Where to get Hot Melt Chain Wax?

Anyone have a source for this stuff anymore? Email [email protected]

 

Any grocery store sells parifin wax in 1 lb blocks. Check the paper axle near canning supplies.

Garry

"Eric Nord" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Anyone have a source for this stuff anymore? Email [email protected]

 

[email protected] (Eric Nord) wrote in news:feb54de5.0303280530.3774fb11 @posting.google.com:
> Anyone have a source for this stuff anymore? Email [email protected]

Back when I did the hot wax thing, I used paraffin wax (available in supermarkets) sometimes mixed
with motor oil. I stopped doing that 10 years ago. Modern liquid wax products like White Lightening
and Pedros Ice Wax work just as well and are a lot easier to apply.

Another question is does it work? Wax products don't last nearly as long as oil products. Plan on
re-applying every couple of hundred miles in dry conditions. After every ride in wet conditions.

 

> Another question is does it work? Wax products don't last nearly as long
as
> oil products. Plan on re-applying every couple of hundred miles in dry conditions. After every
> ride in wet conditions.

When wax was popular, we'd get customers coming in all the time complaining about shifting
problems on their bikes. Removed the wax and lubed with conventional stuff and voila, shifting
back to normal.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Ken" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] (Eric Nord) wrote in news:feb54de5.0303280530.3774fb11 @posting.google.com:
> > Anyone have a source for this stuff anymore? Email [email protected]
>
> Back when I did the hot wax thing, I used paraffin wax (available in supermarkets) sometimes mixed
> with motor oil. I stopped doing that 10
years
> ago. Modern liquid wax products like White Lightening and Pedros Ice Wax work just as well and are
> a lot easier to apply.
>
> Another question is does it work? Wax products don't last nearly as long
as
> oil products. Plan on re-applying every couple of hundred miles in dry conditions. After every
> ride in wet conditions.

 

"garry n" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Any grocery store sells parifin wax in 1 lb blocks. Check the paper axle near canning supplies.
>
> Garry
Also you can add graphite powder from the auto parts or hardware store. Be sure to get extra chains
to replace the ones ruined from trying to use wax as lube.
>
>
> "Eric Nord" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Anyone have a source for this stuff anymore? Email [email protected]

 

Garry:

I got a can of teflon impregnated paraffin from Performance about five years ago. Stopped using it
when I went to 10s, but it seemed to work really well with 7 and 8 speed drive trains. Don't know if
they still carry it.

I found that it worked really well and occasionally I would shoot the chain with a little "dry"
spray lube when it got noisy. The chain stayed very clean for at least 1000 miles.

App

"garry n" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Any grocery store sells parifin wax in 1 lb blocks. Check the paper axle near canning supplies.
>
> Garry
>
>
> "Eric Nord" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Anyone have a source for this stuff anymore? Email [email protected]

 

On 28 Mar 2003 05:30:07 -0800, [email protected] (Eric Nord) wrote:

>Anyone have a source for this stuff anymore? Email [email protected]

We are working on a low temperature soy based wax enhanced with teflon and other micro particles.

Send me an address and I'll try to send you a can.

The web site has instructions, etc. We are getting 350 to 500 miles between treatments and 4K miles
on a typical SRAM chain.

[email protected] www.soytek.com

cya Bob Denton Gulf Stream International Delray Beach, Florida www.sinkthestink.com Manufacturers of
Sink the Stink

 

> Be sure to get extra chains to replace the ones ruined from trying to use wax as lube.

While wax is a poor lube for wet conditions, it works very well (better than most of the magic lubes
with exorbitant prices) in the dry. I typically get several thousand miles from a regularly cleaned
and waxed chain ... but I do my exercise indoors when it rains.

R / John

 

On Fri, 28 Mar 2003 16:49:32 -0500, Bob Denton <[email protected]> wrote:

>We are working on a low temperature soy based wax enhanced with teflon and other micro particles.
>
>Send me an address and I'll try to send you a can.

Yeah...right...I've been waiting for my can since September 23. :-(

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

 

Eric Nord wrote:
>
> Anyone have a source for this stuff anymore? Email [email protected]

As others have said, use canning paraffin wax from the grocery.

Don't use it straight, though. If you do, it _will_ squeak very soon if ridden wet. Instead, when
it's molten, blend in about 5% motor oil or gear lube. In my experience, this mixture keeps your
chain very nearly as clean as pure wax, and has no problems dealing with wet weather. I _definitely_
do not have to re-wax after a ride in the rain.

