Absolutely. I looked at doing a DYI wax years ago, but after you buy all the stuff, it made sense to leave the wax blending to experts like Silca, molten etc. Cost per chain with a bag of Silca is like 40 to 90 cents, depending on a lot of factors.
My pot only gets to 80°celcius. Is this sufficient to activate the properties in the initial new chain wax blend (biscuit)? I've read you need 123° C but that seems extreme for an at home appliance.
What about degreasing and final cleaning with isopropyl alcohol ? Adam Kerin from Zero Friction Cycling has mentioned this when the chain is very dirty .
I have seen people have luck with boiling hot water rinses. I feel like I’m just driving grit from the outside to the inside of the chain when I’ve tried this. Maybe I just need a different technique. I do an alcohol cleaning as regular maintenance with the chain on the bike. But not a bath. If I’m cleaning it that much, it’s just going be a full strip down. Remember, pot 1 is sacrificial wax.
@@vitalbikechains You rinse the chain in degreaser two or three times initially until the degreaser is clear first . The isopropyl is the final rinse .
Correct. But that’s for new chains. And sram chains can be more like 4 degreasing baths. If you only do a few chains a year, the stripper products by Silca and CeramicSpeed make that one step. If you do hundreds of chains a year, those strippers don’t make financial sense.
The wax must be laboratory grade .You can add teflon powder or tungsten disulfide powder to "seal" the surface around the chain rollers .
Absolutely. I looked at doing a DYI wax years ago, but after you buy all the stuff, it made sense to leave the wax blending to experts like Silca, molten etc. Cost per chain with a bag of Silca is like 40 to 90 cents, depending on a lot of factors.
@@vitalbikechains It is actually about $5 per chain in Australia .
My pot only gets to 80°celcius.
Is this sufficient to activate the properties in the initial new chain wax blend (biscuit)?
I've read you need 123° C but that seems extreme for an at home appliance.
If you’re talking about Silca’s strip chip, I’ve heard it is critical to achieve 125C. Waxkiss makes an inexpensive pot that will hit this temp.
Fantastic insights!
What about degreasing and final cleaning with isopropyl alcohol ? Adam Kerin from Zero Friction Cycling has mentioned this when the chain is very dirty .
I have seen people have luck with boiling hot water rinses. I feel like I’m just driving grit from the outside to the inside of the chain when I’ve tried this. Maybe I just need a different technique. I do an alcohol cleaning as regular maintenance with the chain on the bike. But not a bath. If I’m cleaning it that much, it’s just going be a full strip down. Remember, pot 1 is sacrificial wax.
@@vitalbikechains You rinse the chain in degreaser two or three times initially until the degreaser is clear first . The isopropyl is the final rinse .
Correct. But that’s for new chains. And sram chains can be more like 4 degreasing baths. If you only do a few chains a year, the stripper products by Silca and CeramicSpeed make that one step. If you do hundreds of chains a year, those strippers don’t make financial sense.