The only bad thing with White Lightning is it cakes up on my rear d pulleys but that's a minor quibble. Easy to wipe off.
I have never tried the WL "Clean", so I will give that a try. The video says it is patented, so it's probably different from what I was using before.

Wax seems fine but the service interval of 200 miles?? I would be boiling wax 2 times a week. Also, using years old dirty wax doesn't seem like a good idea.
All that grime is in suspension in the wax and just goes into your drivetrain. Why not just use new wax? It's not expensive.

I wonder if a brew of paraffin and ptfe, like I linked to earlier, would be the best of both worlds.

I might try paraffin wax because I'm curious how it works. But, I'll take it off and really let it soak in the pot for 20 minutes.
This just seems to make more sense to me.

Yeah. I was surprised as well. As I said - it's a cheap ($10) slow cooker from Wal-Mart. This was also done out in the garage, where the temp was probably around 50ºF, and I didn't have anything insulating the slow cooker. It has 3 settings - Warm, Low, High. I had it set to High. Warm isn't even warm enough to keep the wax melted.

Easy solution: turn it on before I leave for work, and it's ready for me when I get home, and hope that there are no earthquakes.

I'll be trying some commercial liquid wax lubes next. I think its going to come down to personal preference for application methods.

I also prefer the chain remove and soak method, but 20 min is probably overkill. After a couple of minutes the chain will be the same temp as the wax and the bubbling stops. I don't think you will get any more penetration after 5min.

do you ever shake the chain around in there just to make sure it gets into every nook?

Yeah, some kind of mix with other lubes using the paraffin as a base would be neat

I'm going to go all safety nanny on you. The problem with Teflon is that it is inert. In lubricants, it is suspended in the oil or in a solvent and have to be vigorously shaken or stirred to keep it in suspension during application. This would be extremely difficult to do with molten wax.

I was thinking the same thing but if it was blended in molten wax, would it not stay suspended in the wax? The thick consistency would make it hard for ptfe to fall to the bottom.
Maybe blending or stirring the wax will suffice. Just a thought.

Probably totally overthinking it, when a little bottle will do! haha

Since I just throw the pot on the stove and continue to watch TV, take a shower, etc. I don't give it a second thought. Then I put the pot down near/under my crankset and run the installed chain through in under 5 mins. Boom; done. I know 200 miles is overkill buy hey, since my drape method is so fast and easy it's no trouble at all. My chain and rings look/sound new and I want them to stay that way.

Also, I use/rotate 3 bikes and wax them all at the same time. So for me it's really 600 miles between waxings. My chains are always coated with fresh wax.


Also if I thought the discoloring of my wax was a problem I would swap out my old wax for new--but I don't.

Just tried it out (1lb) 4 blocks Gulf Wax, 2 pans got from Wal Mart....Less than $10 (paid $2 for bent pan) & 1 table spoon of Bee's Wax (Sno Seal) I've had for 20 yrs. May have taken 15 min to melt. Since I have Sram Power Link I just soaked chain for about 5 min. Was a lot easier than I thought it was gonna be.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...8/IMG_0487.jpg
Since I have 3 bikes I ride equally I'll probably get by with doing it a couple times a year.

Wondering about using a master link to break the chain...is it in the wax along with the chain pictured? Can you use a mater link if it's coated with wax? If not, how do you lube that critical link?

I like your pot it looks perfect to me. I would add more wax to fill it near the top and just drape the chain through without uninstalling but that's just me.

So White Lightning cakes up on the pullys I thought it behaved just like wax and flaked off clean. Hmmm.

I just did this on my MTB last weekend. I degreased the chain, tied some fishing line to it, removed the 2 master link pieces, and slid them onto the fishing line. Dipped the entire chain into the slow cooker, and let it soak for about 5 minutes. I lifted the chain out by the fishing line, and hung it from a hook to let it cool/dry for about 10 minutes. During the waiting times, I cleaned and degreased the other components on the bike. If I'm going to use this method again, I'm going to replace the fishing line with a piece of wire coat-hanger for ease of use.