By the way, I don't hot-dip the chain. I leave the chain on the bike, crayon the wax mix onto an 8"
section of chain, warm it with a low-flame propane torch until the wax flows into the chain's
internals, then repeat all around the chain. (Protect your tire and chain stay with a shield of
sheet metal.) Wipe the chain down with paper towels and you're good to go. It takes less than
fifteen minutes, lasts several hundred miles, and chain life is very good.

One major disadvantage of this method is that there's no high-tech magic elixer to brag about.
Prehaps you could add some kevlar and titanium ground into a fine powder to fix that. ;-)

--
Frank Krygowski [email protected]

 

"Frank Krygowski" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

> By the way, I don't hot-dip the chain. I leave the chain
on the bike,
> crayon the wax mix onto an 8" section of chain, warm it
with a low-flame
> propane torch until the wax flows into the chain's
internals, then
> repeat all around the chain. (Protect your tire and chain
stay with a
> shield of sheet metal.) Wipe the chain down with paper
towels and
> you're good to go. It takes less than fifteen minutes,
lasts several
> hundred miles, and chain life is very good.

If you're going to mix in some oil (which makes sense), you might as well mix in a light solvent too
-- dissolving the wax, so you can eliminate the torch. Or just buy a waxy chain lube like White
Lightening or Ice Wax, which is basically the same thing.

However, if you're convinced the heat melt method is the way to go, the torch makes a lot more sense
than the classic pot method.

Matt O.

 

http://www.ramsays-online.com/treadonline/

Look under "Tips"

--
_________________________
Chris Phillipo - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia http://www.ramsays-online.com

 

had to put my 2 cents' worth in.... I have used wax since I don't know when. I lost my last source a
few years back and was forced to make my own. I have a pretty good formula that I have perfected
over those years, mixing the paraffin base with a bit of Slick 50, some Zonyl fluoroadditive I got
from DuPont (PTFE), etc., etc. I document all my maintenance on all of my bikes and ALWAYS get over
10,000 miles from a chain -- usually 12k plus. I don't stretch my chain life either (no pun
intended) and replace a chain when the end of my 12" scale is off the link at the other end. So, I
know I will never use anything else. This also lets your rings & cogs last indefinitiely as well.
The chains are way clean to work with, I don't get grease all over every time I touch the chain,
etc. Plus, lets' talk about conventional wet lubes' dust/grit attraction/retention
properties.......... Can you say "lapping compound"? Check out the 'scientific' chain life tests --
all clean laboratory conditions, antiseptic, no allowance for the real world with air full of dust
and your chain flowing through that every second you're riding. Again, your oil-based lube becomes a
lapping compound within 50 miles and actually accelerates the wear of your chain.

I wax my chains every 300 to 600 miles, and also if I get caught in the rain. Not so much that the
rain washes the wax off - it doesn't - but more for the wax's poor rust protection properties. If
you put a waxed chain away wet, it'll have some rust on in the morning.

If you ride your bike in the muck & rain 100% of the time, then throw on any oil type of lube and
just prepare yourself for a short chain life and nasty working-on-the-bike experiences. But, if you
ride mostly in the dry, then hot-melt is the best. If you grab onto your chain when it is fully
used, it's like grabbing onto a grey colored candle. No problem. Plus, now with the superlink chains
it is easier yet, as no chainbreaker is req'd for removal/installation.

Anyway, I have a pretty good formula and this is a good time to throw this out ----

If anyone is interested in buying some of this, drop me an email. I have been toying with the idea
of making this in large quantities to see if I could make a buck or two. If I get adequate response,
I'll mix up a 10 gallon batch and put it into half pint tins. Let me know what you think a fair
price would be, and I'll see if it's feasible to do.

You can make your own as well - it's not so hard if you combine the right ingredients, and maintain
your chain. In any case, for a road bike ridden primarily in the dry, hot melt chain wax is far
superior to anything else out there.

Thanks, Bob

 

On Fri, 28 Mar 2003 18:46:56 GMT, "Dan H." <[email protected]> wrote:

< <"garry n" <[email protected]> wrote in message <news:[email protected]...
<> Any grocery store sells parifin wax in 1 lb blocks. Check the paper axle <> near canning
supplies. <> <> Garry <Also you can add graphite powder from the auto parts or hardware store. <Be
sure to get extra chains to replace the ones ruined from trying to use <wax as lube.

