wd40 good for chain cleaning?

[GREENI3]

Do you reckon I could use wd40 to clean my chain?

I know some people say you shouldn't use it to lube the chain, but I've heard it makes a good cleaner.

MCN last week said to clean a basic chain; to wash it off with water then spray a water dis-placer over it, leave to dry then lube, so shouldn't cause any harm using wd40?

It's a 125 so only has a bog-standard chain, therefore no o-rings to damage.

[Glenben92]

Nah mate, I'd steer clear of it if I were you. Just a good scrub with a toothbrush and some parrafin or petrol and then lube and go.
____________________
57 Huoniao HN125-8 - , 97 Kawasaki GPZ500S -
99 Yamaha FZS 600 -
Mod 2 Passed - 01/10/2010

[UrbanRacer]

WD40 would be a waste of money, if you really want to go to town on your chain then get a can of Wurth Brake and Chain cleaner. It comes out with a decent amount of pressure so most of thr time you don't even need a brush.

[whitedevil]

wd40 is fine as long as you dont soak the chain in it for a long time.
However paraffin is alot cheaper and wont swell the o rings.
____________________
GPZ500 sold ~ CBR600FS-2 sold ~ ZX6R sold ~ Street Triple R

[bikenut]

:karma: hi dudes no o rings so try the following:

change engine oil and save for this next bit,

old saucepan and camping cooker ( your mum or wife will go frigging beserk if you do this in the kitchen so DONT ) in shed,

observing all safety issues ( fire, very hot oil etc. )
place chain in pan, add oil to cover and heat gently.

watch for water trapped in chain as it will eventually boil off ( you know what happens with hot oil and water, right!!!!)

this will soften and remove some crap. allow to cool and remove from pan,

this bits mucky, wire brush, check that every link articulates smoothly.

drain 1st oil and clean pan ( lots of crap in bottom?? )replace chain into pan and add 2nd oil, repeat process. did you see columbs of rising rust and air bubbles, air from links and rust from pins and bores.

allow to cool and make sure every roller ROLLS.

drain 2nd oil and clean pan, add 3rd oil,replace chain and repeat.

allow to cool. now every link articulates and every roller rolls smoothly, yes??

clean pan ansd now add parre3ffin, clean in p[arraffin till it comes out clean, 3 goes before cleaning parraffin stops getting dirty??

last wash in petrol and hang to dry.

clean pan add chain and cover in ep90 or 140 gear oil and heat gently.

see bubbles rising, remember last wash was with petrol which will vapourise ( potential fire risk so be carefull, but you did let chain dry completely, yes?? )

when all bubbles gone and oil not too hot ( dont let g/oil smoke as its too hot when it does ( oxidise ), allow to cool completely, remove and let drip off excess.

as long as you are carefull ( petrol, paraffin, very hot oil and a cooking stove ) all will be ok.

this is tried and trusted, oil acts as shock absorber tween links and rollers, do every oil change for good chain life. Also carry on with 2 daily chain spray grease applications, thats lube chain once every 2 days

[UrbanRacer]

[ninja_butler]

[neil.]

[GREENI3]

I was considering paraffin since B & Q are selling 4 liters for £6.98, but was a bit concerned about having to keep such a high quantity of it in the garage and the way it'll probably fling off the chain when I'm scrubbing it into the chain.

Think I'll probably get it now though.

Save a load of money, when you see 500ml chain cleaners for £8 each.

[bikenut]

if youve the money yeah i suppose, does that mean you buy a new bike when its dirty........

[Babba]

WD40 is an excellent degreaser & if your budget allows then it would be OK to use on a non 'O' ring chain.

But if your budget is that high then why not do the job properly in a parts washer using an industrial grade solvent?

Paraffin is all that's required.

If you fully degrease a non 'O' ring chain then you'll wash out all the dirty grease from inside the rollers, this is a good thing.

If you wash out all the dirty grease then you'd bloody well better put some fresh, clean grease back in there.

If I can remember that far back, we used to buy frying pan size tins of chain grease which you put on your mum's bestest cooker to melt the grease, then immersed the chain to let the hot grease flow inside the rollers.

Simply spraying on grease in a can isn't going to get that grease back inside the rollers, where it's needed.

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[Babba]

I've done some semi-scientific experiments myself & can confirm that WD40 has absolutely no physical effect whatsoever on the 'O' rings Tsubaki use.

It does something much, much worser.

It washes out the grease that the 'O' ring is sealing in & because the 'O' ring is there you cannot get new grease to flow back in.

DO NOT use WD40 on an 'O' or 'X' ring chain folks, it defeats the purpose.

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[ninja_butler]

This is starting to get complicated. I've read that petrol causes o rings (the rubber rings in some chains) to swell, but WD-40 does not.

Does anyone know what the correct procedure is for cleaning a bike chain? I just don't know any more!

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[Babba]

[whitedevil]

[The Tot]

I use white spirit or paraffin on mine.

I'm making the assumption that the chains are made out of nitrile rubber. Being that I work as a materials engineer, we did some experiments with various rubber compounds and solvents to see which are deleterious to the seals - we're talking O-ring seals here, but not for chains, more like nuclear reactor/plant related components.

Either way, we dug up a compatibility chart to see if it's compatible.

With a rough gestimation regarding the composition of WD40 (they won't list all the ingredients - it could be "other %" that might be detrimental, but here's what the facts say.

51% Stoddard solvent (i.e., mineral spirits: primarily hexane, somewhat similar to kerosene)
25% Liquefied petroleum gas (presumably as a propellant; carbon dioxide is now used instead to reduce WD-40's considerable flammability)
15+% Mineral oil (light lubricating oil)
10-% Inert ingredients

Elastomers with Good Compatibility:

Buna-N (Nitrile)
Chemraz
Epichlorohydrin
Fluorocarbon
Fluorosilicone
Kalrez
Nitrile, hydrogenated
Polyacrylate
Teflon

Theory says that it's OK but empirical evidence suggests otherwise. The only way for us to tell is to do a soak test. Get a link, pack it with grease and insert O-Ring. Leave submersed in WD40 film and see what happens.

Could it be that it's the propellant in the aerosol that degrades the rubber?
____________________
The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[janner_10]

[bikenut]

wow dudes great info on o ring chains, but the guys got a non o ring chain..........this is how i do it, it may be classes as fartin about, quite frnakly im a borin old fart and i dont give a toss, its how i do it so there, make your own minds up, if a jobs worth doin............

[P.addy]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[anthony_r6]

So... WD40...

Good, or No?








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