Silly question: my Silca wax bag is basically dead. I’ve used it on 4 bikes and dipped chains into it God knows how many times—easily 15+ times by now. Now it only lasts 70–80 miles and then the drivetrain gets noisy.
I got a new bag and I also need to strip a new chain. Should I strip the new chain (i’m using a StripChip) in the “old wax” to avoid contaminating the “new one” , or am I overthinking it?
That sounds reasonable unless your old wax bag is full of dirt.
When done I would dip the chain in the clean wax.
Yeah, it should be clean, 99% clean road riding and turbo training
Adding some kind of insert to the pot so that all dirt drops to the bottom is a game changer IME. I ride off-road most of the time so its more relevant in those conditions but even the chains I run on the roller benefit from that set up. Not a must for waxing but a big plus for durability.
Can you elaborate on what the insert is?
Make sense, but with the silca pot and wire I’ve to say my chain can’t get to bottom, it s a bit too long and barely fit inside
Any idea what’s killed it? I’ve only had this happen previously when I was using a crock pot without a thermostat and left it unchecked a bit long and ended up going too hot which I think killed the wax - went all yellowy and never lasted long after that. Not had any issues since switching to the Silca pot with thermostat to keep it at the right temperature.
It was supposed to last just half the time I’ve used for, so regular wear I guess.
I’m Really Really Really easily bothered with noises, I bet it would still be fine for 99% of people.
The only problem with that is that the friction modifiers also rest on the bottom of the pot….
If it was me I would switch to all new wax and strip the new chain in the new wax with strip chip. If your old wax is that bad, I wouldn’t put a new chain in it. Your first wax on that new chain could be nasty.
I rather have a clean waxed chain with minimal or none of those than a mix of grit and additives. Longevity suffers as your wax collects dirt, IME. But if you prefer something else that’s fine by me. Only sharing my experience here.
I see. Then I’d bin the wax in the silca system and start with new wax. Not much wax in there anyways. That is if you think/guess the wax is not lasting as long because of dirt, grit and grime contamination. If you think it might be something else then rinse it well with a kettle or two of boiling water in a strainer, dry well and rewax in new wax. FWIW, that’s what I’d do.
For me I’d rather have the recipe the manufacturer specified than leaving all the additives on the base of the pot due to paranoia about possible grit. If I was doing a load of dirty riding and wanting perfect wax, but without cleaning, i’d use your system but just using high quality paraffin (tested and shown to be pretty close some of the best immersive waxes by ZFC). As it’s so cheap it can also be tossed more often without thinking of the financial implications too much.
Personally as I’m offering waxing services I do almost exactly what you’ve described here (except with added cleaning agents if needed) which negates the need for a pot insert, as you’re only ever putting spotless chains into the wax.
Plenty of ways to, as Jonathon likes to say, skin a cat! 
(we haven’t even got into the 2 pot method!)
oh 2 pot is my fav method, insert in the first pot.
How do you clean a chain before waxing?
Which waxing, first or top up?
Easiest answer first, initial waxing is 99% of the time a bath in UFO DT Clean, boiling water rinse and then fully dry. Very grimy chains might get this for a re-waxing but most will be either just a boiling water flush or spray/brush with DT Clean, leave to dwell then boiling water soak/rinse 
I always strip the old wax and anything else off of my chain before waxing. I use ‘brush cleaner’ to clean the chain then a rinse in acetone…I wipe off any residue with a piece of paper towel then air dry.
I use Silca wax.
I guess we all have our methods and as long as they work they all work fine…this is the way I prefer to do it…
