It is the first time I wax the chain. I clean the chain with Chain Stripper (fantastic) and used the bain-marie method using the bag (I left the chain too long in the wax to cool down and had a lot of residue sticking to the outside and the chain was like a rock, but now I have learnt my lesson). After the first ride (which softened the chain) I cleaned it with a microfiber cloth and applied super secret with the advice given in other videos, a drop at each joint, run the chain, pass the finger etc. and left it 24 hours. Yesterday I did another ride and I must say that I am very pleased. Very clean drivetrain, now I can touch the transmission without having any dirt in my fingers, at most a little bit of wax and dust (seems like some kind of miracle to me) which is the main reason I wanted to try the wax because I hate all the sludge and the process of degrease and re-lubricating, the drivetrain is also very quiet and the shifts are smooth. I wanted to write this comment to thank Josh for his fantastic work which makes a Sunday racer like me that much happier. I think I will be using only wax for my transmission from now on. Thank you from Italy! PS Just one question, if I understand correctly the wax does not protect against rust. Now some years I stay abroad during the winter for three to four months and the bike stays at home without anyone to look after it. Is there a risk of the chain rusting? If so, what do you recommend doing, would a hot wax bath before leaving it be a good method or is it better to put an oily lubricant?
2 weeks ago I met an old friend beeing an enthusiastic cyclist since about 40 years. He told me that he is "cooking" and waxing his chain! I have never heard that before. So I reseached a bit and "stumbled" over this video and the "SECRET CHAIN BLEND" There are other solutions around but I found the presentation from Josh rather authentic and sympathetic. I applied it on my rather new (250km) chain after intense cleaning. 3x Isopropanol cycles, cooking in detergant and 2x ultrasonic cleaning. It was asthonisching how much muck came of my rather new chain. I was even dispensing it on my Cassette using a silicone brush and a hair dryer to distribute it. First drive impression and gear switching behaviour was significant better than before. After 300km and lot's of mud and dirt - I am a MTB driver - the chain and cassette looks and feels still like new. Thumps up!!!
I put the wax in a beaker and "float" it in my ultrasonic cleaner. I then drop in 3 chains and let the cleaner do the agitation. I generally do about 12 chains in an afternoon and keep them available and swap them out every 2 to 300 miles depending on riding conditions.
Great video as always. Point to note in the crock pot vs instant pot here in Australia is that the price is nearly 10 times higher!! 20 bucks vs 200 bucks. I have a crock pot and just turn it on and come back to it an hour later, swish the chain and hang it up. Job done :-) Also., the 3L size is possibly a bit bigger than needed - you need to use more product to get the depth needed for swishing, which means that the full amount gets contaminated over time. If you use a 1.5L then you can use half the amount in the crock pot which means that you get twice as long out of the same amount you would use in the 3L. Hope this makes sense
Good suggestion! I "borrowed" 😉my wife's mini crock pot and that was a perfect size to use much less of the Silca Wax while still fully submerging the chain.
As a scientist I can appreciate the details in videos to drive home the point! My fave was crystal structure tungsten disulfide!! I'm now a Silca Velo convert. Wished I saw this video when it first came out t2 years ago, would have saved me from those dreaded chain tats 🙂
Lots of respect and compliments for the in-depth video, but now it's opinion time. 1. Instant pots are typically around 80+USD, although you can hunt for one at the price you mentioned. For some, this is fine, and I'm sure they'll feel secure in their decision after noting your endorsement, however it's no surprise some might find it unnecessary. I found a brand new bare-bones slow cooker for $10 including a ceramic bowl which is important to prevent flaking of common non-stick surfaces found in other cookers (not mentioned in this video, and a seemingly common mistake to make). While the low setting took ages to melt my wax, it also proved that the "thermostatic" controller it must use maintains a more or less ideal temperature--just over the wax's melting point. That all being said, I'm glad you have the stove-top alternative method. 2. I'm curious as to why so much emphasis (and time and effort) was put into comparing the time taken to completely melt the wax. Whether it be under an hour or a few hours, I hope most wouldn't mind waiting for a completely hands-off process for something done on roughly a monthly basis. However, I'm (respectfully) less surprised when I see a reputable face of Silca endorsing such options when the company makes a $495 floor pump with a "Swiss gauge accurate to 1%". I could get into why this level of accuracy is laughably useless in an analogue gauge style pump but I digress. The one glaring caveat to this being that I'm one to put money more into function than sparkly bits.
I use the Silca chain wax in the bag in a ultrasonic cleaner. Clean the chain in the ultrasonic cleaner first and then set the bath to 80 degrees Celsius to melt the wax. However the bag and wax are too buoyant and the bag of wax floats in the water. I used to put a stainless steel pliers into the bag to weigh it down when melted. This leaned over one day and water poured into the bag. A big mess! Now, on the first melt I put 2 small stainless steel 500g weights into the wax. These are inert and don't react with the wax. They sit in the bottom of the bag and keep it weighted down and not floating. You can get these cheaply online. They are used for calibrating fine weighing scales. After the chain wax the wax hardens and the stainless steel weights just stay in the wax. No more floating!
Hi, great video. If I use the stove-top bag method, can I let the wax cool in the bag after I have waxed the chain and then re-use / re-heat the bag for future waxings? Thanks
Thanks for the vid. A few comments: - I think it is important to remember critical chain wear occurs between bushings and pins. You cannot see the surfaces that wear, so it is difficult to know whether your cleaning method has been effective. A great research video would be to sacrifice a few chains to inspect the bushings and pins before and after cleaning....and after waxing..... This would be more revealing and scientific in discovering the true effectiveness of a particular cleaning and waxing protocol. - Because bushings and pins are where all the wear occurs, it is important that these areas be cleansed very well between use. Grime that collects in these inner surfaces is likely going to adhere to the wax coating, so it is important that old wax be removed to some degree. It doesn't have to be removed totally, just the dirtier out layers. Degreasers and ethanol are not going to remove wax. What will remove old wax better is this: 1. drop hosed chain in boiling soapy water to soften the wax 2. remove and apply a hair dryer closely to the chain to super heat the links for several minutes 3. back into boiling soapy water and agitate. 4. remove and heat again with hair dryer 5. into degreaser (I use kerosene) and agitate 6. into ethanol (I use methylated spirits in Australia. This is ethanol with an insignificant amount of chemical to spoil the taste of the ethanol, in order to stop some people drinking it as recreational alcohol). 7. before adding to wax bath, super heat the chain with hair dryer again to ensure it is dry and hot. It is the heat that helps the wax penetrate deep into the bushings and pins, where it is needed. BTW, the quickest method to heat wax is on a stove top (gas or electric), though you have to be careful not to heat too quickly. The wax should be brought up to 85-93 degrees Celsius. The melting point of most paraffin waxes is under 70C. Lowest flash point is 200C (temp at which a combustible vapour is created above the wax....and adding a spark or flame will cause combustion). Lowest boiling point is 370C. So there is a large margin to carefully heat wax on a stove top without risking it ignite or boil. Finally, I have heated wax up to 110C in a slow cooker (crock pot). Incidentally, I use a digital infrared thermometer as you do. Theoretically, the hotter the wax, the greater its penetration quality should be. And this raises the question of whether waxing might be more effective if done twice, once at 105-110C, then allow the wax to solidify, then dip again when wax is at 85-90C and don't remove until temp is solidifying ~63-70C. This should give thicker coverage, though whether of the bushings and pins remains to be investigated.
@@jackdavis8786 yeah I reduced the steps. 1. take chain off, and agitate in boiling water and detergent to soften wax and begin removal of grime. 2. remove chain from detergent and super heat with hair dryer to further soften wax between plates, then back into detergent, agitate, then rinse and dry. 3. then into wax bath at temp of 80-90C, turn off bath...agitate chain for 60 seconds remove and hang up to dry. Do several chains at a time. rotate through chains when chain noise noticeable. I have one 11 speed chain with at least 8000km on it, and it is still well below 0.5% stretched.
Great video, thanks. Two things puzzle me - One: why the obsession with a fast warm up? I use a small cheap wax pot made for body hair removal, it takes two chains and it takes 30min to warm up but I just turn it on before I need it so no delays. I can eat lunch, wash the bike or play with the kids. Two: I pull the chain out at full temperature because the wax I gain by pre-cooling would just be wasted/brushed off when preparing it for the bike. The capillary action will keep the melted wax in the chain internals anyway, where I want it, so I pull the chain out at full temp and then turn the pot off. It is usually 200miles or 300km before I start to get any signs to re-wax.
Bingo ... pull chain at full temp. Looking for someone else to say no but my chains come out stiff and heavy and every link packed with wax. Lots of cleaning just to be able to install it on the bike. I'll try your idea next.
@@donmulvey9280Chain will still start stiff and need the initial 'breaking' but an external brushing seems to be adequate preparation. Can skip for the first few minutes so save the heavy pedaling till after that. Then it's excellent for 200 miles, much cleaner than wet lubricants.
I’m baked and my first time wax is almost melted, super clean chain ready to go. I’ve got a beer and a delivery pizza is on the way. This video is making me happy, especially the rambling.
I have always let the chain heat up on top of the cold wax. I figure that this evenly heats the chain better instead of putting the cold chain straight into hot wax. There is probably no scientific basis for this but kinda makes sense to me :)
Great details and insights. I have now incorporated this as a service to the tune-up I do and using the Secret hot melt wax. Plus added a few videos with more gold nuggets of tech tips. lol
You can probably get 30-40 waxings per 500gm of wax. It can be disposed of to landfill as the wax is medical grade and the WS2 additive is certified safe for ground water contact by Bureau of Land Management, and is even used in paints for ships to prevent barnacle attachment.
I have been very impressed and pleased with both the Hot Melt and drip lube. But now I cannot appreciate how and where the 16 oz. jar with 12 oz. lube fits in? Any suggestions please?
