Originally Posted by
One Wheel
The lab is one thing, the real world is another. IRL diesel has water in it, higher quality diesel has less water in it.
It can’t have water
in it. “Real world” or lab, diesel has no ability to carry water. Water can get into the tank…either on the vehicle or in storage…through various physical means but once in the tank, the water separates from to the fuel just like salad dressing (for the same reasons). If you are pulling from the bottom of the tank…again, either on the vehicle or in storage…you pull the water out first. But that happens with all fuels. Water accumulated in the bottom of the tank by whatever means, ends up in the fuel tank of the vehicle. It’s not good to have that water in the tank but it didn’t get there because it dissolved in the fuel.
One very small caveat: Additives to fuels can increase how much water is dissolved in the fuel but the change is minor. It’s not going to go from 0.01% to 20% water. More like from 0.01% to 0.05%.
I use gas because it's cheap and readily available, and it evaporates quicker than diesel. For a new or not previously waxed chain I put about a pint of gas in a quart jar, and gently slosh it around, then dump the gas somewhere there's not danger of catching anything on fire and drop a match on it. Repeat until the gas is fairly clean. For previously waxed chains I use water: 180f will not dissolve the wax but it will melt it out of the chain along with any debris. For all chains I spray them down with alcohol and let them dry before waxing. So far I'm happy with the system, but I've only waxed a couple of chains and it's likely the system will evolve.
Thousands of other people have said the same “there’s no danger of [it] catching anything on fire” to a whole lot of firemen after the fire.
Why do people think that chains have to be
completely free of anything to have wax work? Why do they think that water even needs to be involved in the process of chain cleaning at all? Water…plain or soapy, hot or cold…doesn’t do anything to remove anything from the chain. You don’t need to “clean” a waxed chain to remove debris before rewaxing. The hot wax will do exactly the same thing as hot water without all the added fussiness. The hot wax will melt the old wax out of the chain and the dirt and debris…of which there is very little because that’s how wax works…will settle into the bottom of the pot. Fewer steps, same result.