Chain degreaser - Turps or Metho?

[indica]

The question is then... do you get significantly longer life from your chains by doing this... and how can you be sure?
How long does it take to clean the chain and where do you pour the petrol?
How much petrol do you use per clean.... and with 3 chains and cleaning every 3 to 4 rides does that mean you swap chains then?

 

[oldcorollas]

I reuse the low-odour turps, and the crap settles out in the jar before next clean, so never need to pour it anywhere.
dunno if it lasts longer but feels nasty when the chain is gritty.. which is usually after every ride.. (sandy/dusty tracks)

 

[miko]

As mentioned, don't put anything nasty like petrol or turps in a chain cleaner, it will wreck them. I speak from experience, it tends to eat at the adhesive they use to glue them together so they literally fall apart in your hands.

Citrus stuff is good. The key is using a good lube in the first place. Usually I'll scrub a chain with a mild degreaser and then clean it with good old water until it's pretty clear. Then apply a decent lube. If you do it reasonably frequently then it's quick, easy and works well.

If you've left your chain to get really grubby then you might want to soak it in a stronger solvent in a glass jar or some other container that won't react.

 

[Newton]

The question is then... do you get significantly longer life from your chains by doing this... and how can you be sure?
How long does it take to clean the chain and where do you pour the petrol?
How much petrol do you use per clean.... and with 3 chains and cleaning every 3 to 4 rides does that mean you swap chains then?

Three chains all wearing at the same rate (well sort of) means the drive train sees no difference when cycling through the chains. Rather than run your drive train through one chain going from new to needing change, it's got to to be better to have that wear rate averaged out over three chains. I've been swapping chains for years, never had a problem. I measure them regularly and throw them out when they get just past 1/16" over 12 inches.(or about 0.6% wear) ...

Takes about 2-3 minutes to get the chain clean, small container about 50mls of petrol per chain clean, change the petrol out 2-3 times to get the chain really clean. I don't pour the petrol anywhere, I collect it in old oil containers and take it to the tip, drop it off in their oil collection area. During the summer you can pour the petrol in a shallow dish, it will evaporate and you can wipe up the residue and bin it.

http://www.kronowit.com/bicycling/chainstretch.html


and this is a great read ...

http://yarchive.net/bike/chain_wear.html

especially the section headed ..."Primitive rule #1: Never oil a chain on the bike." - of course this would not apply to a race or ride where you need to lube the chain during an event, the comment is aimed at general bike chain maintenance.

 

[shakes]

The question is then... do you get significantly longer life from your chains by doing this... and how can you be sure?
How long does it take to clean the chain and where do you pour the petrol?
How much petrol do you use per clean.... and with 3 chains and cleaning every 3 to 4 rides does that mean you swap chains then?

Thats what I was trying to ask haha.

Back in the days of 8 speed I cycled a couple of chains and found regardless at the end of winter I needed to replace the cassette.

Have since decided I'm too lazy and a good run through in a rag with fresh lube I got virtually the same drivetrain life. Have to replace the chainrings a little more often (yearly instead of 18months)

So for me, the extra effort vs the extra cost really isnt worth it. I havent done a similar experiment with 9speed... Cant see it being too much different. 10speed being expensive and very sensitive to wear I would be certain the effort would be justified

 

[3viltoast3r]

Turns turps leave an oily residue?

I just use petrol, Cheap, works perfectly - Put your chain in an old coffee/glass jar, and give it a gentle shake and let it sit for a minute. Chain comes out like new, Then it just needs a lube!

 

[indica]

But is there any point? Is anyone sure you are extending the life of anything?
I had not replaced anything on my Force's drivetrain for nearly two years and it was ridden several times a week.
The only reason the chain was changed is I upgraded to 2 x 10.
I never clean the chain, the most the bike gets is a hose and a re-lube.

 

[scblack]

Well I've ended up using turps, ran the chain twice through the cleaner, cleared out HEAPS of gunk. And cleared off a lot from the outside, which a rag could not get.

Loaded it up twice with lube. Looking good.

Incidentally, I have been using White Lightning lube up til now. On both roadie and DH. Now giving Rock'n'Roll Absolute Dry a go. Perfect for the roadie, may not be perfect for the DH bike.

Anyone used the Rock'n'Roll Absolute Dry on a DH bike? Is it going to pick up dirt or dust much? I do not ride in mud much at all, if ever.

 

[MARKL]

IMO frequency of chain cleaning is largely dependent on the type of chain lube being used, wet or dry. I use a dry lube, White Lightning-Clean Ride, and like Indica find no reason to clean my chain on even a semi regular basis. The last time I remember cleaning my chain was after a mate was "helpful" and lubed my chain with his wet lube (sounds suss) and the chain was filthy after a single ride.

 

[JimSim]

I can't go past petrol as a chain cleaner, at around $1.40 a Ltr it's cheap and cleans chains like no other fluid ...