So I just realized that your probably using a smaller 3 quart instapot. I just bought a 2nd pot liner for my 8 quart instapot. Dumped the wax in it and I got a shock. Don't think when the wax melts that it will be deep enough to soak chains. Dang! Can't believe I missed this.
I melted some teflon into some prarfin and put it the oven for 30 minutes then boil it in linseed oil or lamp black graphite. If I use the oven it takes about half hour with kerosene gel. Sometimes a torch helps but the oven is more consistent.
Cheaper option ( mine) Put the wax in a glass jar, and put the glass jar in boiling water (agitate the wax for it to melt, 20 minutes in my case ). Then, dip the chain, etc, etc... I think it's safe like that, and cheap. Be careful, though, it's hot wax.
Is it really necessary to let the wax cool before removing the chain? It seems like a superfluous step that would be a barrier to getting people to switch to hot wax. I started using Molten Speed Wax at the beginning of the pandemic because using drip lube my chains were done in around 1500 to 2000 miles and getting parts was difficult. I figured I’d hot wax until the supply chain improved and then go back to drip. Well I haven’t gone back because hot racing turns out to be easier/faster than drip lube, but babysitting a pot of wax waiting for it to start hardening would have been a deal-breaker. I find that when you pull that chain out of the wax it cools really fast. I doubt there’s much egress of Molten Wax from the pins and bushings in that time and I heat my wax up much hotter (around 190° F which I believe is MSW’s recommendation for their product). I have two chains with 4800-5000 miles on each of them, and rewaxing approximately every 200 miles there’s no sign of wear on either. If I only get 6000 to 7000 miles out of these chains I’ll still consider that a huge success.
I watched the whole video...and my first thought is: have you seen a doctor about your OCD? No, I do get it. Back in the day...serious...my friends and I would use acetone to remove the decals from the bike in order to make it lighter. I suspect only bikers will get this comment. Anyways...my takeaway from the instapot vs hot water process is you say the instapot is way faster. Huh. I am not working on an assembly line, so time is not the issue. I have a pot of water getting warm. As for cleaning the chain, I used a five part wash: paint thinner, acetone, brake cleaner, methyl alcohol (which by the way is Heet at the car store, lots cheaper) and a final of xylene. Chain is sparkly. Thanks for the vid.
cant you put wax in sealable glass container, then put that in ultrasonc cleaner to melt wax. then put chain in that container and drive wax in ultrasonically?
Worth mentioning the steps after this as it can prove pretty painful. I ended up with many stuck links which really effected the drive chain, made a lot of noise and messed with my shifting. Much time was spent further freeing up those links, to the point where I'm not sure there's any wax left in the links. Several KMs in, the chain is still worryingly noisey. Very close to going back to lube.
Joni, please check the routing of the chain through the derailleur cage, every similar complaint we've had has turned out to be that the chain was routed over rather than under one of the derailleur cage tabs leading to lots of noise and feeling like the links are all stuck. Please feel free to call or email our customer service if this isn't the case, sales (at) silca (dot) cc
Joni, as part of my process I actually remove the chain from the swisher and let it hang straight. It will dry solid. From there I have about a 1 foot section of 2x4 in a bench vise. I hang the chain on that, grab both ends, and pull it back and forth a few times as if I were trying to saw through the wood. That’ll break all the links. You’ll know when you’re done as the chain will stop jumping as it articulated around the back of the wood. You can also use a section of PVC pipe instead of wood to do the same thing. IMO this was a critical step in waxing that was left out. On a clutched derailleur system like GRX or XTR you can get away without doing this as the spring on the cage is ridiculously strong, but on a road drivetrain (Ultegra, Dura Ace et al.) you absolutely must break the links first before reinstalling your chain out there’s no way the chain will make it around those jockey pulleys.
Josh, In your video you mentioned that you would be adding a link in the comments section providing more details regarding the ultrasonic cleaner you’d recommend. I didn’t find it. Is it there? If not, would you mind replying with your recommendation? Separately, would you please provide either a link to a separate video/discussion or guidance as to the recommended maintenance involving a waxed chain? I’m wondering if a waxed chain can simply be maintained through the use of Silca’s drip wax lubricant or if periodic hot re-waxings should be performed. If the chains should periodically be hot re-waxed can you provide some insight as to when and/or how often? What about chain quick-links. A few others have raised questions about this in the comments, which were never answered. If hot waxing a Shimano Dura-Ace chain, must the quick links be replaced each time? If not, then at what point should the quick-links be replaced? Thanks
Just for education boiling temperature of water depends on airpressure. Sealevel at standard atmosphere is 100°C but on the mount everest it looks totally different below 80°C
I wonder if a brand new chain needs still to be deep cleaned or its ready to go , and also after the wax is dry should we move all links around trying to “break” the wax , the video doesnt show up to this stage, but i imagine once wax is dry that chain should be rock hard right ? Tks for the video by the way
New chains would stick to the wall if you threw it at one. You should definitely clean it. I just put a new chain on my MTB and I think it was harder to clean than the old chain off my gravel bike. Yeah, no doubt in my mind you clean new chains. Besides, if you clean the chain then no matter which method you use to lube it your going to know its not compromised by the gunk that comes on a new chain. Read above about prepping chain for installing on a bike. My chains come out heavy, stiff and with wax crammed into every link. Takes some work to prep it for the bike. RideFast above says to pull chain out of wax at full temp to eliminate some of this.
Hi Josh, since marginal gains are desirable, I will give you an extra tip! Soak your beans to deactivate Phytic Acid which is an anti-nutrient. That way, you will gain more minerals like Calcium, Magnesium, Copper etc. from your food. Phytic acid will pull minerals from your intestines, bind the metals in your stomach and intestines coming from other sources too, which is a huge loss. That loss on the long run creates more hunger and decreases satiation since the calories become emptier. I hope this makes sense.
Love my hot dip waxed chain. Reduced wear on everything. My system is smooth now and the time spent re-waxing is way less than the time I used to spend cleaning. Quite a few times I’ve ended up with wax filling the inside of the chain. I’m guessing I took it out of the pot when the wax was too cool?
@@SILCAVeloJust how hot is hot? My infared thermo said the surface of the wax was 168-170F. Are there visible signs of hot wax? Thinking of bubbles or currents in the instapot that occur when it becomes hot enough.
Hi Josh, I Just Started Waxing my first chains in the bag. Is it right also to cool down Like with the Pot-like in the video- for the best result? Thanks!
Hi SILCA Velo! So far, so good with the Secret Chain Blend - Bag method (two bikes converted). One thing I'm noticing is the need to reapply more frequently when riding in all weather. Year round bike commuting in the PNW brings all the elements. You had also promised a video showing the bag method application, along with topping it off using the battle reapplication method... do you have an updated timeline to get that video out? I just reapplied using the bag method just yesterday... not crazy time-consuming, but if there's a quicker/ better method, I'm in!!
I don't want to speak for the good folks at Silca, but I can speak as a person who has been waxing his chains for many years. Rain is the enemy of a waxed chain. I live in Connecticut, and chains on my road bikes typically last around 200-250 miles before I wax them again. One rainy ride, however, pretty much guarantees I'll need to do another chain waxing session. It sounds like the rainy weather in your neck of the woods means you might need to wax after the (far more frequent) rain. I do rotate three chains for each bike. That way, I only have to do a waxing session every 5 or 6 weeks.
This basically doesn’t work at all in the rain. In the PNW, you can use a waxed chain from mid-June through early-September only. Unless you’re a fair-weather-only rider.
Since the combustion temperature of paraffin is well above water’s boiling temp, the bigger concern with the bag or double boiler is that boiling the water could cause you to spill or splatter hot wax. Not as bad as an ignition, but not good
Hi Josh. One simple and silly question. Done the hot wax process ok. Then, do you have to clean off the chain the excess of wax or just you put the chain as it is on the bike and the wax will be removed just pedalling. Thank you. Regards from Italy
I've noticed that the hot wax appears to separate after a while in the instapot... a clear liquid on top and tiny black spherules settling to the base. Is this normal? It didn't happen on the first chain, but the second and third I've dipped with the same bag of wax it did. I re-agitated before pulling the chains to hopefully maximize the penetration of the tungsten, but I'm wondering if this is some indication of overheating or contamination? The chains were THOROUGHLY cleaned.
The separation is a function of how long the wax took to cool or sat before cooling without being agitated. The WS2 particles are sub-micron size but are heavy, so if the wax sits for a bit after the waxing they will sink.. similarly if it takes a long time to cool, it will separate, but it's fine, it will all just stir back into solution when re-melted. The only thing to look for in regards to contamination or overheating is a changing of color of the wax from whitish grey to yellow or brown.. if you see yellow or brown, that is a sign of either overheating or oil contamination.
as a kid remember my dad lubing his motorbike chain on the stove much to mums anger . can not remeber the brand but it was atin that you heated up put the chain on top when it melted its way to the bottom done . all this before o ring chains.
I've been doing the hotwax thing in various forms for quite a long time. I use a small slow cooker (one with a temperature control) and a similar three solvent bath. Unfortunately Josh, I think the fact that you are doing this in your kitchen is going to put a lot of people (and their families) off of wax. This really needs to be done in a garage or workshop. If I walked into my families kitchen with a dirty bike chain (and all of the assorted cleaning and waxing apparatus), I would be banished for life... I do all of my bike maintenance in a single car garage. I have a single burner induction device and a dedicated pan for testing the super secret wax, but I ended up just putting it in the crockpot. I love the wax, but I'm not a big fan of the bag. The opening is a little too small and fussy to get a chain in and out of without making a mess. For my chain swisher, I bent a coat hanger into a square "J" shape just slightly narrower than the opening of the slow cooker, and loop the chain at about every six links or so. The top is bent into a handle of sorts to make it easier to hold. I always put the quick link on the hangar/swisher before the chain, and then drop the setup into the crockpot and leave it for 15 to 20 minutes. I use the handle to swish the chain around in the pot a few times before I remove it. And I always put the chain back on the bike while it's still warm so I can pedal and shift through the gears. This cuts way down on the wax flaking off.
