loimpact

So I've got all these bottles of used OMS (Odorless Mineral Spirits) and I want to consolidate and try another idea.

1.) I want to get to just one most-dirty bottle and one, less-dirty bottle and continue to reclaim those using a 3 bottle system. (Gatorade/powerade, etc.)

After I pour off the majority of clean fluid, how to best clean the sediment. Just rinse w/ water? Any harm in just rinsing down the gutter? (I don't want to get anal, plenty more idiots than me dump far more than my bike can produce)

2.) I also want to use a soft parts brush to clean cassette and crank rings over a small plastic bowl and do the same......collect, let settle a few days & pour off, etc.

Any suggestion?

TIA

Bill Kapaun

Decant and pour the rest through a coffee filter.

FBinNY 

My system has 2 storage bottles (pickle jars) for storage, 1st wash or fairly dirty, and clean rinse or fairly clean. I don't worry about the sediment and let it accumulate in the dirty bottle and decant off the top, stopping when any silt starts to decant. As the cleaner rinse solvent gets dirty I top off the dirty stuff with it to replace what's lost to attrition (evaporation), and top off the clean bottle with fresh solvent.

Washing is done in a working jar, either by manual agitation, or using the "double boiler" method in my ultrasonic (jar must be closed tightly to avoid a fire hazard).

So far I've empried the silt only once in 20-30 years. I poured off all the solvent that I could, and tapped out the "cake" of dirt and iron onto an old newspaper and set it out to dry. I then put it into the scrap bin with the fine turnings and steel silt from my manufacturing business. (my metal recycler takes these for free, along with the real scrap he buys). If I didn't have access to a scrap man, I'd put the iron/dirt cakes out with paint cans and the like.

AnkleWork

Great idea. The gutter drains into the storm sewer which drains (untreated) into rivers, lakes, and the ocean.

Crazy idea: just ask your local waste disposal authority. They have probably already posted the answer on a website.

FBinNY 

Probably no great harm in flushing the dried solids down the drain, since it's basically iron which will rust, and road dust which gets washed down anyway. But it's probably better to ball it up in the newspaper, and toss it with the solid waste.

The oils from your chain lube are still in the solvent, which you will not dump into the environment.

loimpact

I was going to ask Ankles what he thought happened when he washed his car....(especially when spraying all that "mystery grime" off his wheels)....but he probably collects those sediments & takes 'em down to the local waste disposal authority.

FB, sounds like it might not even be an issue. (I'm only a couple cycles into this project) So I might just let it ride & forego trying to keep both bottles clean. See how she goes.

Thanks!!!

Whaddaya think about the idea of doing "over a bowl" routine for the chain rings & cassette??

FBinNY 

I use a dead credit card with a notch cut out to scrape the "burm" off chainrings once in a while, but never actually wash them except if I'm overhauling the entire bike. Even then I scrape first, then only wash the remaining film.

davidad

When I clean my chain I wrap thin rags around a thin metal ruler. The bike is on my stand so this is easy for me. I hold the rag between the cogs and rotate the wheel backwards (no free wheeling) until almost all of the crud is wiped off. I do the came for the chain rings.
I clean my chain in Simple Green in an ultrasonic cleaner.

Looigi

+1 on two jars. Let particulates settle and decant the supernatant. Gatorade or similar PETE bottles work fine for me.

Crankycrank

Throw a magnet in the jar and most of the silt (which is the steel from your chain) will stick to the magnet after a day or so. Take out the magnet and wipe off silt then dispose of the rag. Warning: this stuff is some of the hardest black crap to wash off your hands so either use gloves or try not to touch it.

nfmisso

Use Nitrile gloves, Latex will be eaten by the mineral spirits. The black stuff on the magnet is an oxide of iron, the particles are small enough to permanently stain fabric. It will stain your skin, in a month or so, the mark will be gone.