WD-40 for cleaning chain?

honda polish microfiber rag. pj1 blue label. then honda polish with rag again. Remember clean as you go less 2 clean later. Just keep it clean
 
+100000000 on wd-foty, use on chain, wheels, engine(keeps her looking new), removing decals, everything!!! Best stuff every made :beerchug:
 
I can bet if you never cleaned you brake dust covered wheels with wd40 you will never use anything else!! Go ahead...walk out in the garage spray a little on a clean rag and give it a wipe. they come out like new!! do spray them down, just some on a rag and buff dry with a clean rag. just give it a try..
 
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I hate to be the oddball in the group,...........but I use brake cleaner to clean the chain. It removes all the old lube and grime immediately,..........and dries very quickly with no residue. I spray the chain well with Silkolene synthetic chain lube,.........and wipe off the excess. 14K on stock chain and sprockets with very little wear. :beerchug:
 
I use what ever I have at the time to clean the chain. I have used WD-40, Brake Clean, and kerosene all work very well and then I use Chain Wax to Lube the chain and wipe the excess off. Key thing is keep the chain clean and well lubed
 
Anybody ever use a chain oiler? I have been looking through the new Aerostich Catalog and looking at the Oiler systems they sell. Some are pretty high tech! I was looking at the Loobman because you can use whatever you want (I can buy WD 40 by the gallon) in the reservoir. the new Accumen unit is the cats azz but the lube is like $24 a can!!!
 
Brakecleen would work like a charm but would be harmfull on the o-rings..
I soak it down with wd-40, hit it with a hard bristled brush, soak it off again with wd-40 wipe with a rag and then used chain lube..
 
OK, So I am agitated by people stating that WD-40 with "eat through" or cause o-rings found on our motorcycle chains to "swell" and "deteriorate".

I have never been able to find a single document that exposed the potential damage to o-rings. I decided to take it upon myself to do a little searching to see if there is any type of evidence to support these claims. Here is what I found.

I contacted RK Chain using their "Live Chat" function on their web page:

Jon: Can you tell me the type of rubber used in the o-ring seals of your chains? Is it Buna, Nitrile, Butyl?

You are next in queue.We will be with you in just a moment.
Technician Travis: Good morning
Technician Travis: Yes you are correct. Its called Nitrile Butadiene
Technician Travis: Is there anything else I can help you with?
Jon: Thanks for the fast response. You've answered my question perfectly.
Technician Travis: Excellent. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact us.

OK so Nitrile Butadiene is also called Buna-N and is a extremely common rubber used in various applications. Let's look at the compatability of this material with various materials. Luckily there is a excellent resource called eFunda that is a engineering fundamentals site that has an o-ring material comparison for compatabilty with various materials on a scale of 4.

(4) Good, both for static and dynamic seals
(3) Fair, usually OK for static seals
(2) Sometimes OK for static seals; not OK for dynamic seals
(1) Poor
(0) No Data

Now they don't specifically state WD-40, but they do have a classificaiton for a Stoddard Solvent which WD-40 is classified as.

The link shows full compatibility of Buna-N with this Stoddard Solvent - RATING 4
http://www.efunda.com/designstandar...d Solvent#mat


Let's break the WD-40 down: (Source Wikipedia since WD-40 MSDS site down)
* 50%: Stoddard solvent (mineral spirits, somewhat similar to, but not the same as, kerosene)
* 25%: Liquefied petroleum gas (presumably as a propellant, carbon dioxide is used now to reduce considerable flammability)
* 15+%: Mineral oil (light lubricating oil)
* 10-%: Inert ingredients

The link shows full compatibility of Buna-N with this Kerosene - RATING 4
http://www.efunda.com/designstandar...SC=Kerosene#mat

The link shows full compatibility of Buna-N with this Liquefied Petroleum Gas - RATING 4
http://www.efunda.com/designstandar...20(LPG)#mat

The link shows full compatibility of Buna-N with this Mineral Oil - RATING 4
http://www.efunda.com/designstandar...eral Oils#mat

Since there is poor evidence that I can find to show lack of compatibility of with WD-40, I have to believe that there is no negative effect of using WD-40 on a motorcycle chain equipped with o-rings.
 
WD-40 to clean and MAXIMA chain wax not lube. That's the stuff that stays on the chain instead of you and the bike.
 
