Chain cleaning "the Mick F method"

[kingfisher]

I'm a convert to the Gunk (the smell don't half linger by the way) and have invested in a half gallon can for my fleet.

I've just mis-read the last word as FEET................ I didn't have my glasses on....
I had a wonderful vision, for about two seconds !!!!!

[Old pedaller]

Rather than white spirit or Gunk I use diesel which can be "cleaned" sufficiently to reuse and requires no rinsing, just a wipe with an old towel once lifted out the jar and hung above it by the loop of wire used to lift it out. No danger of rusting either. I have two chains on the go so the clean one is ready for use and further lubed if you want by the time you need it. Using two chains prolongs tooth life by effectively spreading the wear. Probably less fire risk than white spirit too.

[MikewsMITH2]

Motivated by this wondeful thread I have cleaned 3 chains this afternoon - but not my feet (well not using Gunk anyway!). The new Gunk is "enviro-friendly" and is a different formula to the old can I had in the garage dating from the last time I cleaned an engine (probably 20 years ago!). It doesn't smell as bad and seems to work just as well. Mrs S won't let me use the kitchen sink so I used the hot water and fairy liquid in the same bottle as the Gunk. It was sunny and windy today, so I hung the chains up to dry, whilst I Muc Off'ed the bikes. I then put the chain in the box a new SRAM chain came in and White Lightninged one side, waited for it to dry, closed the lid, flipped it over and did the other side. This means minimal wastage and I don't get the stuff all over the bike and the garage floor. After the chains had dried and been refitted I went for a ride, with a lovely clean, smooth transmission and prayed for the rain to hold off. Lovely - I'll do it all again next September - Life's too short.

[Mick F]

There was a thread on here a month or two ago about sonic baths and cleaning of components. A website was suggested, and they seemed cheap enough and came in a vast array of sizes.
I can't seem to find the thread despite searching "sonic".

Did anyone buy one?
Does anyone remember the thread?
Was I dreaming?

[reohn2]

There was a thread on here a month or two ago about sonic baths and cleaning of components. A website was suggested, and they seemed cheap enough and came in a vast array of sizes.
I can't seem to find the thread despite searching "sonic".

Did anyone buy one?
Does anyone remember the thread?
Was I dreaming?

Sonic baths!
what are them?are they like sonic booms?
I hope not, the neghbours will complain when one is cleaning the chain

[Mick F]

It's a small tub that has some sort of sound transducer that vibrates the liquid at a high frequency. Providing the liquid has some sort of oil dispersant in it or detergent, the muck just falls away.

I'm going to take some time to find the thread.

[Mick F]

Found it!

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=26043&start=0

http://www.ultrasonic-clean.co.uk/index1.html

[reohn2]

Found it!

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=26043&start=0

http://www.ultrasonic-clean.co.uk/index1.html

Just the job! where can I get one?

[minkie]

I bought Mrs Minkie one for cleaning jewelry a few years ago.

http://www.goldsmiths.co.uk/product.asp?pid=2808&Aff=AW
I've never looked at it since, but she does use it to clean her baubles and it brings them up like new.
You'd need a bigger one for a bike chain - or so she tells me

[rootes]

not my idea, saw it in a mag - works well better than a jar / bottle as the chain does not get tangled up

get three plastic take away tubs with lids.

1/2 fill two of them with degreaser (fenicks, muc off, gunk, jizer, hyper clean etc)

fill the 3rd with water.

take your chain off - this is where the sram gold power link is a boon

roll chain up and place in the first tub of degreaser - put the lid on, leave to soak, then after a while aggetate the tub.

remove from tub, and placde in second tub, repeat

drop into 3rd tub to rinse

dry then lube

[andrew_s]

It all seems rather complicated and time consuming (OK when retired?).
I prefer the Mickle Method myself

[CREPELLO]

I've kind of done a variation of that Mickle Method. When the chain begins to feel or sound dry I wipe a finger along it and if there is much resistance to my finger [or little oil on finger] then it's time to lube. Only it's an intermediate lube between deep cleaning, so a liberal squirt of WD40, run cranks around backwards, whilst wiping the cruddy excess off with a rag. Result is a cleanish chain and the WD40 mixes it up with the existing oil inside the chain, effectively reviving the oil. I'll do this perhaps once more, or maybe the 'Mickle' with a drop of oil, then the chain gets a deep clean.

What I don't understand of the Mickle method though, is if you've got grinding paste inside the chain, you won't get it out with a drop of lube. And what's wrong with removing that old lube entirely and replacing with new grit free lube? If it really is grit free then that's fine, but I 've never been able to avoid the acquisition of some grit, despite using a pretty long mudflap. Perhaps I need to wipe more oil off the chain.

One other thing. I use white spirit or Isopropyl alcohol as the cleaning agent/solvent (they're endlessly reuseable), both of which evaporate when left to dry by themselves, so I need never introduce water to the process. I think that simplifies it somewhat for me.

[andrew_s]

What I don't understand of the Mickle method though, is if you've got grinding paste inside the chain, you won't get it out with a drop of lube. And what's wrong with removing that old lube entirely and replacing with new grit free lube? If it really is grit free then that's fine, but I 've never been able to avoid the acquisition of some grit, despite using a pretty long mudflap. Perhaps I need to wipe more oil off the chain.

The idea is that you never get any grinding paste inside the chain. The outside of the chain should end up virtually dry, with nothing for gritty bits to stick to. You then clean off any grit that has stuck before lubing the chain, so that the oil doesn't carry grit in with it.

If you just dump a mucky chain in a bath of degreaser and shake, the degreaser takes grit from the outside to the inside, and once it's in, it's virtually impossible to get it out without resorting to the ShelBroCo chain cleaning system.

[Mick F]

The outside of my chain is virtually dry too.

The Mickle method isn't very good, as it will not get the muck out, as Crepello says.

Don't tell me that only having lube inside the chain won't attract muck! Absolute rubbish!!!

The ONLY way to prolong the life of a chain, is to have it properly lubricated and perfectly clean. The cleanliness is the issue here. Get it properly clean, lubricate it properly, and clean and lubricate it as often as you can.

It's a harsh world out there for chains. Some places and rides are harsher than others, so it's up to each and every one of us to make our own minds up as to the best cleaning/lubricating regime that suits us.

Me? Mine gets cleaned thoroughly every time it gets a bit dirty - say every 300 or 400 miles. It gets lubed before every ride too. On a long tour, like I'm off next week for a 700 mile jaunt, it will get sorted before I go, lubed every day, then cleaned when I get back.

I have two chains. One clean and dry ready for use, and one in use. I swap them over every now and again. Both chains have done about 3000 miles each. I keep records - but the mileage thing is quite difficult to keep track of now I have a Garmin 305 as it doesn't keep a total mileage, just trip mileage. I have to calculate it by adding up! So off the top of my head, it's about 3000 miles each.

The Mick F method works.
I promise you.

[CREPELLO]

The idea is that you never get any grinding paste inside the chain. The outside of the chain should end up virtually dry, with nothing for gritty bits to stick to. You then clean off any grit that has stuck before lubing the chain, so that the oil doesn't carry grit in with it.

How can you possibly keep the grit out of the chain, even if there is next to no oil on the outside of it? It's an open system; can't get much more open for a mechanical system really. Surface water and road crud fly all over the place; grit is gonna get in.

If you just dump a mucky chain in a bath of degreaser and shake, the degreaser takes grit from the outside to the inside, and once it's in, it's virtually impossible to get it out...

Well, from observation I can get most of the grit out of the chain using my method - I can'y say that I get 100% out, but it's near as damn it. I check the chain for grit, on the bike and when cleaning by bending it laterally - gritty feel? - it gets a deep clean. I fail to understand why the chain bath would only take the grit inside the chain and not flush it out. That's what solvent does, having low viscosity, it penetrates deeply, dissolving thick residues (that also contain worn chain as well!)
and allowing them to be carried out with ease.

How does the Mickle Method address this natural build up? If it proposed a way of flushing old oil out I could understand it's merit, but when you can only push new oil in...
Actually cycling the bike would squeeze the oil out of the links, but then that ride might be in torrential rain where the oily chain is exposed to....err, wet grit.