Not my experience. It's a little more work, but I'm getting better chain life, better/less sound,
less dirt and grime, a lot easier to work on the bike, never a second thought to mucking around with
the drivetrain, since I moved to parrafin.

bcnu-c.porter.

<> <> <> "Eric Nord" <[email protected]> wrote in message <>
news:[email protected]... <> > Anyone have a source for this stuff
anymore? Email [email protected] <> <> <

 

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...

>We are working on a low temperature soy based wax enhanced with teflon and other micro particles.
>Send me an address and I'll try to send you a can. The web site has instructions, etc. We are
>getting 350 to 500 miles between treatments and 4K miles on a typical SRAM chain.

How is it in the rain? Rain is the main reason I don't wax my chain anymore.
-----------------
Alex __O _-\<,_ (_)/ (_)

 

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...

>Also you can add graphite powder from the auto parts or hardware store. Be sure to get extra chains
>to replace the ones ruined from trying to use wax as lube.

Huh??? I have personal experience with a chain that I waxed that went 15k miles. The only reason I
replaced it was that I messed up a couple of links trying to remove the chain, wear was pretty much
nil. It's a pain to do and you have to do it often, but wax does work.
-----------------
Alex __O _-\<,_ (_)/ (_)

 

"Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<jc%[email protected]>...
> > Another question is does it work? Wax products don't last nearly as long
> as
> > oil products. Plan on re-applying every couple of hundred miles in dry conditions. After every
> > ride in wet conditions.
>
> When wax was popular, we'd get customers coming in all the time complaining about shifting
> problems on their bikes. Removed the wax and lubed with conventional stuff and voila, shifting
> back to normal.
>

The commercial wax products like White Lightning gunk up the drive train. Plain old paraffin is
brittle and it flakes off and isn't gunky at all.

I wax my chain, it's easy to remove and dip in the wax. It doesn't build up dirt and it's quiet. The
only downside is it doesen't endure a soaking. In a pinch I can always oil the chain and the
subsequent waxing will clean off the chain.

-Amit

 

"Amit" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<jc%[email protected]>...
> > > Another question is does it work? Wax products don't last nearly as
long
> > as
> > > oil products. Plan on re-applying every couple of hundred miles in
dry
> > > conditions. After every ride in wet conditions.
> >
> > When wax was popular, we'd get customers coming in all the time
complaining
> > about shifting problems on their bikes. Removed the wax and lubed with conventional stuff and
> > voila, shifting back to normal.
> >
>
> The commercial wax products like White Lightning gunk up the drive train. Plain old paraffin is
> brittle and it flakes off and isn't gunky at all.
>
> I wax my chain, it's easy to remove and dip in the wax. It doesn't build up dirt and it's quiet.
> The only downside is it doesen't endure a soaking. In a pinch I can always oil the chain and the
> subsequent waxing will clean off the chain.
>
> -Amit

I used to be a "waxer" but I just don't have the time anymore and removing the "newer" chains is
such a pain in the ass...those stupid ass little pins are just too much. So I switched to White
Lightning. My chains last as long as with waxing and it's easier to keep up with after a "soaking".
It does gunk up the drive train a little but more if you don't clean the chain properly after
applying. As long as you stay on top of it a bit, it works wonders. I won't go back to waxing.

Danny Calllen

 

On Thu, 10 Apr 2003 21:35:22 -0400, Danny Callen wrote:

> I used to be a "waxer" but I just don't have the time anymore and removing the "newer" chains is
> such a pain in the ass...those stupid ass little pins are just too much.

Try an SRAM chain with a powerlink "master link". Chain removal has never been easier.

 

"Steve Palincsar" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> On Thu, 10 Apr 2003 21:35:22 -0400, Danny Callen wrote:
>
>
> > I used to be a "waxer" but I just don't have the time
anymore and
> > removing the "newer" chains is such a pain in the
ass...those stupid ass
> > little pins are just too much.
>
> Try an SRAM chain with a powerlink "master link". Chain
removal has
> never been easier.

Sure, as long as you have pliers handy...

This beats a chain tool any day, but I've never been able to do it by hand, as advertised. Not that
it's a big deal...

Matt O.