I'm thinking of dunking my rear mech in Jizer.

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slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
I have a Campagnolo Veloce rear derailler that's got pretty filthy from winter commutes in London. In Richmond Park this evening, it started doing really horrible things (no thanks to CycleSurgery, Shepherds Bush London, BTW). Anyway, as I bimbled along in the dark...stars...no cars...I wondered about sticking it into an ultrasonic bath of Jizer (industrial degreaser), rinsing it thoroughly, and re-lubing. I think there are no plastic parts apart from the jockey wheels and they would be easy to remove before the ultasonic cleaning.

Are there any hidden bearing races that might suffer? If there are just pivots to regrease, I can probably find them. What do you reckon? I know it won't fix the dodgy shifting (that CycleSurgery, Shepherds Bush, London left me with), but I would like to clean it anyway, before presenting the bike to a good bike shop, unlike
CycleSurgery, Shepherds Bush.

Right, rant over. I'm serious about the cleaning advice. What do you good people reckon? Thank you.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
GT85, a cloth and a small brush. Then wash it off.
 
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slowmotion

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
[QUOTE 3525022, member: 9609"]an ultrasonic bath as in cleaning jewllery?[/QUOTE]
Mine is about 4.5 litres capacity. It cost about £80. The first time I used it to clean my chain with Jizer I thought it might burst into flames and explode. I got all worried about H&S and "flash-points" . It didn't happen. It's a wonderful thing.
 
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slowmotion

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
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[QUOTE 3525029, member: 9609"]so you are using Jizer as the solution in the bath? interesting, I take it you done this in the garden rather than in the kitchen[/QUOTE]
Sorry, it was half the capacity that I remembered, about 2.5 lites. It is made by JPL. They have a whole range....
http://www.jamesproducts.co.uk/jpe-product.aspx?pg=2

It was done entirely indoors, in a confined space, many times.....and the only person who was at non-existant risk was myself. Pease don't send in the social workers.
 
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slowmotion

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
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[QUOTE 3525032, member: 9609"]back to the deraillaiur - i dismantle the wheels, clean and regrease, stuff like the mechanism that doesnt come apart, oil, compressed air, more oil more compressed air and repeat a few times, gets the oil into all the nooks and crannies[/QUOTE]
Would a complete degreasing do any harm as long as you can re-lube?
 
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slowmotion

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
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[QUOTE 3525039, member: 9609"]it shouldn't, but saying that I once degreased a chain in Gunk, never got it lubed up properly again, would always start to feel dry after 20-30 miles even tried lubing by submersing in hot chainsaw oil - it was never the same again, and i don't fully understand why.[/QUOTE]
You have to get rid of the degreaser. You do that by putting the article in a bath and repeatedly rinsing it with detergent. Then you rinse off the detergent until the water runs clear. The detergent acts as a tracer for the degreaser. An ultrasonic bath speeds things up a lot.
 
Location
Loch side.
Yes, go ahead and do it. An ultrasonic batch is great for all parts, including shifters - STIs, Ergos, the lot. All you will have to do afterwards is remove the idler wheels and dry the axles/bushings and lube them inside there. I have no idea what Jizer is but any soapy degreaser will do, no need to use a petroleum product - dangerous in an ultrasonic bath in anyway.

As for cleaning shifters in such a bath, Shimano products are fine but Campag Record ergo levers have a ball bearing inside that requires special attention once it's been in such a bath. I just disassemble it and rebuild from scratch, using the ultrasonic bath to clean the individual parts.

The ultrasonic bath works perfectly for chains as well, I use it primarily for that.
 
Location
Loch side.
[QUOTE 3525039, member: 9609"]it shouldn't, but saying that I once degreased a chain in Gunk, never got it lubed up properly again, would always start to feel dry after 20-30 miles even tried lubing by submersing in hot chainsaw oil - it was never the same again, and i don't fully understand why.[/QUOTE]
Something strange is at play here. A completely degreased and dry chain is extremely easy to oil up again. Capillary action sees to that. A chain is so full of capillaries that it is impossible to keep the oil confined to the rollers. If you apply a small drop (and I mean so small that you have to truncate it by touching the dropper to the roller rather than dripping from above) and rotate the chain twice, it is already perfectly lubricated inside.
This is very easy to demonstrate. Use a master link to assemble your chain, clean it thoroughly and dry. Then oil and rotate twice. Open the link and inspect the chain. The oil will have coated the insides.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
The pivots on the paralellograms of all the derailleurs I've serviced have been so well made that I never thought degreasing and re-lubing made any difference at all. On the other hand the main swing pivot that's attached to the hanger can get manky and can benefit from a strip and lube, as can the jockey wheels, which might need replacing anyway.
 

robgul

Legendary Member
Another vote for an ultrasonic cleaning machine for everything EXCEPT chains in my view - to relube them successfully you really need to immerse them in a bath of oil.

I have one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Dire...1423474124&sr=8-2&keywords=ultrasonic+cleaner - use it with water and about an egg-cup full of degreaser (I buy in 5ltr plastic bottles from Screwfix .. very cheap) - parts, esp cassettes and mechs come out looking like new.

Rob
 
Location
Loch side.
Another vote for an ultrasonic cleaning machine for everything EXCEPT chains in my view - to relube them successfully you really need to immerse them in a bath of oil.

No, that's not true for the reasons I've given above. I maintain, it is impossible to keep surface oil on a chain from flooding the interior of it. Try it, you'll see. Capillary action works in mysterious ways.
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford
I work in a lab, I have access to some nice ultrasonic baths and a variety of cleaning agents (aqueous and organic solvent based). I've mostly given up 'deep-cleaning' bike parts that way- it's extra hassle for little benefit. Soapy water and a sponge followed by a bit of work with a rag is quicker and easier, toothbrush or bottle brush to get inside maybe.

If you do have a lot of really gunky stuff to clean up then having your own ultrasonic may well be a good idea- one of my colleagues restores motorcycles and finds one very useful.

For the original quesion though I expect Jizer should be OK with a rear mech without plastic parts. The last thing I did use an ultrasonic bath for was a manky 105 rear mech I bought on eBay for a penny.
 
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