My thoughts exactly, Petroleum doesnt dissipate as metho does, however i see how few would think it ruins cleaning devices...

 

[Red Rocket]

Someone said Diesel ... why would you use oil to clean grease from a chain?

Yeah it was me dude. The reason it's preferable to use diesel as a degreaser is that it is nowhere near as volatile as petrol, and as a result much safer. Not sure what you mean by the "why would you use oil" thing - petrol and diesel are both hydrocarbons siphoned from the same gravy - crude oil. Without punching out a treatise on oils vs. fuels: yes, diesel doesn't evaporate as quickly or absolutely as petrol, but the risks of using petrol are much, much higher - the point is that they're both solvents. If you're worried about diesel residue, a quick bath in dishwashing detergent solution will get the chain bone dry. As a budget degreaser I think it's unbeatable in a pinch, but I've always used automotive, water-soluble degreaser because it's pretty much almost as cheap, and requires less dicking around.

 

[indica]

Yeah it was me dude..

Strange that an oil can be used as as a degreaser. I need to use degreaser to clean diesel off the pumps at work, and it doesn't evaporate, I need to go and clean up any spills that happen with that whereas a little petrol evaporates.

 

[Red Rocket]

Strange that an oil can be used as as a degreaser. I need to use degreaser to clean diesel off the pumps at work, and it doesn't evaporate, I need to go and clean up any spills that happen with that whereas a little petrol evaporates.

Yeah I'm not surprised, from a health and safety perspective it's probably not the best thing to have covering stuff - it takes pretty heavy rain to wash a diesel spill off the road, but petrol evaporates almost instantly. As you say, petrol does degrease with a little less effort, but it's just terrible stuff safety wise, and there's been more than a few fatal accidents involving nylon rags, static charge and petrol.

 

[raven]

best chain degreser

I have always cleaned my chain by taking it off the bike, placing in a plastic jar half filled with kerosene, shaking it up and then wiping it off and putting in back on the bike.
I bought a bottle of citrus engine degreaser from the local auto shop and run that through my new park tool chain scrubber.
The chain was filthy and I had to use 2 lots of degreaser and rinse the chain and bike with water in between, but the chain came up spotless....absolutely clean....wiped it with a clean cloth and it just had a little moisture...no black marks.
Solvents and hydrocarbons are bad for your health, and the citrus degreaser is totally biodegradable. You still need to be careful because it is concentrated, so I wear nitrile gloves and glasses. It smells alot nicer than kerosene too!

 

[teK--]

Yep, agree! $1.99 a can from Super Cheap Auto. Only petrol does a better job (hazardous though!). Spray it on the cassette, chain, chainrings, anything that has picked up grease/oil grime. Wait two minutes, wash it off. Hard to beat for convenience.

When they have specials at Supercheap it is $1 a can when you guy half a dozen; does an awesome job.

 

[Jake.]

I use a Park Tools chain cleaner with De-Solv-It (a citrus based solvent). About $50 for 4 litres from Bunnings but that lasts a loooong time. And the chain comes up looking like new, seriously clean, in about a minute. Then I blast it with the water blaster and lube with Rock and Roll. Such an easy process, leaves no mess, nothing to clean up, and results in a perfectly clean chain.

I use the De-Solv-It on the entire bike actually. The only thing that doesn't like it is the carbon bottle cages but who cares.

 

[Pebble]

Today I had an old chain I wanted to clean up and see if it's still useable, I thought about degreaser but since it was so gunked up I chose to soak it in something. Best thing I thought at hand was 2 stroke fuel because it probably would have used up too much of the greaser spray can to get enough to soak it in a smallish but deep kind of dish (coiled up). Otherwise I probably would have tried turps. Metho I figure would dry the chain out too much? I guess not such an issue if you relube it straight away and make sure that lube penetrates thoroughly.

I agree that Petrol isn't a good idea (unless you're not using a "device"). I still remember as a kid when a mechanic friend tried to store Petrol in a plain plastic container (milk or juice container) not rated for that kind of use. It melts the plastic eventually.

 

[Urban DH]

Kerosene!!!!!! By a mile kerosene!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[fatboyonabike]

just think of degreasing as thinning.
grease is a very thick hydrocarbon product,so anything thinner than this will dilute it.
diesel is wonderful stuff as its not volitile like petrol, only flammable. and wont degrease too far that it leaves it with no lubrication as its basically a very light oil.
but in saying that, it is still a hydrocarbon. so it will still break down the mellanin in your skin and leave you prone to skin cancer.
the citrus degreasers are the way to go,there is a sprayon one in a can thats made by "yuck off" that i use on my motorbike,its real good.
you spend 2k/3k/4k on your bike and accessories, but you spend a buck fiddy on maintenance of your expensive chain, it dont make sense kiddies!

 

[con_atlas]

petrol - carconagenic?

Just remember guys, petrol (benzene) is a cancer causing agent. Not sure how safe it is on your hands or breathing the fumes.