Josh mentions to pull the chain from the wax when the temp is 138 to 140 degrees and has a little film forming on top. When I do it, I'm getting a film forming at 146 to 150 degrees. The first two times I've pulled the chain at 140, the links ended up absolutely packed with wax. I thought maybe it was just the small mass of wax in the sous vide bag. So I purchased an instapot and have two bags worth of wax in the pot (more mass holding the temp longer), but again, I'm getting a film at 150 degrees. Is the answer less wax? I'm sure my IR thermometer is close enough... For my third time, I pulled at 150 degrees and still the wax is clogging up the links, just not as bad. I end up with a toothpick pushing wax out of the links...Am I doing this wrong? Should I wave a heat gun around to melt the wax jammed in the links? Pull it at a higher temperature?
Does the treatment need doing on all of the drive chain components? Once the chain is waxed: Cassette waxed, just a good clean, or additional product needed? Chain ring? Rear derailleur?
Robert, as long as the cassette and chainrings are clean when you start, the chain treatment is all that is needed.. it will keep your entire drivetrain significantly cleaner than any other method of treatment!
@@SILCAVelo thanks for getting back to me. Appreciate their will be various factors at play. But typically what sort of mileage can be done between re-waxing?
No, the external wax on the chain will embed into the metal while riding. Some people also do a light coating of our SuperSecret drip lube on the outside of the waxed chain, and then run it through the gears on the workstand to coat the cassette and rings. This will give you the most quiest drivetrain you've even experienced, but isn't necessary and does not test any faster or anything like that, just very quiet!
Hi Josh, I’ve bought the bundle and hot waxed in a slow cooker it works great, is easier than I thought it would be , and is as silent a chain as I’ve ever had. Just did a drip wax touch up, looking forward to more videos on this. What citrus degreaser are you using, I used mineral spirits in 2baths , followed by 1 bath in denatured alcohol. It worked very well , but would use what you recommend . Also, what can I expect in cold weather,, say 20-40 F ? Thanks for the great product, Dave
David, great to hear about your results! We recommend Chemical Guys citrus, link below the video, we also have a link to a super concentrated denatured alcohol. You have to be careful with mineral spirits as there is no set mix between brands and some of them will leave a residue so just be sure the chain feels completely dry and residue free before waxing. You should see no change in performance at cold temperatures, the wax will get compressed inside the chain and acts basically as a solid lubricant after a few miles so really isn't affected by temperature until things get rather extreme! - Josh
After watching this, I am curious on post processing the chain after waxing is done. I have recently hot melt waxed (pure paraffin wax, though) my chain for my indoor setup, and on the first ride, there was dry wax from the outside all over the place. Will your wax leave a stiff residue on the outside like the paraffin wax?
I’m curious about post processing, as well. I just completed my first wax melt using the instant pot method. I heard Josh say that one of the benefits of hot waxing your chain is how quiet it will be, but my drive train is louder than I’ve ever heard it at the moment. I’m hoping it will quiet down once I get the bike out on the road and some of the excess wax spins off.
Me too! My chain comes out stiff and heavy with every crevice full of wax. I spend probably 15 minutes cleaning wax out from between the links and also from the side plates. Josh holds up a waxed chain that looks absolutely pristine in the video. Mine is far far from that. No idea how he manages to do that. I am hoping that a ride will knock the wax off and lighten the load of this chain. Rode it around the block and it feels like a heavy drivetrain. I do LOVE my new 3 quart instapot !
Hot melt allows you to get a bit more wax into the chain so it lasts a bit longer and can run at fractions of a watt lower friction (though this is minimal). The drip lube is emulsified in a carrier to allow it to penetrate the chain, and then this carrier evaporates, so it isn't possible to get 100% fill of the rollers with the drip wax like it is with hot melt. Ultimately, the differences are rather small between the two methods so it's a personal preference for most. - Josh
Question. My hot pot heated up far faster than expected. I dropped the chain in on the cold wax, turned the pot on, then went and did 25 minutes on the rollers. When I got back, the wax was at 217 degrees F. Did I damage the wax or the chain by letting it get this hot?
No damage to the wax or chain, but the danger is that if the wax gets too hot it can actually catch on fire. My son did that when he was younger, he was melting candle wax in a pan on the stove to pour it into some molds. It got too hot and caught on fire! We called 911 so he could get treated for his burns. Fortunately, there was no long term scarring. That is why I recommend using a crock pot (slow cooker). I picked up a really small one at Target for around $10 on sale. There's no risk of getting the wax too hot and it is so cheap you can dedicate it to this purpose.
I tried this method but used a crummy wax melter that took roughly an hour to melt the wax. I must have done something wrong though, because I have rust on my chain on a few pins after a ride in the damp. I even made sure to wipe the chain down after the damp ride. Maybe I pulled the chain out of the wax too late? My wax was clumped and I had pretty thick wax layers on the plates and a lot inbetween the pins where the cassette teeth would engage. Maybe the pins were left unprotected where those wax clumps/layers broke off?
Sounds more like the chain wasn't left in the wax long enough. You need a good 5 minutes or more to let the chain come to temperature so that the wax can fully wet the surface and penetrate all of the internals. If the chain is colder than the wax you get a clumpy surface coating that does not adhere very well and does not fully wet the imperfections of the metal surface.
Up to now, I used the super secret chain lube since summer 2021, and as I also want to use wax on my second/bad weather bike, it seems to be the best to first hot wax that chain. In case I use the bag which is put in hot water, do I just have to close the bag after waxing for reuse? If so, how often can I reuse the wax? If I decide to buy an Instapot, can I just leave the wax in the insert pot, and put it in a well-closed plastic bag, to just put it in the Instapot again for the next waxing session (e.g. in the case I have to ride often in bad weather)? Is this hot-waxing alone sufficient, or is that just the base for further waxing with the Super Secret Chain lube (which already seems to work fine, but I never used that bike in bad weather)?
After pull and wait for wax solidifies / does it need to remove the flakes before installing on bike / the links are kinda stiff after waxing - does it need an additional process to free the links before installing ?
You can do it either way, I usually work the links over a piece of 1" tubing just to free them up a bit before install, some work the chain with just fingers and others will install as is and let the excess fall off on the first use, from what we've seen in the data, there is no difference in terms of performance or longevity between any of these methods.
Can i just put the chain on top of the cold wax right when I turn the the pot on--let it sit in there while the wax heats up? is there a disadvantage to this?
If you are doing multiple, I would just pull them hot.. allowing it to cool is maybe buying you a few additional % of wax in the chain and I typically save that strategy for special events or races. For everything else, you can go in and out at 195F or so and get 99% of the benefits and longevity in a fraction of the time spent waxing. - Josh
@@SILCAVelo oki now another question...so my mechanic despite my warnings applied smoove to my chain - do i need to go through the degreasing again before dropping into hot melt pot?
@@arturpiasecki6654 You need to get a new Mechanic. You are the Mechanic’s customer, and the Mechanic should always do what you want, or discuss with you why they think it isn’t a good idea.
Is the product safe to use indoors on a trainer in a room which has light colored wall to wall carpeting? A user commented below about a black residue under the drive train attributed to tungsten disulfide. I do have plastic mats which extend about 20 inches (50 cm) laterally from the chain under the trainer but concerned about the area beyond. One of your videos demonstrated how tunsgten disulfide adheres even to glass. Would imagine if it makes it's way into the carpet there would be no chance for cleaning.
@@brianrichards350 In the meantime I started to use Silca waxed chain on my trainer. I see a surprisingly abundant amount of wax flakes after each session, both on the floor and on the bike frame, trainer, etc. I thought it would just the tungsten powder (if it is, I don't see it, or it's rather in the wax flakes, which look dirty). I am yet to ride the bike outside for the first time. I thought I was going to save time moving from oil based to wax, the opposite is true. At least considering the time spent degreasing a new chain. Will see in the future. Main benefit I see so far is I won't have to deal with the oily mess. I didn't think chain was more quiet or shifts better with wax compared to oil, if anything I found oil lube was better that way. Could be wrong.
I wound up putting an old towel under the chain line of the trainer and let the bits fall on that. I think they understate the time to run in the chain a bit...at least for my 100 W rides. It took about 1 to 2 hours before the chain really started to feel smooth. It did run all season for me with only a couple of touch ups of liquid wax...so more effort initially but worth it in the end.
Hi, Josh, have you experienced this problem with hardened wax accumulating on the smallest cog (11 t on a 12-speed cassette), and especially between the smallest cog and the next smallest one? Today I couldn't use the 52/11 gear combination because of this, the chain kept jumping around the 11th cog, which obviously could be quite dangerous if you're putting your best effort at that time. I used a toothpick to try and pry out the accumulated wax. Could you suggest a better way to do it?
Are you just hot waxing? I can't say that I've ever seen that with hot wax. I've seen it when people drip wax for a year or so and you can get accumulation in those areas if you are applying the lube with the chain in that area, but honestly not ever with hot melt. Please send us some photos to sales (at) silca (dot) cc
Mostly hot waxing. Only drip waxed once, to try it, didn't like the idea of basing my actions on being too lazy, so I opted for hot waxing only (have done it 4 times now), it might have been accumulated gradually, but I only noticed it now because the chain started skipping teeth on the 11t cog. Unfortunately I've cleaned it already this time, so no use sending you pictures after cleaning it... but I'll send pictures next time it happens. Thanks.@@SILCAVelo
Maybe try pulling the chain from the wax when it's a little hotter.. you should have little to no wax on the outside of the chain after waxing. The only thing we can think of would be excess wax on the outside of the chain getting scraped off and jammed in there.
That should be it. I'm still playing around trying to find the exact moment I should take the chain out of the hot wax. First 3 times it was really full of excess wax, cleaned it for hours after... Last time I pulled it out a little bit before the crust forming on the hot wax surface, and it was much easier cleaning it, say 15 min, using a spare cog. I understood from your video that I should not pull it out too early, or otherwise there'll be insufficient coating.@@SILCAVelo
Hi guys, love your content and podcast. I just wish either your wax packaging, or the website the QR code on the packaging points to , simply listed the temperature for melting and for hardening.
