How to dry a wet chain before lubing

[Flick of the Elbow]

You've just cleaned the bike or returned from a ride in the rain, chain is sopping yet. If you oil the chain as is the oil won't penetrate successfully into the internal moving surfaces. You could try drying with a towel but that would only dry the external surfaces, the internal surfaces would still be wet. I've tried a water dispersant like WD40 but that had only limited effect, next morning the chain had rust on it. I think I've read that pro team mechanics use compressed air to dry the chains after washing but the only compressors I've found through Google have been £ hundreds and huge.
What does the panel recommend ?

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I just use a cloth and keep spinning the chain backwards until no more water comes off it. Yes, I realise that doesn't remove some water from between the parts of the links, but it's still (as far as I know, anyway) the cheapest and most convenient way to dry a chain. ParkTool probably have a PCD-1 tool purpose-built for just such a task, and no doubt it costs money.

*** PCD = ParkTool Chain Dehydrator.

 

[winjim]

Phosphorus pentoxide?

Or failing that, a wipe with a dry cloth, a squirt of GT85 and a relube seems to do the trick for me.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I'm a bit puzzled about how wet it has to get to drive the oil out of the hidden parts in the first place. If the oil's already there, won't it stay there in everything but the drenchiest of drenchings?

 

[Brandane]

Remove chain from bike, place on a baking tray. Place in top shelf of oven at gas mark 6 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Refit chain to bike.

Or put up with the rust and replace chain more often!

 

[PeteXXX]

Remove chain from bike, place on a baking tray. Place in top shelf of oven at gas mark 6 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Refit chain to bike.

That'd work best if the chain had been run through the dishwasher first I reckon...

 

[Flying Dodo]

You've just cleaned the bike or returned from a ride in the rain, chain is sopping yet. If you oil the chain as is the oil won't penetrate successfully into the internal moving surfaces. You could try drying with a towel but that would only dry the external surfaces, the internal surfaces would still be wet. I've tried a water dispersant like WD40 but that had only limited effect, next morning the chain had rust on it. I think I've read that pro team mechanics use compressed air to dry the chains after washing but the only compressors I've found through Google have been £ hundreds and huge.
What does the panel recommend ?

Use a leaf blower to force all the water out.

 

[woohoo]

Remove chain from bike, place on a baking tray. Place in top shelf of oven at gas mark 6 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Refit chain to bike.
.....

IME, this advice needs a health warning. I used to do this, in my youth, until the day my mother found out. It is fair to say that she was less than amused and warned me that I would find said chain being used to remind me not to use the oven for this again.

 

[Hyslop]

[QUOTE 3537107, member: 9609"]I kid you not, I have a neighbour who dries his 4x4 with the leaf blower after he washes it. He also always washes it with the engine running, the whole process can take over an hour.[/QUOTE]
Crackers!

 

[Gravity Aided]

WD-40 was developed to drive water out of missles. WD= Water Displacement. It was the 40th try at a solution.

 

[bikeman66]

Holy cow! Why are you losing so much sleep over drying a chain? I have a compressor and a blow gun, but I've never even considered starting it up to dry my bike chain. It's just not necessary.

I just clean the bike, run the chain through an appropriate cleaner (the Barbieri one is brilliant, if you can still get them), then spray it with WD40, leave it for a couple of hours or overnight if possible, then lube it up as usual. Any minute specks of rust that appear after all this aren't worth worrying about (unless you want to worry about them) and will disappear next time you ride anyway.

Just ride the bike.

 

[Andy_R]

Don't go out in the rain

 

[Mr Celine]

Nooooooooo, salt.

The OP is in Edinburgh which has soft water. You only need salt in dishwashers in hard water areas.

 

[MichaelW2]

WD40 seems to work OK on wet chains. It is a solvent and will wash out a lot of lube and if you apply lube with WD40 in the chain, the lube will reduce in viscosity. This is bad news in summer, but on cold winter days, lube can get too viscous to penetrate well, so this may help.
I keep a piece of cardboard to slip between chain and chainstay whenever I resort to WD40.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Thanks for the responses folks. I guess what I'm looking for is a small inexpensive compressor that has an airline for drying things and would also take a pump head for inflating tyres.