What oil for simmering chain in?

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Title saying it all really - what oil would be best for simmering a rusty chain in please?

(It's not my bike, so please none of the should not let it get that bad please... I got banned from cleaning my OH's bike and he didn't clean it - chain is now like an olive branch rather than a snakey flexible chain and I'm trying the "olive branch" approach to household diplomacy...)

 

[Theseus]

Easy Option: Chuck it and get a new one

Possible alternate option: Soak in GT85

 

[mickle]

Just lube it until it stops sucking it up and then ride it in. And then wipe it all off.

 

[HovR]

If it's that bad that it is actually stiff from the rust I'd say just replace it with the £4 chain from Asda. It's so cheap that it's practically disposable if this happens again, and seems to resist rust better than cheap OEM chains (on the exterior, at least).

 

[neil earley]

Buy a new one tighwad lol

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Buy a new one tighwad lol

it has now been simmered and is like new, all rust gone and lovely and flexible - better than when new really but it is the OEM decathlon chain. i was just curious as to what oil I should have used. (purchasing new one is not an option, my only transport is my bike and I did a long ride yesterday and my leg is not up to another today, and I only get the car if he cycles to work...)

 

[tyred]

Diesel is good for resurrecting a chain.

 

[dan_bo]

 

[Globalti]

I wouldn't recommend cooking a chain in oil, the chain will be lying on the bottom of the pan and you might alter the temper of the steel and make it brittle or you might just burn your house down.

Soak in several changes of paraffin, white spirit or turps subs, dry overnight then re-lube with a light wax in solvent lube like Finish Line.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

don't laugh, but groundnut oil was used in the end - it was all I had available and the chain has come up amazingly clean afterwards... Next time the car is home I may raid the fuel tank and obtain a little diesel...

I wouldn't recommend cooking a chain in oil, the chain will be lying on the bottom of the pan and you might alter the temper of the steel and make it brittle or you might just burn your house down....

it was a slow & low heat job that did not get hot enough to burn human flesh, no chance of issues. i was careful, but I have read somewhere about doing this to chains, and it being very sucessful - it worked exceptionally well and the chain is like new again. I just think my choice of oil needs refining!

 

[tyred]

Battered and deep fried chain? I might sell my recipe to Scottish chip-shops

Weight watchers can have 3/32," full fat 1/8" for everyone else.

 

[tricksta]

Sorry to re-awaken an old thread,

I've just cleaned and waxed my chain (recumbent trike so very, very, very long). I coiled the chain up in an old sweet tin and soaked it in a spray on tool cleaner to get rid of the built up crud. Then I boiled it on the stove in a couple of inches of water with lots of washing up liquid in it, scrubbing all the time with an old toothbrush, agitated the chain as much as I could, tipped away and then repeated until the water was not getting dirty (this removed an amazing amount of stuff!!! I was really surprised as it already looked clean). Then rinsed in clean water (no detergent) dried the chain in a dry pan (v low heat) until all traces of water were gone.

Now I tried something new, paraffin wax, just picked up a cheap pack of household candles (un-scented) melted them down in the same large pan until there was enough to cover my chain then lowered the coiled chain into it and let it sit (BE CAREFUL YOU SHOULD USE A BAIN-MARIE TYPE SETUP) still on lowest heat, remove the chain while wax is still liquid and wipe vigorously so the wax is spread out and leaves a light coating (AGAIN BE CAREFUL AS THE WAX IS STILL HOT)

No just have to finish sorting the trike so I can re fit the chain and see how it fares.

 

[mickle]

Candle wax is not a bicycle chain lubricant.

 

[mickle]

Or tricycle chain lubricsnt for that matter.

 

[tricksta]

Why not?

Lots of people use engine oil, but shouldn't as it contains engine cleaning products.

Other than mixture, what's the big difference in reality between bog standard paraffin wax and expensive chain wax?

Just wondering