Sorry, we'll dive into this as that info should be all over the place! We recommend 75C as the optimal temperature and you can get good results between 70C and 90C.
Can I microwave the wax pellets in a bowl and then drop my chain in while it's still liquid? Or will microwaving the wax breakdown some of the additives??
We don't recommend using a microwave. You could in theory heat the water with a microwave, but it likely wouldn't stay hot enough for long enough to melt the wax.
Is there any disadvantage of putting just some of the wax granules in a say 5 inch by 5 inch plastic container and melting that in a large pot of water? I used just enough wax granules to cover the chain and allow me to swirl it. I could leave it there for a while to cool as you diid. I thought that by doing it this way I would keep the unused wax clean and not get contaminated by rewaxing chains that weren't perfectly clean. Is it possible that by using only partial amounts of the wax granuals that the chemical ratio might be inconsistent?
Your method will work as well.. there is no downside to only using some of the wax, every pellet contains the right amount of stuff..so ratios will be same whether you melt some or all of it. Josh
You stress maximizing the viscosity of the wax before removing the chain from the hot pot, but do you have data to show that such a strategy improves coverage between the parts of the chain that would rub together? One would think that close clearances would hold on to wax even when the viscosity was low.
SILCA Chain Stripper was just released last month and is considered the best method as it not only removes the factory grease, but also leaves a wax adhesion promoting layer on the chain. silca.cc/products/chain-stripper
I hot wax my trikes chain but I'm going to be doing multiday, week month tours away from home so wondered how to maintain my chain while I'm doing a transamerica tour.
Super Secret is the perfect option for this. You can drip it on the chain after the day's ride and it will be ready to go for the next day. If you get to a point where you are able to hot wax you still can, but certainly not needed.
@@SILCAVelo yeah I’ve noticed some of the hostels along the transamerica route have full kitchens where I could get boiling water to clean my chain then melt the wax in the bag to rewax the chain.
You need to buy a separate liner for the Instant pot, you do not want to be cooking and waxing in the same liner. www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-Stainless-Steel-Cooking/dp/B008BKHGX0
As someone who wants to do things precisely, I was wondering what the ratio of water to wax is in the pot? Would it be 4 cups of water for a bag of wax?
Assuming you mean when melting the wax in the bag. There isn't a precise amount but about halfway up the bag will give you good coverage to melt fairly quickly.
Just did my chain. (1) chain is full of wax ... do you wipe it down after waxing and before installing? (2) quicklink was tough to fit to chain ... had to clean and clean the wax off the chain inner plates and holes to get it to catch. Common? (3) will any degreaser work to clean the chain or must it be a chain specific degreaser? (4) I used hot water in pot method ... produced melted silca plus large balls of unmelted. very strange to me. I think the wax was about 160F. Not positive. Common?
Sounds like the wax needed to be hotter.. you shouldn't have clumps in the wax and the final chain should have minimal surface wax on it.. Next time, leave it in there for a few more minutes. For this chain, installing it and riding it for a few minutes should knock all that wax off. I don't wax the quicklink for this reason.. there is no performance loss as all of the contact surfaces for the link are fully coated, so having the link also coated just makes it that much harder to re-fit.
Thanks, it was my first time. Had wax everywhere on the chain. I was a bit worried about overheating the wax in my kitchen over a gas flame. Wasn't allowed to use the insta pot. Going to buy a 2nd insta pot liner. So, I called the chain done when the wax was 160F. Amazed to see a clump of wax rise up in the pool of melted wax. This was when I was pulling the chain out. The clump rose out of the murky depth. Thanks again for the advice.
You can just use the 'slow cook' setting, or if you are in a hurry and standing over it, hit 'rice' and it will melt super fast.. you just have to then change it to slow cook or it will get too hot - Josh
What are your thoughts on transferring the heated water and bag of melted wax + chain to the ultrasonic cleaner for wax application? Too much work for a minimal gain over agitating/stirring by hand? Loving your videos btw, really helpful!
If I have an Instant Pot dedicated to using for hot waxing, what do I do with the leftover wax that is in the liner after I remove the chain? Can I just leave it in there and reuse it at a later date?
You said do not overheat the wax - when would this point be reached and is it just to prevent fire 🔥 or more about braking down the formula and degrading the lubricant? I think the best way is to melt in the bag on the stove and then transfer it as a whole to my ultrasonic and let it do the aggregation for me 😁 I just want to know what would happen if the wax reaches over 200 Fahrenheit f.e. ? Would it brake down and be unusable or anything? Or is it just a safety’s issue ? Thx
Mostly a safety issue, but the wax can be damaged from about 220F and upward. Mainly, we've just seen no advantage to going hotter and the potential disadvantage of pulling the chain at a hotter temperature is that that more wax will run out of the inside of the chain leaving less behind where you really want it. As for your ultrasonic, yes, for our Diamond Polished race chains we wax ultrasonically which allows us to use a slightly higher concentration of WS2 since the ultrasound pumps the particles into the chain, without ultrasound, additional particles just settle in the bottom of the bag and can't properly be agitated into solution to do any good.
We actually recently ordered a bunch of them to test, the key will be how much power and which ones use PID control, will post a video when we are complete to let you know how it goes.
Is the chain supposed to be quite stiff when first put back on the bike? It’s the first time I’ve tried the waxing and it doesn’t exactly flow over the derailleur shall we say. Albeit I’ve not ridden it as yet
You can either break it free by flexing the links, some people will pull it over a small pvc pipe or similar to do this, or you can just ride it for a few minutes and it will loosen up.
Hello Josh, I have been using your Super Secret Lube in a bottle for a few months now and have already got an ultrasonic cleaner after watching one of you previous videos, and have just ordered an Instant Pot, an infrared thermometer and some Super Secret Hot wax after watching this one. Just a question about the drip lube, I have been using it on my indoor bike which is on a Neo and the first few rides after a fresh lube I get little black bits of wax under the chain line. Why is this excess wax black? Is it because my chain isn't clean enough or is that just how the wax goes? Thanks
You can get 40+ uses from each bag and even if you are careful to catch all the drips. Used wax can just stay in the bag, though most people pour it into a dedicated crock pot or wax melter and just let it re-solidify between uses.
Can we get some more of those silicone wheel speed shields? Also, would they fit the razor sharp edges of madfiber wheels? I have multiple sets and am needing a similar solution.
Speed shields ship with all SILCA valve extenders, tubeless valves and latex tubes that have extenders.. they do not work well on super sharp wheels like Madfiber or older Lightweights as they are a bit too rigid to conform to that very tight shape.
have to be very carefull with the water temp as the bag will leak, better to put wax in a seperate pot which is then put in another pot of water so direct heat is not affecting the wax
Dude really sold me on the instant pot. He definitely has equity in instant pot.
It is the first time I wax the chain. I clean the chain with Chain Stripper (fantastic) and used the bain-marie method using the bag (I left the chain too long in the wax to cool down and had a lot of residue sticking to the outside and the chain was like a rock, but now I have learnt my lesson). After the first ride (which softened the chain) I cleaned it with a microfiber cloth and applied super secret with the advice given in other videos, a drop at each joint, run the chain, pass the finger etc. and left it 24 hours. Yesterday I did another ride and I must say that I am very pleased. Very clean drivetrain, now I can touch the transmission without having any dirt in my fingers, at most a little bit of wax and dust (seems like some kind of miracle to me) which is the main reason I wanted to try the wax because I hate all the sludge and the process of degrease and re-lubricating, the drivetrain is also very quiet and the shifts are smooth.
I wanted to write this comment to thank Josh for his fantastic work which makes a Sunday racer like me that much happier. I think I will be using only wax for my transmission from now on.
Thank you from Italy!
PS
Just one question, if I understand correctly the wax does not protect against rust. Now some years I stay abroad during the winter for three to four months and the bike stays at home without anyone to look after it. Is there a risk of the chain rusting? If so, what do you recommend doing, would a hot wax bath before leaving it be a good method or is it better to put an oily lubricant?
2 weeks ago I met an old friend beeing an enthusiastic cyclist since about 40 years.
He told me that he is "cooking" and waxing his chain!
I have never heard that before. So I reseached a bit and "stumbled" over this video and the "SECRET CHAIN BLEND"
There are other solutions around but I found the presentation from Josh rather authentic and sympathetic.
I applied it on my rather new (250km) chain after intense cleaning.
3x Isopropanol cycles, cooking in detergant and 2x ultrasonic cleaning.
It was asthonisching how much muck came of my rather new chain.
I was even dispensing it on my Cassette using a silicone brush and a hair dryer to distribute it.
First drive impression and gear switching behaviour was significant better than before.
After 300km and lot's of mud and dirt - I am a MTB driver - the chain and cassette looks and feels still like new.
Thumps up!!!
Thanks so much Marc! Glad to hear you are enjoying it! - Josh
I put the wax in a beaker and "float" it in my ultrasonic cleaner. I then drop in 3 chains and let the cleaner do the agitation. I generally do about 12 chains in an afternoon and keep them available and swap them out every 2 to 300 miles depending on riding conditions.
Great video as always. Point to note in the crock pot vs instant pot here in Australia is that the price is nearly 10 times higher!! 20 bucks vs 200 bucks. I have a crock pot and just turn it on and come back to it an hour later, swish the chain and hang it up. Job done :-) Also., the 3L size is possibly a bit bigger than needed - you need to use more product to get the depth needed for swishing, which means that the full amount gets contaminated over time. If you use a 1.5L then you can use half the amount in the crock pot which means that you get twice as long out of the same amount you would use in the 3L. Hope this makes sense
Fellow Aussie here- best I can find and instant pot is $250 plus post.
