WD40

"Jellylegs" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Can anyone tell me if i could use WD40 as chain lube,
i was thinking of using it instead of expensive lube,what
i was planning to do was spray some on eveytime i go
out riding,the reasoning for WD40 is it evaporates away
so it doesn't attract dirt so none of the sludge that builds
up on your chain,any thoughts on this.

Thanks.

Hi,

Unfortunately not a good idea - wd40 is a great water dispersal product, but
not a lubricant.
Use it after rain, bike washing etc, but you must use a lubricant afterwards
as well.

Cheers,
Graham

"Graham Dean" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi,

Unfortunately not a good idea - wd40 is a great water dispersal product,
but not a lubricant.
Use it after rain, bike washing etc, but you must use a lubricant
afterwards as well.

Cheers,
Graham

Actually, it is a lubricant, but like you I wouldn't be using it on my
chain. 😉

"LSMike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Graham Dean" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi,

Unfortunately not a good idea - wd40 is a great water dispersal product,
but not a lubricant.
Use it after rain, bike washing etc, but you must use a lubricant
afterwards as well.

Cheers,
Graham

Actually, it is a lubricant, but like you I wouldn't be using it on my
chain. 😉

Guilty as charged!! Ok, it is a lubricant, but not a good chain lube...
Perhaps you could clean and use on chain every day (every hour?) but that
seems rather like hard work...

On the other hand, wd40 truely is magical for all sorts of freeing,
cleaning, etc jobs!

Cheers,
Graham

Jellylegs said:

Can anyone tell me if i could use WD40 as chain lube,
i was thinking of using it instead of expensive lube,what
i was planning to do was spray some on eveytime i go
out riding,the reasoning for WD40 is it evaporates away
so it doesn't attract dirt so none of the sludge that builds
up on your chain,any thoughts on this.

It's better than nothing and is quite good at preventing rust. However,
the lubricant content is very low (compared to the solvent content) and
it's too thin really.

Zog The Undeniable said:

Jellylegs said:

Can anyone tell me if i could use WD40 as chain lube,
i was thinking of using it instead of expensive lube,what
i was planning to do was spray some on eveytime i go
out riding,the reasoning for WD40 is it evaporates away
so it doesn't attract dirt so none of the sludge that builds
up on your chain,any thoughts on this.

It's better than nothing and is quite good at preventing rust. However,
the lubricant content is very low (compared to the solvent content) and
it's too thin really.

What about GT85 then?

--
Jon
____________________________________________
jondotrogersatntlworlddotcom
============================================

Jon Rogers said:

What about GT85 then?

They are all too thin for chain lubrication and, needing frequent
application, will ensure that grit is washed inside the chain more often
so leading to faster chain wear. Get some proper lubricant and apply it
dropwise to each link in turn and it will work out far more economical
than spraying WD40 or GT85 over the outside of the chain and half the
local neighbourhood.

--
Tony

"A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought" Lord
Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers)

Jellylegs said:

Can anyone tell me if i could use WD40 as chain lube,
i was thinking of using it instead of expensive lube,what
i was planning to do was spray some on eveytime i go
out riding,the reasoning for WD40 is it evaporates away
so it doesn't attract dirt so none of the sludge that builds
up on your chain,any thoughts on this.

You want chainsaw oil. Approx £7 per GALLON. Works very well.

If you ever ride in the wet, the stuff that's designed to not catch dirt
(the waxy stuff with a lot of solvent in to make it runny, "dry" lube), it
all disappears.

Zog The Undeniable said:

Jellylegs said:

Can anyone tell me if i could use WD40 as chain lube,
i was thinking of using it instead of expensive lube,what
i was planning to do was spray some on eveytime i go
out riding,the reasoning for WD40 is it evaporates away
so it doesn't attract dirt so none of the sludge that builds
up on your chain,any thoughts on this.

It's better than nothing and is quite good at preventing rust. However,
the lubricant content is very low (compared to the solvent content) and
it's too thin really.

http://yarchive.net/chem/wd40.html

The lubricant content is ~= 10%, so you'd have to really
hose the chain to get a decent amount in there. Of course, with
the stuff coming out of the spray nozzle being thinned to such an
extent, it'll just drip off. WD40 isn't a good chain lube...

OTOH, I use WD40 every time I clean and lube my chain
- A bit of J-Cloth, sprayed generaously with the stuff, is great
for getting all and any exterior gunk off.

a) Top posting.
q) What's the worst thing about UseNet?

