I think I did something stupid while cleaning chain

friedpizzainbatter

Was wondering if anyone could point a finger at where I went wrong, feel free to laugh whilst pointing, as I think I did something stupid.

Took my chain off to clean it, cleaned in degreaser then dried in the oven. Sprayed with GT85 then worked Muc off dry lub into it a link at a time. Left the chain soaking in dry lube for a few hours. When I went to wipe off the excess and refit onto bike the chain was covered in rust, where did I go wrong?
The ony thing I can think of is that the lube is water based and I should have wiped the excess off immediately and fitted, is that right?

desweller

Dry lubricant consists of PTFE particles in a solvent carrier fluid. The solvent transports the PTFE into the chain and then evaporates, leaving the PTFE behind.

Dry lubricant is therefore not a rust preventative! If you want something to protect the chain from oxidising then use conventional oil.

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

All sounds a bit OTT to be honest. I just clean my chains with paraffin or white spirit (bought from any DIY store), cheaper than fancy 'special' cleaners, then just spray some GT85 on it in the summer, or good old 3 in 1 oil in the winter.

desweller

xdoc wrote:

All sounds a bit OTT to be honest. I just clean my chains with paraffin or white spirit (bought from any DIY store), cheaper than fancy 'special' cleaners, then just spray some GT85 on it in the summer, or good old 3 in 1 oil in the winter.

I think you're on the wrong forum. Don't you know that bikes are more complicated than space rockets these days?

thistle_

Was it rusty before you started cleaning it?

GT85 or dry lube won't make it go rusty in the space of a few hours. What did you use as the degreaser?

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

Yes DesWeller, you're probably right, I bet my Garmin 200 has a greater computing power than Apollo 13

cycleclinic

The first problem is you took the chain of degreased and dried in the oven. If I did that my wife would quite literally try to kill me and I wouldn't blame her.

All this attention will not increase the life of your chain just shorten the ammount of free time you have available. There are lubes that have a cleaning effect that all I do and get good chain life.

woolwich

Heat and moisture. Hmmn you just gave a chain a sauna No wonder it oxidised.
Seriously I wouldn't go to the extreme of removing the chain from the bike when you clean it and just leave it to air dry for 10/15 minutes and let the substance of your choice evaporate before reapplying lube.

rfretwell

xdoc wrote:

All sounds a bit OTT to be honest. I just clean my chains with paraffin or white spirit (bought from any DIY store), cheaper than fancy 'special' cleaners, then just spray some GT85 on it in the summer, or good old 3 in 1 oil in the winter.

so that's at least two of us!

smidsy

General wipe down after each ride - WD40 on a rag and just run the chain through (use hand to turn crankset). Leave to dry and then apply chain lube of choice. Wipe off excess.

Full clean - Remove chain, place in jar of parafin, leave to soak, wash off with soapy water, rinse, leave to dry, re attach chain, apply lube of choice. Wipe off excess.

ugo.santalucia

smidsy wrote:

General wipe down after each ride - WD40 on a rag and just run the chain through (use hand to turn crankset). Leave to dry and then apply chain lube of choice. Wipe off excess.

Full clean - Remove chain, place in jar of parafin, leave to soak, wash off with soapy water, rinse, leave to dry, re attach chain, apply lube of choice. Wipe off excess.

You clearly don't charge for your time...

These days I use chains worth £ 5.99

friedpizzainbatter

Thanks for all the replies. Actually got the cleaning tips from forum posts in BR.

thecycleclinic wrote:

The first problem is you took the chain of degreased and dried in the oven. If I did that my wife would quite literally try to kill me and I wouldn't blame her.

I usually clean the oven, I've already had myself kicked squarely in the nuts for the mess I've made of the roasting pan.

Just chatting to one of the bike mechs in Evans and he reckoned I did the right things with the chain and didn't understand why it would oxidize like that. I used fenwicks degreaser, although from some of your answers this looks like it is a complete waste of money and in future I'll just use one of the many bottles of white spirit I have in the garage. I did notice that the dry lube had separated a little, maybe it was that, not going to leave it soaking in that in the future either.

Don't want to get into the 'how much or little to clean your chain thing', as I reckon that's been done here before? Just didn't get how it would oxidize like that in a few hours.

Deegs

Sounds odd. Unless was slightlywarm and wet in oven for v long time I don't get it.
I never use water just 1) major white spirit clean 2) wipe off to max 3) evaporate at room temp 4) lube immediately.

You didn't leave it in a shed overnight half way through or summat?

MichaelW

ugo.santalucia wrote:

smidsy wrote:

..Full clean - Remove chain, place in jar of parafin, leave to soak, wash off with soapy water, rinse, leave to dry, re attach chain, apply lube of choice. Wipe off excess.

You clearly don't charge for your time...
..

If you run 2 chains, you can clean the dirty one at your leisure. Just replace with the pre-cleaned one and ride.
Soak the dirty one in on or 2 jars of parafin till the weekend. Personally I would just hang it up to dry then apply lube, no water involved.
This scheme is best for all-weather winter riders who want to minimise the amount of grease-monkey time on cold, wet, dark days.

smidsy

ugo.santalucia wrote:

You clearly don't charge for your time...

I do not have rusty, dirty drive trains either 8)

plowmar

All I do, on bike, is clean the chain with Muc-Off chain cleaner; see I'm not daft; rinse with clean water then immediately spray with GT85 which acts as a water displacer and lubricant.

Only time I've had rust was when I left the bike in the garage which tends to get a bit damp with no relubeing (is that a word?)