The chain was very stiff, but actually easy to work with. The master link (KMC Missing Link - 9 speed), now covered with wax, was a bit more difficult to install than it had been prior (when using liquid lubricant). Getting it to lock in place used to simply be a slight tug on both ends of the chain. This time required a stiff jerk on the crank to get it to 'seat'. In all, the chain still only took a minute or so to install...as opposed to about 30-45 seconds before.

Next time I'll try the drape method and see how it goes.

One thing I noticed immediately on my first ride with the waxed chain is that the chain is now noisier than it was before. The first couple miles were the noisiest, and after that it quieted down, but even after 20 miles it was still significantly noisier than a chain lubricated with "Rock-n-Roll Gold" lube.

I just used a coat hanger...Master link (Sram Power Link) just dipped it for a few sec. Put it on my Kona with Alfine 8 spd hub this morning and went for a little ride. It was so quiet ....like having a belt drive.

Now that's interesting, ChrisM reports loud chain after waxing, while SHOFINE reports quiet chain after waxing. Wonder what the difference could be?

My guess would be: Rear derailleur vs. internally geared hub.

The chain on my bike is making a few sharp turns. I've noticed that the more outstretched my derailleur is (the less 'sharp' the turns are), the less noise it makes.

I verified this by briefly shifting into the small/small (very noisy), and then the big/big (nearly no noise).

Yea, these nexus & Alfine 8 spd's are already quite...like single speed....but I like the clean chain.

Let me first say that I post this without having read the wole thread, but I feel the urge to comment.

I do the same, I wax new chains. I suggest peopel try this for themselves instead of discssing about how often and how far. Riding pattern is different and riding conditions are different, much to different to compare in a thread like this.

The thing is you start off with a new chain and fill up the empty spaces and cower it with wax. You newer have that black greasy chain that is almost impossible to clean properly and that require using all sort of chemicals trying to do so.

I especially use it on folding bikes that I often bring into stores, busses, trains or my car or house. A belt would of course be ideal but for the time being I have no belt bikes.

I can not say my chain is quieter now with wax, as it was quiet when I used conventional lubes. But it is very quiet, and feels very smooth even after a couple hundred miles of riding. Not sure how/why a chain would be noisier after waxing unless there is lots of wax on the outside of the chain and it just is not moving smoothly over the rollers. I wiped my chain down right after pulling it out of the wax to reduce the amount of wax on the outside.

My takeaway from this is that I need to clean all my chains in mineral oil and buy a bottle of White Lightning. Seems a bit easier than hot wax and nearly as clean. Throw out the motor oil/mineral oil stuff I've been using- my chains are black and nasty, cogs are caked so bad I need to dig the stuff out with a screwdriver.

I run a brand new chain straight out of the box and do not relube it... I only wipe it down to keep it clean. Once it gets to the point of needing lube I soak it in acetone to thoroughly clean it, melt my wax via candle heater (also coffee cup warmer... you can usually find them for <$5 at thrift stores) and soak the chain. When I need to recoat the chain I'll use either my heat gun on low or a hair dryer in high to heat the chain while rubbing it with a wax block to coat it. Also, my wax is a mixture of paraffin and linseed oil... the same stuff I use to make waxed cotton.

Now THIS is a very cool idea indeed. Heat the chain with a paint remover gun and rub a block of wax on it! I gotta try this thanks. I bet the chain just sucks the wax off. Very interesting thanks!

Probably melts the old dirty wax off and out of the chain as well. I will be curious to here how well this works when some one tries it . . .

I thought you were making spaghetti.

:lol:...but I was boiling red potatoes in the other pot & had steaks on the grill now that I remember.

Yeah that certainly sounds better to me--others here love White Lightning and convinced me it's great. Someday I may give White Lightning a try again--but I'm all set up for parrafin and it works fine too.

I use paraffin with about 25% bees wax and a tube of powdered graphite all mixed together. Chain removed and soaked method. H ave stretched the interval to 500 miles so far without issues.