I wonder if an air frier set suitably low enough would work
Good suggestion! I "borrowed" 😉my wife's mini crock pot and that was a perfect size to use much less of the Silca Wax while still fully submerging the chain.
As a scientist I can appreciate the details in videos to drive home the point! My fave was crystal structure tungsten disulfide!! I'm now a Silca Velo convert. Wished I saw this video when it first came out t2 years ago, would have saved me from those dreaded chain tats 🙂
Thanks Einstein
Lots of respect and compliments for the in-depth video, but now it's opinion time.
1. Instant pots are typically around 80+USD, although you can hunt for one at the price you mentioned. For some, this is fine, and I'm sure they'll feel secure in their decision after noting your endorsement, however it's no surprise some might find it unnecessary. I found a brand new bare-bones slow cooker for $10 including a ceramic bowl which is important to prevent flaking of common non-stick surfaces found in other cookers (not mentioned in this video, and a seemingly common mistake to make). While the low setting took ages to melt my wax, it also proved that the "thermostatic" controller it must use maintains a more or less ideal temperature--just over the wax's melting point. That all being said, I'm glad you have the stove-top alternative method.
2. I'm curious as to why so much emphasis (and time and effort) was put into comparing the time taken to completely melt the wax. Whether it be under an hour or a few hours, I hope most wouldn't mind waiting for a completely hands-off process for something done on roughly a monthly basis. However, I'm (respectfully) less surprised when I see a reputable face of Silca endorsing such options when the company makes a $495 floor pump with a "Swiss gauge accurate to 1%". I could get into why this level of accuracy is laughably useless in an analogue gauge style pump but I digress. The one glaring caveat to this being that I'm one to put money more into function than sparkly bits.
I use the Silca chain wax in the bag in a ultrasonic cleaner. Clean the chain in the ultrasonic cleaner first and then set the bath to 80 degrees Celsius to melt the wax. However the bag and wax are too buoyant and the bag of wax floats in the water. I used to put a stainless steel pliers into the bag to weigh it down when melted. This leaned over one day and water poured into the bag. A big mess!
Now, on the first melt I put 2 small stainless steel 500g weights into the wax. These are inert and don't react with the wax. They sit in the bottom of the bag and keep it weighted down and not floating. You can get these cheaply online. They are used for calibrating fine weighing scales.
After the chain wax the wax hardens and the stainless steel weights just stay in the wax. No more floating!
Hi, great video. If I use the stove-top bag method, can I let the wax cool in the bag after I have waxed the chain and then re-use / re-heat the bag for future waxings? Thanks
We will be adding this protocol to our shop services. Many thanks!
Thanks for the vid.
A few comments:
- I think it is important to remember critical chain wear occurs between bushings and pins. You cannot see the surfaces that wear, so it is difficult to know whether your cleaning method has been effective. A great research video would be to sacrifice a few chains to inspect the bushings and pins before and after cleaning....and after waxing..... This would be more revealing and scientific in discovering the true effectiveness of a particular cleaning and waxing protocol.
- Because bushings and pins are where all the wear occurs, it is important that these areas be cleansed very well between use. Grime that collects in these inner surfaces is likely going to adhere to the wax coating, so it is important that old wax be removed to some degree. It doesn't have to be removed totally, just the dirtier out layers. Degreasers and ethanol are not going to remove wax. What will remove old wax better is this:
1. drop hosed chain in boiling soapy water to soften the wax
2. remove and apply a hair dryer closely to the chain to super heat the links for several minutes
3. back into boiling soapy water and agitate.
4. remove and heat again with hair dryer
5. into degreaser (I use kerosene) and agitate
6. into ethanol (I use methylated spirits in Australia. This is ethanol with an insignificant amount of chemical to spoil the taste of the ethanol, in order to stop some people drinking it as recreational alcohol).
7. before adding to wax bath, super heat the chain with hair dryer again to ensure it is dry and hot. It is the heat that helps the wax penetrate deep into the bushings and pins, where it is needed.
BTW, the quickest method to heat wax is on a stove top (gas or electric), though you have to be careful not to heat too quickly.
The wax should be brought up to 85-93 degrees Celsius.
The melting point of most paraffin waxes is under 70C.
Lowest flash point is 200C (temp at which a combustible vapour is created above the wax....and adding a spark or flame will cause combustion).
Lowest boiling point is 370C.
So there is a large margin to carefully heat wax on a stove top without risking it ignite or boil.
Finally, I have heated wax up to 110C in a slow cooker (crock pot).
Incidentally, I use a digital infrared thermometer as you do.
Theoretically, the hotter the wax, the greater its penetration quality should be.
And this raises the question of whether waxing might be more effective if done twice, once at 105-110C, then allow the wax to solidify, then dip again when wax is at 85-90C and don't remove until temp is solidifying ~63-70C. This should give thicker coverage, though whether of the bushings and pins remains to be investigated.
zero friction cycling has done these studies, check their website
Lol this method really does sound like a faff, I’ll stick with silca
@@jackdavis8786
yeah I reduced the steps.
1. take chain off, and agitate in boiling water and detergent to soften wax and begin removal of grime.
2. remove chain from detergent and super heat with hair dryer to further soften wax between plates, then back into detergent, agitate, then rinse and dry.
3. then into wax bath at temp of 80-90C, turn off bath...agitate chain for 60 seconds remove and hang up to dry.
Do several chains at a time. rotate through chains when chain noise noticeable.
I have one 11 speed chain with at least 8000km on it, and it is still well below 0.5% stretched.
Thanks for the video Silca. Just too much chat about the pressure cooker. Could really trim this video without the spruiking of the pressure cooker.
This is the perfect video during the lockdown
Thanks Steve!
Great video, thanks. Two things puzzle me - One: why the obsession with a fast warm up? I use a small cheap wax pot made for body hair removal, it takes two chains and it takes 30min to warm up but I just turn it on before I need it so no delays. I can eat lunch, wash the bike or play with the kids. Two: I pull the chain out at full temperature because the wax I gain by pre-cooling would just be wasted/brushed off when preparing it for the bike. The capillary action will keep the melted wax in the chain internals anyway, where I want it, so I pull the chain out at full temp and then turn the pot off. It is usually 200miles or 300km before I start to get any signs to re-wax.
Bingo ... pull chain at full temp. Looking for someone else to say no but my chains come out stiff and heavy and every link packed with wax. Lots of cleaning just to be able to install it on the bike. I'll try your idea next.
@@donmulvey9280Chain will still start stiff and need the initial 'breaking' but an external brushing seems to be adequate preparation. Can skip for the first few minutes so save the heavy pedaling till after that. Then it's excellent for 200 miles, much cleaner than wet lubricants.
I’m baked and my first time wax is almost melted, super clean chain ready to go. I’ve got a beer and a delivery pizza is on the way. This video is making me happy, especially the rambling.
Grow up
I have always let the chain heat up on top of the cold wax. I figure that this evenly heats the chain better instead of putting the cold chain straight into hot wax. There is probably no scientific basis for this but kinda makes sense to me :)
Made sense to me too. So I followed your advice! 👍
Since heat lets metal expands this makes sense. There is more room for the wax to get into the chain -> better lubrication.
Also thought about it
Great details and insights. I have now incorporated this as a service to the tune-up I do and using the Secret hot melt wax. Plus added a few videos with more gold nuggets of tech tips. lol
Sidebar: What's the proper disposal for the spent wax? And how many chains could you properly treat per 1 batch of wax?
You can probably get 30-40 waxings per 500gm of wax. It can be disposed of to landfill as the wax is medical grade and the WS2 additive is certified safe for ground water contact by Bureau of Land Management, and is even used in paints for ships to prevent barnacle attachment.
I have been very impressed and pleased with both the Hot Melt and drip lube. But now I cannot appreciate how and where the 16 oz. jar with 12 oz. lube fits in? Any suggestions please?
@josh. I have just bought an instant pot 3 quart. Please describe how to use the pot for waxing the chain. Which programs I have to use? Thanks
Dang ... in the video he said to use the crock pot setting ... slow cook on the instapot.
What setting on your instant pot do you use for heating the wax?
In the video he said crock pot ... slow cook on the instapot.
@@donmulvey9280 Just what i was needing..😁
So I just realized that your probably using a smaller 3 quart instapot. I just bought a 2nd pot liner for my 8 quart instapot. Dumped the wax in it and I got a shock. Don't think when the wax melts that it will be deep enough to soak chains. Dang! Can't believe I missed this.
I melted some teflon into some prarfin and put it the oven for 30 minutes then boil it in linseed oil or lamp black graphite. If I use the oven it takes about half hour with kerosene gel. Sometimes a torch helps but the oven is more consistent.
Cheaper option ( mine)
Put the wax in a glass jar, and put the glass jar in boiling water (agitate the wax for it to melt, 20 minutes in my case ). Then, dip the chain, etc, etc...
I think it's safe like that, and cheap.
Be careful, though, it's hot wax.
Is it really necessary to let the wax cool before removing the chain? It seems like a superfluous step that would be a barrier to getting people to switch to hot wax. I started using Molten Speed Wax at the beginning of the pandemic because using drip lube my chains were done in around 1500 to 2000 miles and getting parts was difficult. I figured I’d hot wax until the supply chain improved and then go back to drip. Well I haven’t gone back because hot racing turns out to be easier/faster than drip lube, but babysitting a pot of wax waiting for it to start hardening would have been a deal-breaker. I find that when you pull that chain out of the wax it cools really fast. I doubt there’s much egress of Molten Wax from the pins and bushings in that time and I heat my wax up much hotter (around 190° F which I believe is MSW’s recommendation for their product). I have two chains with 4800-5000 miles on each of them, and rewaxing approximately every 200 miles there’s no sign of wear on either. If I only get 6000 to 7000 miles out of these chains I’ll still consider that a huge success.
