Banzai

Any good tips? Aside from the obvious of get a rag and some solvent and start scrubbing?

I have the old Suntour Cyclone Mk II derailleurs that came with the Centurion, and they are FILTHY! Grimy, with dirt in every moving part and crevice imaginable (I'm sorry I'm too lazy right now to post pics). I'm going to go at it with a rag a whatnot...but I want to know if anyone has some tried and true tricks, favorite cleaners, etc.

They're so dirty you can feel the grit in the moving parts when you move them by hand.

Can I safely take them apart? Taking apart the Symmetric shifter resulted in buying a new one on e-bay when I couldn't put humpty together again.

ilikebikes

I use oven cleaner, it always works great! removes all dirt and grease, just make sure that the DR sits in the sun for a while to make it warm and dry, spray it all over the RD and spray with a hose about 30 seconds later, be carefull not to leave it on longer as it will leave "burn" marks on aluminum alloy! you can get the burn marks out with a good polishing but I try not to let it come to that try it for 15 seconds first just to be sure as you can always dry it off and respray it, just make sure that its warm and dry

pastorbobnlnh 

Oven cleaner! ILikeBikes you go the hard way! If it will burn holes in the alloy, what about your skin!?! Is this the Philly Hipster Fixie way to clean a RD?

Try Simple Green and an old tooth brush in the kitchen sink. Once it is clean on the surface then take the jockey wheels off and any other removable parts. Repeat with the Simple Green. Rinse and dry. Regrease the jockey wheels and you are good to go.

USAZorro

Fantastik also works pretty well - does a great job of cutting through grease.

bigbossman 

I soak mine overnight in a bowl of hot water and detergent solution - usually Simple Green or Awesome. I then rinse under the tap while working it over with a toothbrush to get in all the nooks and crannies.

Most of the heavy stuff sloughs off in the soak, and the dérailleur usually cleans up all sparkly and clean with little effort. Often, just flushing it under the tap is enough to get the rest of the grime out.

Some folks say they have issues with alloy and Simple Green, but I've never seen any - but then again I only soak overnight.

ilikebikes

It doesn't burn hole's in it! it will leave little burn marks if you leave it on to long is all easily removed with a good polish Philly hipster! EastHill!!!!

East Hill

Y'all stop picking on my bud! Or we may both go sulk in the SS/FG forum for a while .

East Hill

ilikebikes

Stacey

Grab your self a gallon Zip-Loc baggie. Put the der. in the bag and spray liberally with WD-40. Seal the bag up and let it soak over night. Next day take to it with an old tooth brush to get the uglies off.

When its presentable, start scrubbing with dish soap, take it apart, flush it out good and dry with compressed air. Lubricate as appropriate.


I'm hearin' you haters. Go on, you don't deserve 41!






Oh you naysayers can just shaddup, you don't deserve 41!

Charles Wahl

Just for technical accuracy: oven cleaner will remove anodizing, and also the paint that is all Suntour used to put the logos on your Cyclone derailler. And if you don't plan to completely disassemble it, it will get into crevices and keep working at the bearing surfaces. There's no point to that, so I'd stay away from it. Stick with the degreaser of choice.

I would find an exploded diagram of the derailler if possible, and completely disassemble it; or else proceed slowly with disassembly, photographing removal of each piece. Total disassembly is the best way to end up with a component that no longer has grit in it. Just thank your deity that it's not Shimano!

moki

totally agree. dunking your whole rd into a bucket of degreaser/lye/goats blood will probably get it clean, but with nasty consequences down the road. In the end, you want it free of old grease and grit, and properly lubed.

The park tools website has a good step-by-step tutorial.

redxj

It use to be degreaser and rags/brushes to clean, but not anymore. I use an Ultrasonic cleaner.

moki

I use a rock tumbler.

stringbreaker

Kerosene. Let it soak for about an hour and take a brush to it then I usually let it wrap in an old towel then wipe it down, spray with WD40 then wipe again and until its nice and dry. Works for me

ricohman

I use mechanics hand cleaner.
The white non-abrasive stuff.
I squish it in every crevase and rub it around then rinse it off under the tap or with a hose.
And my hands get clean also!

roccobike

+1, Simple green in the old ultrasonic.

Banzai

Wow, thanks for all the great replies!

I won't be able to get started for two weeks (I'm going to be out of town) but I will certainly use some of these tips. I may even brave disassembly after reading these tips!

Cheers!

Wino Ryder

+1 on the spray-can of automotive brake cleaner. The jet-stream nozzle will make short work of old gritty grease and it evaporates fast. Just spray it into the derailleur springs and pivots and let it air dry, then spray in some white grease.

I would'nt use oven cleaner as it may eat off whatever protective anodise or clear coat thats on it.

EddyR

Here is a method that I am sure you guys have never heard of. It has been used by the model airplane folks for years to clean there model engines that have backed on oil and fuel. Almost nothing would clean these engines until this method was discovered. Fill a crock pot with enough antifreeze to cover the parts and bake on high overnight. Aluminum model engines come out looking like new. I did a rusty chain this way a month ago and it removed 90% of the rust. You could not even bend this chain with pliers before I cleaned it. I tried the chain as a worst case situation to see how it would work on rust. I put a few other small junk parts that were totally hardened with grease and dirt in also and they came out clean as new. Use 100% antifreeze not the deluded stuff. I have had delrin melt in hot antifreeze but not plastic.WARNING DO NOT USE THE CROCK POT FOR FOOD EVER AGAIN. Get a used crockpot at Goodwill for $5. This method will take off paint.
Ed

Kommisar89

Phew! I was fixin' to say, your wife let you do this with her crock pot? (Expecting flames from women who don't have crock pots and men who do)

Banzai

Okay, it's been a while since I started this thread. I just got around to the cleaning, and since so many people liked the Simple Green route, I did that.

The RD is currently soaking in a Bell Jar with a 1 part Simple Green to 5 parts water solution. It's been in there for 5 hours, and there's a black cloud that swirls around the bottom if I disturb the jar. Must be doing the trick!

I couldn't remove the middle wheel on the derailler, just the end one. The middle one had no apparent way to remove it.

Once it's all cleaned up, I'll regrease and re-assemble. The middle wheel will likely just get some chain lube dripped in there.

caterham

ahhh.... you must be into vintage french bikes?


k

jeffieh

Diesel, diesel , diesel.

ollo_ollo

+1 on diesel followed by orange citrus degreaser and a general re-lube. A freind runs his bike parts through the dishwasher with good results but Mrs ollo considers our kitchen to be "no man's land" so I haven't tried this technique. Don

redneckwes

I ran into this yesterday with a Suntour VX/GT long cage from my Motobecane. First Suntour Derraileur I've ever been foiled by. I am slightly afraid to dismember the spring mech, but it might come to that.