@trailhead I boiled my chain first, then did a quick dunk in isopropyl alcohol to get residual water out, then put it on top of the solid wax as it heated. I’ve heard others just immerse the chain in hot wax, but I’d be concerned about contaminants building up in the pot (faster) over time.
Also, FYI, do not use your spouse’s good pot for boiling your chain - it leaves a greasy, nasty residue that requires a lot of scrubbing to get clean. 
I usually do multiple chains together, so I put them in the already melted wax - let sit for a few minutes, squish around, then take out and hang.
I’m experimenting with how to clean the chains before re-waxing and hot/boiling water worked well so far, but too late for the wax to stay fully clean 
so wondering how others have removed dirt from the wax (scoop off the top while still hot? cut off the top layer once hardened? … ? ).
The contaminants will settle at the bottom, not the top. So you can either cut off the bottom or you can let it melt a little bit more, until only the bottom is melted and you can clean all the contaminated residual with a paper towel.
Will getting water in the wax effect it? I usually rinse my previously waxed chains with a kettle of boiling water before submersion but have never bothered drying them before putting them in the hot wax.
What are people doing to lube their pulley wheels? On my ride today, when in the large chainring and smallest two cogs, whenever I would coast the chain would “catch” then freewheel. I don’t think it is the wheel free hub since this only happened in the two smallest cogs and the free hub spins freely. I’m wondering if it has to do with the pulley wheels, and that I haven’t applied oil directly since I started waxing chains a couple of months ago.
Sealed bearings in my jockey wheels, and they’re checked every time I change chain when I also clean them (so every 100-500k depending). Worth checking them but it’s more likely to be the Freehub bearing, or a dragging seal.
They dont need anything on them, if anything the small film of wax on it will be fine.
First, clean any build up of wax in between the smallest cogs, this is your most likely culprit. A little bit of brake clean or alcohol (not required) on the end of a small flathead (that isn’t a ‘good’ one) and carve the bits of wax out.
Definitely would check freehub system like poster above, the gears you describe are with the highest enertia, so will be the first to show a sticky freehub.
Then your other possibilities is something is worn, like your big chainring is causing some ‘suck’ which will cause the chain to keep moving when the cranks stop or an alignment issue.
If you were to buy a new pot to do waxing in today- what’s that pot? I gifted my friend the shitty crockpot I had been using before moving. We have a 6qt instapot that I could commandeer if I replaced it with a newer better instapot.
I generally have many chains and swap them often and wax about once a month so large is good.
Walmart Mainstays 2 qt. $10USD. This is big enough for multiple chains. I have done two at once but there is room for probably two more, easily.
I guess you use quick links for your chain? Is that not a risk, unlock the QL that often?
The single use nature of quick links has been long discussed. Manufacturers all say single use, except wipperman which has a reusable link. Most users will reuse a link until it stops feeling like it clicks when you install it. Some will replace it every time.
You have decide what the risk of reuse is and if it’s tolerable to you.
-Tim
If you were to buy a new pot to do waxing in today- what’s that pot? I gifted my friend the shitty crockpot I had been using before moving. We have a 6qt instapot that I could commandeer if I replaced it with a newer better instapot.
I bought an extra inner pot for my 6 qt instapot so I can use one for cooking and one for chain waxing.
I use one of these in the crockpot: http://www.reynoldsbrands.com/products/cooking-bag-liners/slow-cooker-liners
Works perfectly, and zero mess.
I reuse my quick links and take one out with me just incase. I use the correct tools remove it and install it.
Read alot into it and from what i could find the majority of people reuse them without issue… Like others say if that ‘click’ went, i would likely replace it.
EDIT: Should also add that the couple of chains im currently waxing as i write this, i’ve connected the quick links up before hand so i can hook the loop. I found it difficult to fish them out. when they were loose
How do you guys discard the wax when you’ve used it alot and it’s time to change for a new one?
Make it into bath candles
A couple of notes from my third (fourth?) chain wax. These are probably more along the lines of general bike maintenance / public service announcements, but work here as well as anywhere else.
Chain wear. For the last month or so my bike has had difficulty shifting into the 11t cog (SRAM Rival 10-36 cassette). I thought maybe the derailleur needed a micro adjustment but everything was aligned visually. On Monday the chain started “catching” when I stopped pedaling in the big chainring and 10t or 11t cogs. I checked this behavior against a second set of wheels and my trainer, thus determining the problem was on the bike, not the free hub bearing on that particular wheel set. I removed the chain to give the rear derailleur a deep cleaning / wax removal and noticed that the chain had a lot of lateral play. Special thanks to @gpl for pointing that out as a potential sign of chain wear in this video. While my chain isn’t that old, I replaced it with the ready spare (already waxed) and both the shifting and catching problems are gone.
Chain Sizing / Waxing. Once I got the new chain on I noticed a slight click / bump every 2.5 rotation of my cranks. Long story short … and it took me way too long to figure this out … one of the rollers at the end of the chain where the quick link attaches was missing. It almost certainly happened when I sized the chain, not when waxing, because I scoured the bottom of my crock pot and didn’t find it. I took one off of the old chain since I’m going to trash it anyway, and all is good. These rollers can also fall off during waxing when the chain gets hot and expands.
Anyway, these are probably very basic lessons for most but I guess I needed to learn them through experience today. Have a great day!
Regarding your Chain Wear section…
I see you deep cleaned your RD but make no mention of cleaning the cassette. Did you do this as well, by chance? I’ve read several reports of non-optimal shifting in 10/11 cogs due to wax buildup between the small cogs (I have experienced this myself). Once I cleaned that out, my shifting resumed normal operation.
Also, you made mention of the lateral play from the @gpl video… while I don’t get a chain catch potentially due to this, I seem to be experiencing a lot more chain drops when shifting down to the small ring up front (a problem I never had with traditional lube). Initially I thought this might have been happening as the first couple times it was during a downshift as I was starting up a climb, so thought it might have been under too much load, but the last several were on flats when soft pedaling into an intersection to stop. I’ve checked the FD adjustments/limit screws and all seems well there, so now the whole lateral wear thing has me wondering if that is the potential issue. Anyone else experience seemingly random drops since starting to wax?
Regarding the chain sizing portion…
Good call! No, I didn’t explicitly clean the cassette. I just checked them and they are good, though. (Most of my miles are on the trainer but event that one is good.)
That is a great pro tip! Wil definitely do that on the replacement chain that’s coming today!
Thanks!!
I turned on the crockpot on low the other day and completely forgot. Just realized 2 days later that it’s on. I waxed my chains but the paraffin is yellow. Is this ok or should I dump it and put another one in it?