Hi there. New to chainwaxing for my upcoming XC build. Purchased two new XX1 Eagle and started to strip the factory grease using the ZFC tutorial.
After 6 rinses @15min with white spirits three baths in methylated spirits the black XX1 eagle still had some white residue on the insides of the links. Tried to clean it off as best as I could with a brush but didn’t get everything off.
Am I still good to go ahead with the waxing or should I start over? Thanks for the tips in advance
The white residue is factory grease? I’d get all visible grease off first otherwise you’ll end up with a black waxy greasy mess.
I scrub first with some orange citrus degreaser before doing baths of mineral spirits. I don’t think I’ve ever had to do 7 baths.
This single soak&agitate works for me, add a few extra minutes if you are adding 100ml for the first time to a glass jar.
100ml will clean ~5 chains. Easy.
just go ahead with the waxing omg
Does the UFO stuff really work that well?
yes.
I just stripped 4 new shimano chains. Spray with ufo degreaser, quick ultrasonic bath and done. Completely clean.
I’ve even factory degreased a couple chains on the bike. UFO Clean drivetrain for the win.
That‘s what I am thinking. I assumed after all these extensive baths that stuff would’ve been long gone but no.
Will give UFO a go, thanks @WindWarrior for the tip
@Pottery thanks for your input. I’m doing it the first time. I don’t want to waste my time (9x15min baths + prep time) nor my money. Asking is free, so 
IMO, you are better with one or two long soaks (overnight) than multiple, short baths to strip the chain.
But based on that pic, yes, you still have factory grease on that chain that needs to get removed before you wax.
Thank you for the info. Will do that 
I caught the wax bug this weekend and bought the Silca waxing system and a bag of secret chain blend. I am debating on the stripchip but I most likely will get it as I only have (2) bikes and the stripchip just sounds the easiest if it truly works how silca is claiming it to work. I then again may get their chain stripper or the UFO stripper you guys keep talking about.
Where is the cheapest place to purchase master links for - Sram Flattop Road and Sram Eagle (non-t-type)?
UFO clean or Stripper is worth it for cleaning off cassette, chainrings, derailleurs of grease, make sit so easy and quick
I just realized the UFO is in a spray bottle and you can clean the entire drivetrain before washing the bike with soap and water. That might make things easier actually.
If you’re converting a used bike to hot wax you should definitely get UFO or the stripper to clean off old grease. StripChip is only good for brand new chains with factory grease.
All my bikes are currently waxed - I was just using the method with crock pots/thermometer, boiling water in pots, mineral spirits/acetone, my own wax mix etc and I am just looking to get away from that to something more streamlined and quicker/simpler.
Waxing really was a chore IMO before so I just bit the bullet and got the silca system and wax and will use mason jars with a electric kettle and some kind of cleaner (or that is the plan).
Old UFO in the black bottle or new UFO in the smaller?
Both… I’ve been using UFO Clean Drivetrain for at least 2 years and have used both.
Finally got (almost) whole house of chains waxed up after losing my old setup in a flood in 22 (then barely road in 23 so didn’t matter).
I ordered the probably silca waxer mentioned above of amazon and not in love compared to my old hot plate setup, less stink but cranky and slow. At 85C the time to melt is forever and I haven’t done my previously mentioned preheat chain in toaster oven so putting it in basically solidifies all the wax to the chain. 2 nights ago doing the final ones I even had to up the temp to 95C because 20 min later stuff was still solid after putting cold chain in (probably 60F in unfinished part of basement) and waxer was on for nearly an hour. Not sure if this is switching from home brew wax to the silca, the wax pot or what, but the hassle increased significantly during this full setup change.
Need to find Candy thermometer before I do the last one to see what temps really are.
This is also my first batch with the silca stuff and it is WAY WAY WAY stiffer than my home brew (followed old recipe online forget source, friction facts??). I used to just slap the chains on crank them around a bit backwards to fling off the excess and that was fine. Back pedaling is impossible with the freshly waxed chains. Both her bike and my bike that have the new chains on kept throwing the chains pedaling forward even due to the stiffness of them freshly waxed. Guess I’ll need to add in a kneading step although I don’t think that will solve it. The main issues seems to be all our bikes are 1x and they are hanging up on the wide teeth.
I will say the peg board in the workshop area I setup is handy for hanging them to drip into pot, bent up some 308L welding wire for hangers 
It may work okay but it’s definitely not the same.
The Amazon unit is 100ml smaller than the Silca model and according to Josh’s video their unit’s full circumference heater with PID controller is preset to quickly melt Secret Blend in 10-12 minutes. How long does the Amazon unit take?