I watched the whole video...and my first thought is: have you seen a doctor about your OCD? No, I do get it. Back in the day...serious...my friends and I would use acetone to remove the decals from the bike in order to make it lighter. I suspect only bikers will get this comment. Anyways...my takeaway from the instapot vs hot water process is you say the instapot is way faster. Huh. I am not working on an assembly line, so time is not the issue. I have a pot of water getting warm. As for cleaning the chain, I used a five part wash: paint thinner, acetone, brake cleaner, methyl alcohol (which by the way is Heet at the car store, lots cheaper) and a final of xylene. Chain is sparkly. Thanks for the vid.
cant you put wax in sealable glass container, then put that in ultrasonc cleaner to melt wax. then put chain in that container and drive wax in ultrasonically?
Great video! I just ordered a bag of wax. Can you re use the wax after one use? Can you re heat it? Thank you
On the 3 quart Instant Pot, what setting do you use to melt the wax to the proper temperature. I do not see how you can set an actual temperature.
Worth mentioning the steps after this as it can prove pretty painful. I ended up with many stuck links which really effected the drive chain, made a lot of noise and messed with my shifting. Much time was spent further freeing up those links, to the point where I'm not sure there's any wax left in the links. Several KMs in, the chain is still worryingly noisey. Very close to going back to lube.
Joni, please check the routing of the chain through the derailleur cage, every similar complaint we've had has turned out to be that the chain was routed over rather than under one of the derailleur cage tabs leading to lots of noise and feeling like the links are all stuck. Please feel free to call or email our customer service if this isn't the case, sales (at) silca (dot) cc
@@SILCAVelo appreciate the reply. The chain is routed correctly.
I also had my bike shop check I hadn’t moved the DR as well.
Joni, as part of my process I actually remove the chain from the swisher and let it hang straight. It will dry solid. From there I have about a 1 foot section of 2x4 in a bench vise. I hang the chain on that, grab both ends, and pull it back and forth a few times as if I were trying to saw through the wood. That’ll break all the links. You’ll know when you’re done as the chain will stop jumping as it articulated around the back of the wood. You can also use a section of PVC pipe instead of wood to do the same thing. IMO this was a critical step in waxing that was left out. On a clutched derailleur system like GRX or XTR you can get away without doing this as the spring on the cage is ridiculously strong, but on a road drivetrain (Ultegra, Dura Ace et al.) you absolutely must break the links first before reinstalling your chain out there’s no way the chain will make it around those jockey pulleys.
Josh,
In your video you mentioned that you would be adding a link in the comments section providing more details regarding the ultrasonic cleaner you’d recommend. I didn’t find it. Is it there? If not, would you mind replying with your recommendation?
Separately, would you please provide either a link to a separate video/discussion or guidance as to the recommended maintenance involving a waxed chain? I’m wondering if a waxed chain can simply be maintained through the use of Silca’s drip wax lubricant or if periodic hot re-waxings should be performed. If the chains should periodically be hot re-waxed can you provide some insight as to when and/or how often? What about chain quick-links. A few others have raised questions about this in the comments, which were never answered. If hot waxing a Shimano Dura-Ace chain, must the quick links be replaced each time? If not, then at what point should the quick-links be replaced?
Thanks
Just for education boiling temperature of water depends on airpressure. Sealevel at standard atmosphere is 100°C but on the mount everest it looks totally different below 80°C
Keen to give this a try, thanks for the comprehensive instructions.
Is there anywhere I can get a simple set of instructions vs a 30 minute video?
I wonder if a brand new chain needs still to be deep cleaned or its ready to go , and also after the wax is dry should we move all links around trying to “break” the wax , the video doesnt show up to this stage, but i imagine once wax is dry that chain should be rock hard right ? Tks for the video by the way
New chains would stick to the wall if you threw it at one. You should definitely clean it. I just put a new chain on my MTB and I think it was harder to clean than the old chain off my gravel bike. Yeah, no doubt in my mind you clean new chains. Besides, if you clean the chain then no matter which method you use to lube it your going to know its not compromised by the gunk that comes on a new chain.
Read above about prepping chain for installing on a bike. My chains come out heavy, stiff and with wax crammed into every link. Takes some work to prep it for the bike. RideFast above says to pull chain out of wax at full temp to eliminate some of this.
Hi Josh, since marginal gains are desirable, I will give you an extra tip! Soak your beans to deactivate Phytic Acid which is an anti-nutrient. That way, you will gain more minerals like Calcium, Magnesium, Copper etc. from your food. Phytic acid will pull minerals from your intestines, bind the metals in your stomach and intestines coming from other sources too, which is a huge loss. That loss on the long run creates more hunger and decreases satiation since the calories become emptier. I hope this makes sense.
Love my hot dip waxed chain. Reduced wear on everything. My system is smooth now and the time spent re-waxing is way less than the time I used to spend cleaning.
Quite a few times I’ve ended up with wax filling the inside of the chain. I’m guessing I took it out of the pot when the wax was too cool?
Maybe pull it a little bit hotter, there should be little to no wax filling in between the link plates.
Thanks @@SILCAVelo , I did three chains this weekend and by pulling them out a little hotter it was loads better.
@@SILCAVeloJust how hot is hot? My infared thermo said the surface of the wax was 168-170F. Are there visible signs of hot wax? Thinking of bubbles or currents in the instapot that occur when it becomes hot enough.
So you just keep the wax, after waxing a chain, in it's solidified state, in the instant pot? So the wax "lives" in the instant pot?
Hi Josh,
I Just Started Waxing my first chains in the bag. Is it right also to cool down Like with the Pot-like in the video- for the best result?
Thanks!
Hi SILCA Velo! So far, so good with the Secret Chain Blend - Bag method (two bikes converted). One thing I'm noticing is the need to reapply more frequently when riding in all weather. Year round bike commuting in the PNW brings all the elements. You had also promised a video showing the bag method application, along with topping it off using the battle reapplication method... do you have an updated timeline to get that video out? I just reapplied using the bag method just yesterday... not crazy time-consuming, but if there's a quicker/ better method, I'm in!!
I don't want to speak for the good folks at Silca, but I can speak as a person who has been waxing his chains for many years. Rain is the enemy of a waxed chain. I live in Connecticut, and chains on my road bikes typically last around 200-250 miles before I wax them again. One rainy ride, however, pretty much guarantees I'll need to do another chain waxing session. It sounds like the rainy weather in your neck of the woods means you might need to wax after the (far more frequent) rain. I do rotate three chains for each bike. That way, I only have to do a waxing session every 5 or 6 weeks.
This basically doesn’t work at all in the rain. In the PNW, you can use a waxed chain from mid-June through early-September only. Unless you’re a fair-weather-only rider.
Since the combustion temperature of paraffin is well above water’s boiling temp, the bigger concern with the bag or double boiler is that boiling the water could cause you to spill or splatter hot wax. Not as bad as an ignition, but not good
Hi Josh. One simple and silly question. Done the hot wax process ok. Then, do you have to clean off the chain the excess of wax or just you put the chain as it is on the bike and the wax will be removed just pedalling. Thank you. Regards from Italy
Just put it on and ride, the excess will fall off when you spin the drivetrain (just don't do it inside the house!!!)
I've been making my own wax mix for the best part of a decade and I would never go back to drip lubes.
I've noticed that the hot wax appears to separate after a while in the instapot... a clear liquid on top and tiny black spherules settling to the base. Is this normal? It didn't happen on the first chain, but the second and third I've dipped with the same bag of wax it did. I re-agitated before pulling the chains to hopefully maximize the penetration of the tungsten, but I'm wondering if this is some indication of overheating or contamination? The chains were THOROUGHLY cleaned.
The separation is a function of how long the wax took to cool or sat before cooling without being agitated. The WS2 particles are sub-micron size but are heavy, so if the wax sits for a bit after the waxing they will sink.. similarly if it takes a long time to cool, it will separate, but it's fine, it will all just stir back into solution when re-melted. The only thing to look for in regards to contamination or overheating is a changing of color of the wax from whitish grey to yellow or brown.. if you see yellow or brown, that is a sign of either overheating or oil contamination.
Hello, could you be as kind as to let me know, with the brand and model of the ultrasonic cleaner please? Thank you.
as a kid remember my dad lubing his motorbike chain on the stove much to mums anger . can not remeber the brand but it was atin that you heated up put the chain on top when it melted its way to the bottom done . all this before o ring chains.
one note: get the 3 quart instant pot. I have a 6 quart and one bag melted is barely enough to submerge a chain.
could always do the Pot In Pot method. Some cooking recipes call for it. Just get a 3qt for wax and put it inside a larger pot.
hi @silca Velo . have you tried a vacuum chamber to dip the chain . it will reach every every single space.
I've been doing the hotwax thing in various forms for quite a long time. I use a small slow cooker (one with a temperature control) and a similar three solvent bath. Unfortunately Josh, I think the fact that you are doing this in your kitchen is going to put a lot of people (and their families) off of wax. This really needs to be done in a garage or workshop. If I walked into my families kitchen with a dirty bike chain (and all of the assorted cleaning and waxing apparatus), I would be banished for life...
I do all of my bike maintenance in a single car garage. I have a single burner induction device and a dedicated pan for testing the super secret wax, but I ended up just putting it in the crockpot. I love the wax, but I'm not a big fan of the bag. The opening is a little too small and fussy to get a chain in and out of without making a mess. For my chain swisher, I bent a coat hanger into a square "J" shape just slightly narrower than the opening of the slow cooker, and loop the chain at about every six links or so. The top is bent into a handle of sorts to make it easier to hold. I always put the quick link on the hangar/swisher before the chain, and then drop the setup into the crockpot and leave it for 15 to 20 minutes. I use the handle to swish the chain around in the pot a few times before I remove it. And I always put the chain back on the bike while it's still warm so I can pedal and shift through the gears. This cuts way down on the wax flaking off.
Josh mentions to pull the chain from the wax when the temp is 138 to 140 degrees and has a little film forming on top. When I do it, I'm getting a film forming at 146 to 150 degrees. The first two times I've pulled the chain at 140, the links ended up absolutely packed with wax. I thought maybe it was just the small mass of wax in the sous vide bag. So I purchased an instapot and have two bags worth of wax in the pot (more mass holding the temp longer), but again, I'm getting a film at 150 degrees. Is the answer less wax? I'm sure my IR thermometer is close enough...
For my third time, I pulled at 150 degrees and still the wax is clogging up the links, just not as bad. I end up with a toothpick pushing wax out of the links...Am I doing this wrong? Should I wave a heat gun around to melt the wax jammed in the links? Pull it at a higher temperature?
Does the treatment need doing on all of the drive chain components?
Once the chain is waxed:
Cassette waxed, just a good clean, or additional product needed?
Chain ring?
Rear derailleur?
Robert, as long as the cassette and chainrings are clean when you start, the chain treatment is all that is needed.. it will keep your entire drivetrain significantly cleaner than any other method of treatment!
@@SILCAVelo thanks for getting back to me.
Appreciate their will be various factors at play. But typically what sort of mileage can be done between re-waxing?
would it be beneficial to also dip a new cassette in the wax if it "changes the metal"
No, the external wax on the chain will embed into the metal while riding. Some people also do a light coating of our SuperSecret drip lube on the outside of the waxed chain, and then run it through the gears on the workstand to coat the cassette and rings. This will give you the most quiest drivetrain you've even experienced, but isn't necessary and does not test any faster or anything like that, just very quiet!
Hi Josh,
I’ve bought the bundle and hot waxed in a slow cooker it works great, is easier than I thought it would be , and is as silent a chain as I’ve ever had.
Just did a drip wax touch up, looking forward to more videos on this.
What citrus degreaser are you using, I used mineral spirits in 2baths , followed by 1 bath in denatured alcohol. It worked very well , but would use what you recommend .
Also, what can I expect in cold weather,, say 20-40 F ?
Thanks for the great product,
Dave
David, great to hear about your results! We recommend Chemical Guys citrus, link below the video, we also have a link to a super concentrated denatured alcohol. You have to be careful with mineral spirits as there is no set mix between brands and some of them will leave a residue so just be sure the chain feels completely dry and residue free before waxing. You should see no change in performance at cold temperatures, the wax will get compressed inside the chain and acts basically as a solid lubricant after a few miles so really isn't affected by temperature until things get rather extreme! - Josh
After watching this, I am curious on post processing the chain after waxing is done. I have recently hot melt waxed (pure paraffin wax, though) my chain for my indoor setup, and on the first ride, there was dry wax from the outside all over the place. Will your wax leave a stiff residue on the outside like the paraffin wax?
I’m curious about post processing, as well. I just completed my first wax melt using the instant pot method. I heard Josh say that one of the benefits of hot waxing your chain is how quiet it will be, but my drive train is louder than I’ve ever heard it at the moment. I’m hoping it will quiet down once I get the bike out on the road and some of the excess wax spins off.
Me too! My chain comes out stiff and heavy with every crevice full of wax. I spend probably 15 minutes cleaning wax out from between the links and also from the side plates. Josh holds up a waxed chain that looks absolutely pristine in the video. Mine is far far from that. No idea how he manages to do that. I am hoping that a ride will knock the wax off and lighten the load of this chain. Rode it around the block and it feels like a heavy drivetrain. I do LOVE my new 3 quart instapot !
So ultimately, what are the benefits of this hot wax method over the Super Secret Lube formulation in the jar you also sell?
Hot melt is cleaner and lasts longer.
Hot melt allows you to get a bit more wax into the chain so it lasts a bit longer and can run at fractions of a watt lower friction (though this is minimal). The drip lube is emulsified in a carrier to allow it to penetrate the chain, and then this carrier evaporates, so it isn't possible to get 100% fill of the rollers with the drip wax like it is with hot melt. Ultimately, the differences are rather small between the two methods so it's a personal preference for most. - Josh
So is it better than a hot Parrakie bath?
Is there a more concise set of written instructions somewhere on the silca website?
Does anyone have thoughts on quick links losing strength from repeated on/off cycles?
5-8 uses seems to be a sweet spot.. I mean, officially that you really need to: 'follow manufacturers guidelines'
Question. My hot pot heated up far faster than expected. I dropped the chain in on the cold wax, turned the pot on, then went and did 25 minutes on the rollers. When I got back, the wax was at 217 degrees F. Did I damage the wax or the chain by letting it get this hot?
No damage to the wax or chain, but the danger is that if the wax gets too hot it can actually catch on fire. My son did that when he was younger, he was melting candle wax in a pan on the stove to pour it into some molds. It got too hot and caught on fire! We called 911 so he could get treated for his burns. Fortunately, there was no long term scarring. That is why I recommend using a crock pot (slow cooker). I picked up a really small one at Target for around $10 on sale. There's no risk of getting the wax too hot and it is so cheap you can dedicate it to this purpose.
If you prefer the solvent jars then why do you even display an ultrasonic cleaner?
I tried this method but used a crummy wax melter that took roughly an hour to melt the wax. I must have done something wrong though, because I have rust on my chain on a few pins after a ride in the damp. I even made sure to wipe the chain down after the damp ride. Maybe I pulled the chain out of the wax too late? My wax was clumped and I had pretty thick wax layers on the plates and a lot inbetween the pins where the cassette teeth would engage. Maybe the pins were left unprotected where those wax clumps/layers broke off?
Sounds more like the chain wasn't left in the wax long enough. You need a good 5 minutes or more to let the chain come to temperature so that the wax can fully wet the surface and penetrate all of the internals. If the chain is colder than the wax you get a clumpy surface coating that does not adhere very well and does not fully wet the imperfections of the metal surface.
Up to now, I used the super secret chain lube since summer 2021, and as I also want to use wax on my second/bad weather bike, it seems to be the best to first hot wax that chain. In case I use the bag which is put in hot water, do I just have to close the bag after waxing for reuse? If so, how often can I reuse the wax? If I decide to buy an Instapot, can I just leave the wax in the insert pot, and put it in a well-closed plastic bag, to just put it in the Instapot again for the next waxing session (e.g. in the case I have to ride often in bad weather)? Is this hot-waxing alone sufficient, or is that just the base for further waxing with the Super Secret Chain lube (which already seems to work fine, but I never used that bike in bad weather)?
After pull and wait for wax solidifies / does it need to remove the flakes before installing on bike / the links are kinda stiff after waxing - does it need an additional process to free the links before installing ?
You can do it either way, I usually work the links over a piece of 1" tubing just to free them up a bit before install, some work the chain with just fingers and others will install as is and let the excess fall off on the first use, from what we've seen in the data, there is no difference in terms of performance or longevity between any of these methods.
Can i just put the chain on top of the cold wax right when I turn the the pot on--let it sit in there while the wax heats up? is there a disadvantage to this?
Yes, this works great, no disadvantage!
what would be best option when doing a batch of chain lets say 2-3...do them together? or one by one - but then one has to cool and reheat the wax?
If you are doing multiple, I would just pull them hot.. allowing it to cool is maybe buying you a few additional % of wax in the chain and I typically save that strategy for special events or races. For everything else, you can go in and out at 195F or so and get 99% of the benefits and longevity in a fraction of the time spent waxing. - Josh
@@SILCAVelo oki now another question...so my mechanic despite my warnings applied smoove to my chain - do i need to go through the degreasing again before dropping into hot melt pot?
@@arturpiasecki6654 You need to get a new Mechanic. You are the Mechanic’s customer, and the Mechanic should always do what you want, or discuss with you why they think it isn’t a good idea.
Is the product safe to use indoors on a trainer in a room which has light colored wall to wall carpeting?
A user commented below about a black residue under the drive train attributed to tungsten disulfide.
I do have plastic mats which extend about 20 inches (50 cm) laterally from the chain under the trainer but concerned about the area beyond.
One of your videos demonstrated how tunsgten disulfide adheres even to glass. Would imagine if it makes it's way into the carpet there would be no chance for cleaning.
I did that. Vacuuming gets up the large bits, but don't use the beater bar..it just smears the bits. The powdery bits are still in the carpet.
@@brianrichards350 In the meantime I started to use Silca waxed chain on my trainer. I see a surprisingly abundant amount of wax flakes after each session, both on the floor and on the bike frame, trainer, etc. I thought it would just the tungsten powder (if it is, I don't see it, or it's rather in the wax flakes, which look dirty).
I am yet to ride the bike outside for the first time. I thought I was going to save time moving from oil based to wax, the opposite is true. At least considering the time spent degreasing a new chain. Will see in the future. Main benefit I see so far is I won't have to deal with the oily mess. I didn't think chain was more quiet or shifts better with wax compared to oil, if anything I found oil lube was better that way. Could be wrong.
I wound up putting an old towel under the chain line of the trainer and let the bits fall on that. I think they understate the time to run in the chain a bit...at least for my 100 W rides. It took about 1 to 2 hours before the chain really started to feel smooth. It did run all season for me with only a couple of touch ups of liquid wax...so more effort initially but worth it in the end.
Hi, Josh, have you experienced this problem with hardened wax accumulating on the smallest cog (11 t on a 12-speed cassette), and especially between the smallest cog and the next smallest one? Today I couldn't use the 52/11 gear combination because of this, the chain kept jumping around the 11th cog, which obviously could be quite dangerous if you're putting your best effort at that time. I used a toothpick to try and pry out the accumulated wax. Could you suggest a better way to do it?
Are you just hot waxing? I can't say that I've ever seen that with hot wax. I've seen it when people drip wax for a year or so and you can get accumulation in those areas if you are applying the lube with the chain in that area, but honestly not ever with hot melt. Please send us some photos to sales (at) silca (dot) cc
Mostly hot waxing. Only drip waxed once, to try it, didn't like the idea of basing my actions on being too lazy, so I opted for hot waxing only (have done it 4 times now), it might have been accumulated gradually, but I only noticed it now because the chain started skipping teeth on the 11t cog. Unfortunately I've cleaned it already this time, so no use sending you pictures after cleaning it... but I'll send pictures next time it happens. Thanks.@@SILCAVelo
Maybe try pulling the chain from the wax when it's a little hotter.. you should have little to no wax on the outside of the chain after waxing. The only thing we can think of would be excess wax on the outside of the chain getting scraped off and jammed in there.
That should be it. I'm still playing around trying to find the exact moment I should take the chain out of the hot wax. First 3 times it was really full of excess wax, cleaned it for hours after... Last time I pulled it out a little bit before the crust forming on the hot wax surface, and it was much easier cleaning it, say 15 min, using a spare cog. I understood from your video that I should not pull it out too early, or otherwise there'll be insufficient coating.@@SILCAVelo
Hi guys, love your content and podcast. I just wish either your wax packaging, or the website the QR code on the packaging points to , simply listed the temperature for melting and for hardening.
Sorry, we'll dive into this as that info should be all over the place! We recommend 75C as the optimal temperature and you can get good results between 70C and 90C.
What setting on the instapot? Saute, warm or slow cook ?
Can I microwave the wax pellets in a bowl and then drop my chain in while it's still liquid? Or will microwaving the wax breakdown some of the additives??
We don't recommend using a microwave. You could in theory heat the water with a microwave, but it likely wouldn't stay hot enough for long enough to melt the wax.
Is there any disadvantage of putting just some of the wax granules in a say 5 inch by 5 inch plastic container and melting that in a large pot of water? I used just enough wax granules to cover the chain and allow me to swirl it. I could leave it there for a while to cool as you diid. I thought that by doing it this way I would keep the unused wax clean and not get contaminated by rewaxing chains that weren't perfectly clean. Is it possible that by using only partial amounts of the wax granuals that the chemical ratio might be inconsistent?
Your method will work as well.. there is no downside to only using some of the wax, every pellet contains the right amount of stuff..so ratios will be same whether you melt some or all of it. Josh
PTFE vs. Tungsten Di.
What makes Tungsten better?
I have the PTFE powder from Runaway bike.
Tungesten Disulfide has a lower coefficient of friction and isn't dangerous to your health
You stress maximizing the viscosity of the wax before removing the chain from the hot pot, but do you have data to show that such a strategy improves coverage between the parts of the chain that would rub together? One would think that close clearances would hold on to wax even when the viscosity was low.
For a new chain is it better to use mineral spirits or degreaser….I’ve seen examples of both. Is one better than the other?
SILCA Chain Stripper was just released last month and is considered the best method as it not only removes the factory grease, but also leaves a wax adhesion promoting layer on the chain. silca.cc/products/chain-stripper
I hot wax my trikes chain but I'm going to be doing multiday, week month tours away from home so wondered how to maintain my chain while I'm doing a transamerica tour.
Super Secret is the perfect option for this. You can drip it on the chain after the day's ride and it will be ready to go for the next day. If you get to a point where you are able to hot wax you still can, but certainly not needed.
@@SILCAVelo yeah I’ve noticed some of the hostels along the transamerica route have full kitchens where I could get boiling water to clean my chain then melt the wax in the bag to rewax the chain.
Just a question. How do you deal with the wax in the instant pot after?? I would still like to use mine for cooking
You need to buy a separate liner for the Instant pot, you do not want to be cooking and waxing in the same liner. www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-Stainless-Steel-Cooking/dp/B008BKHGX0
If you put your face on it and deeply inhale wax fumes, will it lubricate and improve longevity of your airways?
Your nose hair trimmer will glide through the stubble.
As someone who wants to do things precisely, I was wondering what the ratio of water to wax is in the pot? Would it be 4 cups of water for a bag of wax?
Assuming you mean when melting the wax in the bag. There isn't a precise amount but about halfway up the bag will give you good coverage to melt fairly quickly.
Can you reuse if use the crockpot method? I take it you need to keep the wax in the pot or can it transfer back to the bag?
You'll definitely want to keep the wax in the pot, but yes, you can reuse the wax until it is all gone (~40 waxings per bag)
Paraffin auto ignition temperature is is 390F/199C.
Just did my chain. (1) chain is full of wax ... do you wipe it down after waxing and before installing? (2) quicklink was tough to fit to chain ... had to clean and clean the wax off the chain inner plates and holes to get it to catch. Common? (3) will any degreaser work to clean the chain or must it be a chain specific degreaser? (4) I used hot water in pot method ... produced melted silca plus large balls of unmelted. very strange to me. I think the wax was about 160F. Not positive. Common?
Sounds like the wax needed to be hotter.. you shouldn't have clumps in the wax and the final chain should have minimal surface wax on it.. Next time, leave it in there for a few more minutes. For this chain, installing it and riding it for a few minutes should knock all that wax off. I don't wax the quicklink for this reason.. there is no performance loss as all of the contact surfaces for the link are fully coated, so having the link also coated just makes it that much harder to re-fit.
Thanks, it was my first time. Had wax everywhere on the chain. I was a bit worried about overheating the wax in my kitchen over a gas flame. Wasn't allowed to use the insta pot. Going to buy a 2nd insta pot liner. So, I called the chain done when the wax was 160F. Amazed to see a clump of wax rise up in the pool of melted wax. This was when I was pulling the chain out. The clump rose out of the murky depth. Thanks again for the advice.
Reason you should use a instant pot is that wax steam is highly flammable, that's how candle works, don't wanna burn down the house ehh.
Can we reuse the cooled wax from the instapot? Put it back in the bag?
Just leave it in the InstantPot sleeve and remelt it whenever you want to re-wax the chain. You should get ~40 waxings per bag of wax.
What do you do with the wax when you are done waxing the chain? Can you just leave it in dedicated pot to reheat later for another wax job?
Absolutely
What setting or temperature is recommended for the Instant Pot?
You can just use the 'slow cook' setting, or if you are in a hurry and standing over it, hit 'rice' and it will melt super fast.. you just have to then change it to slow cook or it will get too hot - Josh
What are your thoughts on transferring the heated water and bag of melted wax + chain to the ultrasonic cleaner for wax application? Too much work for a minimal gain over agitating/stirring by hand?
Loving your videos btw, really helpful!
If I have an Instant Pot dedicated to using for hot waxing, what do I do with the leftover wax that is in the liner after I remove the chain? Can I just leave it in there and reuse it at a later date?
Exactly, just leave it in there for next time. You can get a second liner for the instant pot so you can use it for other things
J
You said do not overheat the wax - when would this point be reached and is it just to prevent fire 🔥 or more about braking down the formula and degrading the lubricant?
I think the best way is to melt in the bag on the stove and then transfer it as a whole to my ultrasonic and let it do the aggregation for me 😁
I just want to know what would happen if the wax reaches over 200 Fahrenheit f.e. ? Would it brake down and be unusable or anything? Or is it just a safety’s issue ?
Thx
Mostly a safety issue, but the wax can be damaged from about 220F and upward. Mainly, we've just seen no advantage to going hotter and the potential disadvantage of pulling the chain at a hotter temperature is that that more wax will run out of the inside of the chain leaving less behind where you really want it. As for your ultrasonic, yes, for our Diamond Polished race chains we wax ultrasonically which allows us to use a slightly higher concentration of WS2 since the ultrasound pumps the particles into the chain, without ultrasound, additional particles just settle in the bottom of the bag and can't properly be agitated into solution to do any good.
What about those pots used for cosmetic wax? They are cheap and have temperature control.
We actually recently ordered a bunch of them to test, the key will be how much power and which ones use PID control, will post a video when we are complete to let you know how it goes.
Is the chain supposed to be quite stiff when first put back on the bike? It’s the first time I’ve tried the waxing and it doesn’t exactly flow over the derailleur shall we say. Albeit I’ve not ridden it as yet
You can either break it free by flexing the links, some people will pull it over a small pvc pipe or similar to do this, or you can just ride it for a few minutes and it will loosen up.
Hello Josh,
I have been using your Super Secret Lube in a bottle for a few months now and have already got an ultrasonic cleaner after watching one of you previous videos, and have just ordered an Instant Pot, an infrared thermometer and some Super Secret Hot wax after watching this one. Just a question about the drip lube, I have been using it on my indoor bike which is on a Neo and the first few rides after a fresh lube I get little black bits of wax under the chain line. Why is this excess wax black? Is it because my chain isn't clean enough or is that just how the wax goes?
Thanks
That would more than likely be the tungsten disulfide. Josh addresses that in another of his videos as it being black.
I assume that one could do the bag sous vide as well? Talk about temperature control!
Absolutely!
Should you have your quick link waxed or not?
What do you do with used wax? How often can you use such a bag?
You can get 40+ uses from each bag and even if you are careful to catch all the drips. Used wax can just stay in the bag, though most people pour it into a dedicated crock pot or wax melter and just let it re-solidify between uses.
Can I put the bag in the instant pot instead of the wax to save the pot
what temp do I need to hit? my ultrasonic cleaner only goes to 175F
175F should do it!
The safety google video doesnt work ...
@SilcaVelo, what chain “wear” measuring tool do you guys use in the shop? Thanks!
I use the $9 park tool. Works just fine.
I use a little camp stove and an empty soup can to melt the wax. Takes 5 minutes.
The one tip: do not pull the chain out early. Really nice point!
Can we get some more of those silicone wheel speed shields? Also, would they fit the razor sharp edges of madfiber wheels? I have multiple sets and am needing a similar solution.
Speed shields ship with all SILCA valve extenders, tubeless valves and latex tubes that have extenders.. they do not work well on super sharp wheels like Madfiber or older Lightweights as they are a bit too rigid to conform to that very tight shape.
Would an induction hot plate be more effective than a crock pot or do they regulate the temperature in the same way?
As long as the induction hot plate is temperature controlled and not just amperage controlled you will be fine.
have to be very carefull with the water temp as the bag will leak, better to put wax in a seperate pot which is then put in another pot of water so direct heat is not affecting the wax