in the bottom of the wax bath. You may have to dig it out. I now wrap the last links of the chain with a paper clip.
I use the Connex links as they’re reusable and, with a little effort, go on and off fairly easily. I also dip these in the wax bath. I use these, they’re a little spendy:
Woops, looks like Amazon is out of stock. You can buy directly from Connex for about the same price though. But you get the picture.
For the next waxing I rinse the chain in hot water using a hot water pot and a sink screen:
and
I rinse the chain in hot water a couple times, air blow dry, then re-wax. There’s no need to go through all the cleaning process with gasoline, mineral spirits, and denatured alcohol again as the chain stays clean on the inside of the roller bearings. You just need to rinse off the small amount of road grime that attaches to the wax on your chain. Rewaxing takes considerable than having to clean a new or used chain for the first time. Just reheat the wax in your crock pot, wait until it reaches temperature, swish it around a bit, and you’re done. Much easier the second time around.
I rewax my chain about every 150 miles (250Km) or so. If you ride in the rain, maybe more often.