I started waxing my chain with just regular paraffin. I’ve had some good times and bad times… But I think I’m going to stick with it. However my paraffin is getting very nasty very quickly. Is there a good way to clean it or filter it? Should ignore it? Or should I get new wax?
There are a couple of ways to do it, but what I do is let the wax cool in my crock pot with a looped zip tie immersed in the wax. When it’s cool, use the zip tie to pull it out and then scrape all the nasty stuff on the bottom off.
that seems really smart. I’ll give that a try tonight! My wax is almost black now.
I just use a little wax as possible. When it gets dirty, I toss it out. It’s not that expensive. Even the molten speed wax is fairly cheap.
I guess I also wipe my chain off before I toss it in there.
Mine is the same. I think my chains were clean before waxing (multiple ultrasonic baths with simple green), but there was some dirt/oil residue. I have some wire mesh in the crock pot so that a chain won’t sit on the bottom, and any particles can sink below the chain. This lets the bigger particles and metal flakes sink, but the wax is still a dark gray (when solid, looks clear when melted). I’ll probably just throw the wax out soon (paraffin is cheap), just haven’t gotten around to ordering more wax.
Im in the same boat as you…my paraffin is starting to look pretty dark, although the chains come out fine. I added another block of paraffin at one point and it seemed to clear up a little. At some point I’ll probably just start with fresh wax. It doesnt seem to hurt the performance at all…my chain just isn’t as waxy white the last few rounds.
Your wax is going dark because you have not washed off all the degreaser and oil residue.
After degreasing, wash the chain in water to remove the degreaser and then shellite and let it dry.
The shellite will evaporate very quickly.
With a new chain, if you won’t put the chain in your mouth, you haven’t done a thorough job and you are contaminating the wax from the get go.
I occasionally add a few inches of water to the crock pot before heating the wax. The hot wax floats and most of the junk sinks into the water. When the wax cools you have a relatively clean ‘puck’ on top of the water.
I occasionally add a few inches of water to the crock pot before heating the wax. The hot wax floats and most of the junk sinks into the water. When the wax cools you have a relatively clean ‘puck’ on top of the water.
Holy great use of chemistry Batman! Do you just let the water sit or do you take the puck out and clean the crock pot?
I occasionally add a few inches of water to the crock pot before heating the wax. The hot wax floats and most of the junk sinks into the water. When the wax cools you have a relatively clean ‘puck’ on top of the water.
Holy great use of chemistry Batman! Do you just let the water sit or do you take the puck out and clean the crock pot?No I remove the water and clean it out. I do it about once per year.