Vape VG as Makeshift Lubricant ?
09-22-23, 06:07 PM
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Vape VG as Makeshift Lubricant ?
Wondering if this'll save me 5$ here and there as I work on alot of old bikes. 99.9 percent kosher food grade that is. Pharmaceutical. I buy it off amazon by the quart.
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!
09-23-23, 04:47 AM
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People are always trying to cheat the system just use a bicycle lubricant they are designed for the purpose and not super expensive if you don't want them to be. There is a reason well beyond marketing for getting a proper bicycle lube.
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09-23-23, 09:36 AM
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Due to the presence of the three hydroxyl groups, glycerol is very hygroscopic. It acts as a water trap. Glycerin is miscible with all proportions of water and alcohol.
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09-23-23, 01:30 PM
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Vegetable and animal based oils and greases can go rancid, producing fatty acids that can corrode aluminum and steel parts. Mineral-based lubricants are more stable, and not significantly more costly.
09-23-23, 02:53 PM
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I have tried vaping before. I didn't like it, so I switched to IQOS. If you can afford non-suspect vape fluid and paraphernalia, you can afford bike chain lubricant, which you do not need to use a lot of per chain.
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09-23-23, 03:21 PM
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This is more along the lines of what I was thinking. Wondering 'in caution'. Vape juice steeps like tea but that's only with all the products in it combined. Otherwise it's basically just vegetable oil. And like was noted before not exactly the best if it's not made for it.
09-23-23, 03:23 PM
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Likewise I've also seen concoctions of mineral oil and motor oil mentioned elsewhere as well as here on the forums
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09-23-23, 11:35 PM
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Glycerin is not an oil or grease. Glycerin comes from the hydrolysis of fatty acids like those found in animal fat and vegetable oil. It is an alcohol that is water soluble which makes it a poor choice for chain lubrication. It’s slick feeling but is not an oil.
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09-23-23, 11:36 PM
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At least those are made of water insoluble materials.
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09-25-23, 01:38 AM
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Maybe you can explain it. At work I tried some veggie based biodegradable chain lube. Definitely didn’t last as long as normal MolyB misty chain lube. Why? That was ~8 years ago, maybe different result now.
09-25-23, 01:59 AM
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also it's really difficult to evaluate why some oil lasted longer than some other oil we have no details about. Biodegradability likely had nothing to do with it.
09-25-23, 08:30 AM
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Vegetable fats…as well as animal derived fats…have a water soluble components which allows our onboard organisms to utilize the energy in the fat. That water soluble part is what causes those biodegradable lubricants to wash off relatively quickly. Mineral oils don’t dissolve in water so they stick on longer. They can be removed by water but it’s more a process of floating the oil off rather than dissolving parts of it.
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09-26-23, 02:33 AM
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I was going to say something about water solubility. So if you're only riding in dry conditions, and you have jars of it laying around, I don't think it'll hurt. I'm not saying it's ideal or that it'll be better than actual chain lube, but I'll probably be better than no lube.
Relatedly, if you only ride in cooler temps, you might try coconut oil as a wax alternative 😉 (only semi joking).
Relatedly, if you only ride in cooler temps, you might try coconut oil as a wax alternative 😉 (only semi joking).