On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 09:14:32 +0100, Tony Raven <[email hidden]>

wrote in message : said:

"A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought" Lord
Peter Wimsey

Nice :-)

Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

GT85 is IMHO a great off-road chain lube (WD40 is not)- just let it dry before riding -
not a squeak in the last 8 years!
It will build up a PTFE sludge if applied repeatedly without washing (fat chance with our
weather!)
You can use a much wetter lube on a road bike and a single application will last much
longer. GT85 would soon get messy and WD40 just evaporates completly!

in message <[email hidden]>, Jellylegs

(') said:

Can anyone tell me if i could use WD40 as chain lube,

No. It isn't a lubricant, it's a water displacer. The solvent evaporates
leaving a sticky residue which doesn't lubricate.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

A message from our sponsor: This site is now in free fall

in message <[email hidden]>, Jon Rogers

(') said:

What about GT85 then?

Not great in my experience. If you use it, relube every day. And
relubing that often isn't cheap either in money or in time.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

((DoctorWho)ChristopherEccleston).act();

uk.co.bbc.TypecastException: actor does not want to be typecast.
[adapted from autofile on /., 31/03/05]

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Jellylegs

(') said:

Can anyone tell me if i could use WD40 as chain lube,

No. It isn't a lubricant, it's a water displacer. The solvent evaporates
leaving a sticky residue which doesn't lubricate.

One the one hand WD-40 is a lubricant, if not the best one for the job.
(http://www.wd40.com/Brands/wd40_product_info.html)

On the other hand, at least in laboratory conditions, lubrication doesn't
actually seem to make much difference to chain efficiency.
(http://www.ihpva.org/HParchive/PDF/hp50-2000.pdf)

"Alan Braggins" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Jellylegs

(') said:

Can anyone tell me if i could use WD40 as chain lube,

No. It isn't a lubricant, it's a water displacer. The solvent evaporates
leaving a sticky residue which doesn't lubricate.

One the one hand WD-40 is a lubricant, if not the best one for the job.
(http://www.wd40.com/Brands/wd40_product_info.html)

On the other hand, at least in laboratory conditions, lubrication doesn't
actually seem to make much difference to chain efficiency.
(http://www.ihpva.org/HParchive/PDF/hp50-2000.pdf)

Thanks everybody,will give the chain saw oil a try,
at £7 a gallon,there will be enough to oil my other
bikes.

Jellylegs said:

Can anyone tell me if i could use WD40 as chain lube,
i was thinking of using it instead of expensive lube,what
i was planning to do was spray some on eveytime i go
out riding,the reasoning for WD40 is it evaporates away
so it doesn't attract dirt so none of the sludge that builds
up on your chain,any thoughts on this.

Been there, tried that. If it's evaporated, it won't be lubricating.
Actually, it takes time for the majority to evaporate, leaving your wheel
rim to get splattered by the runny liquid in the mentime, which turns
black when ridden, by the way. Some dirt will still stick and work its
way in and won't be flushed out by squirting more WD40 on, unless perhaps
a whole can is used.

I'm afraid there's no magic answer. There's at least one considerable
downside to every chain lube. The cleanest ones are very expensive for a
start.

Inventors: self lubricting chain please. Get cracking! :-)

~PB

Alan Braggins said:

On the other hand, at least in laboratory conditions, lubrication
doesn't actually seem to make much difference to chain efficiency.
(http://www.ihpva.org/HParchive/PDF/hp50-2000.pdf)

But what about longetivity?

~PB

Quoted message said:

On the other hand, wd40 truely is magical for all sorts of freeing,
cleaning, etc jobs!

My neighbour was amazed by the wonders of WD40 when I introduced him
to it. I was amazed by a grown man not having heard of WD40 before
but perhaps they don't have it in forn parts [1]?

[1] my neighbour's Portuguese

audrey said:

Quoted message said:

On the other hand, wd40 truely is magical for all sorts of freeing,
cleaning, etc jobs!

My neighbour was amazed by the wonders of WD40 when I introduced him
to it. I was amazed by a grown man not having heard of WD40 before
but perhaps they don't have it in forn parts [1]?

Quoted message said:

[1] my neighbour's Portuguese

I certainly hadn't heard of it before I moved here. We have similar
products but they are different brands.

Roos

Pete Biggs said:

Inventors: self lubricting chain please. Get cracking! :-)

Rohloff hub and old fashioned enclosed chain bath? Chain will last as
near to ever as makes no difference.

--
Tony

"A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought" Lord
Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers)