Chain cleaner

ThePriory1978

Not the liquid solution, the plastic thing-a-me-jig with all the brushes.

Are there specific types for specific chains?
Will anyone do the job or are some better than others?
Do they damage chains?
Do they work all that good or will a toothbrush work just as well?

Mucho thanks.

blablablacksheep

i have a park tool chain cleaner and heres what i have found

1: It 100x quicker than doing it DIY by hand, toothbrush is good for getting into tricky places but doing a chain it going to send you into a looney house

2:The park tool one is very simple to use and i am very happy and dont regret getting a chaincleaner as it not only quicker it DOES clean the chain better than by hand, no dout.

3:make sure you buy a semi decent degreaser, the citrus stuff with parks is very good, maybe the best i have used, but very exspencive, so i suggest you dilute it down about 3 water to 1 degreaser, as that will save you money in long run.

4: the brushes are good as i said above but after id say about 3-4 months they do tend to wear out and annoyingly get stuck between the chain, so you have to pick them out by hand, is a pain but i cant be asked to buy a replacement set just yet :roll:

All in all id give the park tool+citrus cleaner about 4/5 would be 5 if the brushes lasted longer and didnt brake off like a cheap B&Qs paint brush

leaflite

I have the Muc Off one. I find that it gets the mud and dust off the chain, but it leaves it covered in black liquid that drips everywhere. You then cant put new lube on until you have dried this all off. It does the job, but not as well as soaking the chain in a bucket of degreaser overnight.

blablablacksheep

forgot to add allways wash off degreaser from chain, even if it claims it can be left to dry off as it takes forever.

nozzac

Anyone tried filling them with paraffin or brush cleaner or something?

Deputy Dawg

From my experience those chain baths make the chain look clean but they still leave a fair amount of muck under the rollers.

Now I just take the chain off & shake it in a bottle with degreaser (I use fenwicks but paraffin works also). Then rinse, dry & put it back on with a power link.

cee

Deputy Dawg wrote:

From my experience those chain baths make the chain look clean but they still leave a fair amount of muck under the rollers.

Now I just take the chain off & shake it in a bottle with degreaser (I use fenwicks but paraffin works also). Then rinse, dry & put it back on with a power link.

this.

paulbox

cee wrote:

Deputy Dawg wrote:

From my experience those chain baths make the chain look clean but they still leave a fair amount of muck under the rollers.

Now I just take the chain off & shake it in a bottle with degreaser (I use fenwicks but paraffin works also). Then rinse, dry & put it back on with a power link.

this.

This, but I use White Spirit.

t0pc4t

Park tool one works well enough for me.

SpiCan

+ 1 for white spirit

Diesel fuel is good as it has a lubricant for the pumps and injectors used in engines.

But normaly I have white spirit around so.

Dry it with a kitchen paper roll.

I have a "Barbieri" chain cleaner, cheap and cheerfull.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=33179

Fudgie

PaulBox wrote:

cee wrote:

Deputy Dawg wrote:

From my experience those chain baths make the chain look clean but they still leave a fair amount of muck under the rollers.

Now I just take the chain off & shake it in a bottle with degreaser (I use fenwicks but paraffin works also). Then rinse, dry & put it back on with a power link.

this.

This, but I use White Spirit.

This

rrsodl

I have the Park Tools one but I hardly use it anymore. The degreaser destroys the brushes after a while. I then bought another one which I'm still to use.

I now have a split link and once a week I remove the chain, put in a container with white spirit ( can be re-use several times) while I clean the cassette and other bits. I then dry the chain with some old rag before re-fitting - so far this is the best way I found to properly clean the chain.

alfablue

I know this is contraversial, but KMC say:

NEVER EVER use a so-called'chain washing machine' in combination with solvent. This is the one
and only sure way to instantly ruin your chain.
- Avoid the use of solvents, not only are these bad for the environment, they remove lubricant from the
chain's bearing.

http://www.kmcchain.com/index.php?ln=en&fn=service#2

skellator3

old milk one pint carton half filled with white spirit (about £4.49 for 4 litres from wickes) pop chain in give it a good shake take it out with an old spoke dry off most off excess with kitchen roll leave to dry off completely on a radiator or just leave in sun.
put it back on bike join with a quick link re lube with lube of choice( only drop on each roller) wipe off excess
and bobs your uncle.

you can use the spirit over and over
cheap and cheerfull but it works

paulbox

After cleaning in white spirit, I let the chain dry naturally by just hanging it from a hook in the garage, if you use a rag or paper towel you won't get it fully dry.

Then I let the chain soak in a bowl/tub of Castrol GTX for a few days to get fully lubricated, let it hang again for a couple of days (over the bowl) to drain. Give it a wipe over to remove the excess and refit on to the bike.

Rotate two chains once per month (more frequently if chain particularly dirty) and you will be good for years. The chains run like they are new.