Author Topic: Environmentally friendly water displacer. (Read 3544 times)

quixoticgeek · « **on:** 11 June, 2018, 07:43:40 pm »

After the ordeal of Sunday's ride, my lovely clean well maintained drive train looks like it's been dunked in crude oil, and sprinkled with sand... I'm thinking that the think to do is take the cassette and chain off and give it a proper deep clean. Having done this, as I can't lose the use of the bike for more than a few hours, I'd like to use some sort of water displacer to get the water out the chain links before I relube. Can anyone recommend a slightly more environmentally friendly alternative to WD40? The only space I can do this is about 3m from a canal, so I'd quite like to not fill the water with anymore crap than is already in there...

J

The Family Cyclist · « **Reply #1 on:** 11 June, 2018, 07:56:37 pm »

Crud do a degreaser which I think is meant to be friendly to nature but iirc you rinse it off with water so probably not what your after

mrcharly-YHT · « **Reply #2 on:** 11 June, 2018, 07:59:30 pm »

hot air?

quixoticgeek · « **Reply #3 on:** 11 June, 2018, 08:00:31 pm »

Quote from: mrcharly-YHT on 11 June, 2018, 07:59:30 pm

hot air?

No power outside... I'm not gonna just talk at my chain :p

J

hubner · « **Reply #4 on:** 11 June, 2018, 08:10:31 pm »

Quote

I'd like to use some sort of water displacer to get the water out the chain links before I relube.

I would just relube and ride straight away, the water will soon dry out and you can wipe the chain to help it along.

Greenbank · « **Reply #5 on:** 11 June, 2018, 08:16:30 pm »

Quote from: quixoticgeek on 11 June, 2018, 08:00:31 pm

Quote from: mrcharly-YHT on 11 June, 2018, 07:59:30 pm
hot air?

No power outside... I'm not gonna just talk at my chain :p

Take the chain off, bring it inside, use a hairdryer?

hubner · « **Reply #6 on:** 11 June, 2018, 08:22:22 pm »

For people with a radiator, fridge or hair dryer, you could use any of those.

In warm or hot weather, use the outside back of a fridge, it's surprisingly hot.

fuaran · « **Reply #7 on:** 11 June, 2018, 08:39:06 pm »

Some sort of compressed air? Blast the chain, should get rid of most of the water. Maybe some sort of cylinder you can pump up?

Or take the chain off, and swing it around your head.

Brucey · « **Reply #8 on:** 11 June, 2018, 09:21:11 pm »

what chain lube do you use? Would that not displace any remaining water?

Or could you could perhaps catch the overspray/wipings from the WD40 (or similar) in some paper towels and burn them?

cheers

fd3 · « **Reply #9 on:** 11 June, 2018, 09:26:49 pm »

I've looked for alternatives to WD40, but I don't think there really is one. On the other hand I have got through one can of the stuff in 6-10 years, so I think that the damage it causes is an acceptable tradeoff vs the environmental cost of manufacture of more chains (in this case) or the use of a motor vehicle in general.

Paul H · « **Reply #10 on:** 12 June, 2018, 11:20:42 am »

Green Oil do one, though it's not much use if you need it now.
When I get a really cruddy chain, I'll jet wash it at a garage (Pressure rinse - plain water), followed by a go on the air compressor and an immediate re lube. There's often some criticism about using a jet wash anywhere near a bike, but it's obvious where not to point it. I've always done that and never had a problem, just do the chain first with the nozzle pointing down, then clean the frame off along the bike rather than across it. Wipe down with the paper towels they have, job done and a quid or two well spent.

mzjo · « **Reply #11 on:** 12 June, 2018, 12:01:16 pm »

A few years ago there were on sale plastic things with roller brushes inside that clipped around your chain and took the crud off (probably with the aid of very unenvironmentally kind chemicals). I gave one to someone once but I don't know if they were better than just rinsing and wiping with an oily rag. I think they were aimed at conscientious mtb pilots!

The French Tandem · « **Reply #12 on:** 12 June, 2018, 05:49:12 pm »

Citrus solvent? Probably not as effective as wd40, but it ticks the environmentally friendly box.

L CC · « **Reply #13 on:** 12 June, 2018, 05:57:30 pm »

Orange terpenes isn't environmentally friendly. It's 'very toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects'.

https://darrantchemicals.co.uk/image/catalog/d-limonene%20msds.pdf

Kim · « **Reply #14 on:** 12 June, 2018, 08:07:37 pm »

Quote from: quixoticgeek on 11 June, 2018, 08:00:31 pm

Quote from: mrcharly-YHT on 11 June, 2018, 07:59:30 pm
hot air?

No power outside... I'm not gonna just talk at my chain :p

Hang on, I thought the chain was coming off for cleaning?

quixoticgeek · « **Reply #15 on:** 12 June, 2018, 08:10:53 pm »

Quote from: Kim on 12 June, 2018, 08:07:37 pm

Hang on, I thought the chain was coming off for cleaning?

Yeah, I was going to do the whole clean outside in the sun, But it's actually gone cold, so have brought the rear wheel and chain up stairs. I wonder if my housemate will be ok if I use her hair drier to dry my chain...

It's currently in an icecream tub soaking in degreaser...

J

Bolt · « **Reply #16 on:** 12 June, 2018, 10:26:09 pm »

I've recently bought a park tools chain scrubber machine that I'm very impressed with after trying similar contraptions in the past that have all been a bit rubbish, I find it really easy to use but use it in a slightly different way than intended. I apply a detergent based greaser directly onto the chain with a hand spray bottle, leave it a few minutes then use the chain scrubber filled with water to scrub and rinse. I then dry the chain with a j cloth. This results in economical use and disposal of detergent and a clean chain

rr · « **Reply #17 on:** 12 June, 2018, 11:36:28 pm »

Run it through a chain cleaner filled with meths.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

quixoticgeek · « **Reply #18 on:** 13 June, 2018, 01:19:41 am »

Well that was a learning experience. Chain and cassette took far too much scrubbing, degreaser, and water. Air dried the chain and then relubed. Nice and clean drive train now.

Cheers everyone for your suggestions and advice.

J

zigzag · « **Reply #19 on:** 13 June, 2018, 09:22:41 am »

for the future, if the chain is wiped down after each longer ride and not overlubed (only a small drop across each roller) it will always look clean and not attract dirt. i get often asked "oh, a new drivetrain?!" "-yes, only a few thousand km's on it".
the most effort required is to scrub off the factory lube, after that it's very quick and easy to keep things shiny.

fruitcake · « **Reply #20 on:** 13 June, 2018, 10:57:40 am »

I learnt Sheldon Brown's coke bottle method for cleaning chains and have used it ever since. It requires no scrubbing. Here's the method:

1. Part fill a coke bottle with degreaser, plop the chain in, screw on the bottle top.
2. Shake the bottle.
3. Fish out the chain with an old spoke, put it on some newspaper. Wait an hour or two for the degreaser to evaporate from the chain.
4. Refit the chain, lube it.

I use white spirit as degreaser. It can be reused like this:

5. Pour the dirty degreaser into a jar with a lid. Leave it for a month. The sediment will sink to the bottom of the jar.
6. The degreaser can be poured off and reused.

Brucey · « **Reply #21 on:** 13 June, 2018, 11:16:03 am »

Quote from: zigzag on 13 June, 2018, 09:22:41 am

for the future, if the chain is wiped down after each longer ride and not overlubed (only a small drop across each roller) it will always look clean and not attract dirt. i get often asked "oh, a new drivetrain?!" "-yes, only a few thousand km's on it".
the most effort required is to scrub off the factory lube, after that it's very quick and easy to keep things shiny.

another method that seems to work quite well on road bikes is to deliberately over-lube the chain, ride a few miles, and then wipe it down; this ensures that lube penetrates the chain to where where it is needed, and removes the worst of any dirt that might be on the chain, before the lube excess has a chance to pick up more.

But on MTBs or other bikes where the chain is regularly 'overwhelmed' by dirt then you have to deep clean; there is no other choice really. Hot jetwash (I have it plumbed into the hot tap at home) works on my MTBs, and takes very little time indeed.

I jetwash once, spray with GT85, turn the transmission over a few times, and then jetwash again. The second time (or rarely the third) there is no black crud coming out of the chain bushings any more.

cheers

zigzag · « **Reply #22 on:** 13 June, 2018, 12:37:14 pm »

Quote from: Brucey on 13 June, 2018, 11:16:03 am

another method that seems to work quite well on road bikes is to deliberately over-lube the chain, ride a few miles, and then wipe it down; this ensures that lube penetrates the chain to where where it is needed, and removes the worst of any dirt that might be on the chain, before the lube excess has a chance to pick up more.
...

but then the overlubed chain will contaminate cassette, chainrings and jockey wheel which will take much longer to clean. the only place where the lube is required is inside the rollers and between the inner/outer plates, all other parts should stay dry and clean.
admittedly, my ss runabout bike's drivetrain hardly gets any attention apart from occasional wipe/lube, still runs ok, only not pretty to look at (especially in winter).

Oxford_Guy · « **Reply #23 on:** 13 June, 2018, 03:26:29 pm »

I find the Park Tool chain cleaning device to be very effective and robust (unlike some) and they claim their Chain Brite degreaser is environment-friendly. I also use Chain Brite to clean up the cogs. The chain then gets a final cycle through the chain cleaning tool with just water. I then either leave the bike facing chain side towards the sun for a bit (after getting the majority of the water off with a lint-free cloth) or if no sun, somewhere warm and dry in the house, then re-lube.

Brucey · « **Reply #24 on:** 13 June, 2018, 05:08:31 pm »

Quote from: zigzag on 13 June, 2018, 12:37:14 pm

Quote from: Brucey on 13 June, 2018, 11:16:03 am
another method that seems to work quite well on road bikes is to deliberately over-lube the chain, ride a few miles, and then wipe it down; this ensures that lube penetrates the chain to where where it is needed, and removes the worst of any dirt that might be on the chain, before the lube excess has a chance to pick up more.
...

but then the overlubed chain will contaminate cassette, chainrings and jockey wheel which will take much longer to clean. the only place where the lube is required is inside the rollers and between the inner/outer plates, all other parts should stay dry and clean.
admittedly, my ss runabout bike's drivetrain hardly gets any attention apart from occasional wipe/lube, still runs ok, only not pretty to look at (especially in winter).

the idea of the short ride is that only one or two sprockets get oily and these (together with the derailleur pulleys and the chainring that was used, ideally the largest one) can easily be wiped down at the same time as the chain.

BTW most lubricants have a fairly good cleaning action (esp for old chain lube of the same type) when freshly applied.

Note that it is a bad idea to ride a bike with freshly applied chain lube if it is solvent-based. Before the solvent has flashed off, it will be very little use as a lubricant.

cheers