Originally Posted by
Vicegrip
I run the original lube until it gets wet a time or two than go to a full clean and resoak. You don't need to heat an oil to make it thin and easy flowing. You can add an evaporating solvent to it. This is what most chain lubes do now. You apply the lube and let it pull in and then the carrier solvent evaporates leaving a now heavier weight lube behind. The carrier solvent is often chosen for its capillary action. Water pulls all kinds of chemicals and contamination deep into chains. Cycling chain rollers, pins and plates have a large amount of float by design. This lets dust in. Crunchy grit is not want kills chains it is the fine dust that mixes with the lube and turns to a grinding paste. Old format oils are far more prone to becoming a grinding paste than many of the new lubes. The key is not a thick coating but a molecular level film that fills the voids and clings to the steel.
Compressed air works well to dewater a chain.
I agree that it is better to simply re oil a chain than to partly clean it. The real key to keeping a chain is to oil it often enough that it s not run "dry"
Lots of good info here that I didn't know, for example, the use of an evaporating solvent in chain lube. However, I'm living by your last statement for the following reasons:
1. I'm lazy. If I have to take a chain off or use a chain-cleaning gadget, I won't get around to it often enough.
2. Although water-born dirt can get into the space between pins and rollers, it can only happen if the space isn't filled with lube. Fluids move from wet to dry by evaporation, so, theoretically, if you can keep the space filled with lube, dirt won't enter. In theory, re-oiling puts oil in the spaces not already filled with factory grease. The oil also coats external surfaces of the chain, preventing (or at least slowing down) loss of the factory grease through evaporation.
3. I avoid riding in wet conditions.
Anyway, that's my wishful thinking. I have several new chains that will eventually prove or disprove my method of chain maintenance.