Nice bit of research! But I could have saved you the time. My bro and I had this argument with a self appointed motorcycle know it all buddy of ours a long time ago. He of course argued that the WD-40 would swell or in some way deteriorate the o-rings in your chain and it would be shot to he11 in short order. So we took a brand new RK 630 O-ring from an unused master link pack and soaked it in WD-40 for like a month! LSS... good to go. No deterioration, no loss of elasticity, no elongation, no swelling whatsoever. Once cleaned up you could not make that o-ring out from another from the aforementioned pack. All I have ever used for as long as I can remember. As mentioned before you could probably oil your chain in "Bear lard" as long as you did it on a regular basis and kept it clean in between "greasings". WD-40 is cheap, readily available, cleans up easily, doesn't smell too bad and just plain works!

rvtech24 said:
OK, So I am agitated by people stating that WD-40 with "eat through" or cause o-rings found on our motorcycle chains to "swell" and "deteriorate".

I have never been able to find a single document that exposed the potential damage to o-rings. I decided to take it upon myself to do a little searching to see if there is any type of evidence to support these claims. Here is what I found.

I contacted RK Chain using their "Live Chat" function on their web page:

Jon: Can you tell me the type of rubber used in the o-ring seals of your chains? Is it Buna, Nitrile, Butyl?

You are next in queue.We will be with you in just a moment.
Technician Travis: Good morning
Technician Travis: Yes you are correct. Its called Nitrile Butadiene
Technician Travis: Is there anything else I can help you with?
Jon: Thanks for the fast response. You've answered my question perfectly.
Technician Travis: Excellent. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact us.

OK so Nitrile Butadiene is also called Buna-N and is a extremely common rubber used in various applications. Let's look at the compatability of this material with various materials. Luckily there is a excellent resource called eFunda that is a engineering fundamentals site that has an o-ring material comparison for compatabilty with various materials on a scale of 4.

(4) Good, both for static and dynamic seals
(3) Fair, usually OK for static seals
(2) Sometimes OK for static seals; not OK for dynamic seals
(1) Poor
(0) No Data

Now they don't specifically state WD-40, but they do have a classificaiton for a Stoddard Solvent which WD-40 is classified as.

The link shows full compatibility of Buna-N with this Stoddard Solvent - RATING 4
http://www.efunda.com/designstandar...d Solvent#mat


Let's break the WD-40 down: (Source Wikipedia since WD-40 MSDS site down)
* 50%: Stoddard solvent (mineral spirits, somewhat similar to, but not the same as, kerosene)
* 25%: Liquefied petroleum gas (presumably as a propellant, carbon dioxide is used now to reduce considerable flammability)
* 15+%: Mineral oil (light lubricating oil)
* 10-%: Inert ingredients

The link shows full compatibility of Buna-N with this Kerosene - RATING 4
http://www.efunda.com/designstandar...SC=Kerosene#mat

The link shows full compatibility of Buna-N with this Liquefied Petroleum Gas - RATING 4
http://www.efunda.com/designstandar...20(LPG)#mat

The link shows full compatibility of Buna-N with this Mineral Oil - RATING 4
http://www.efunda.com/designstandar...eral Oils#mat

Since there is poor evidence that I can find to show lack of compatibility of with WD-40, I have to believe that there is no negative effect of using WD-40 on a motorcycle chain equipped with o-rings.
Click to expand...
 
No Pic, sorry bout that.

chain.jpg
 
I have a 1990 Suzuki LT500R otherwise known as the " QUADZILLA". It uses an O ring chain and I use WD40 to clean it . I havnt been on it for over10 years and the chain is still in good shape, and yes it is the original chain...
 
Do not know how to post a quote:

Most people avoid Brake parts cleaner as a cleaner for the chain because of the rubber seals .

Brake parts cleaner will not harm the seals - the seals on brake calipers and on the old wheel cylinders of drum brakes are made of the same stuff. Brake parts cleaner is made so not to harm this types of rubber.
 
WD-40 is the best cleaner but Chain Lube just sprays all over the wheels even after spraying it on a warm chain and not using it for a day and is more work to clean up.....need another soloution!!!

Where do you get Motorex...sounds great.

BP
 
bpjones said:
WD-40 is the best cleaner but Chain Lube just sprays all over the wheels even after spraying it on a warm chain and not using it for a day and is more work to clean up.....need another soloution!!!

Where do you get Motorex...sounds great.

BP
Click to expand...

Maxima chain wax does not come off. Use it on three bikes with no excess fly off.
 
contact cleaner and chain wax myself...23k mi with stock chain and sprockets..might try the WD trick though just to be sure contact cleaner isnt too harsh on the o-rings. WD is NOT harsh enough to bother the o-rings. i am an aircraft mechanic contracted with the army and we use WD for all kinda cleaning on aircraft, but NOT for lubing because its a WATER DISPLACER..not a lube! we use it to remove some pretty tough adhesives and film lubes and the like. we usually wipe it down afterwards with denatured alcohol to be sure the WD is gone. but on a chain i dont see where a little WD left behind would hurt, other than the wax not sticking as well. other than that, i dont see a problem. definitely gonna try it on the wheels :thumbsup:
 
bigoltool said:
Anybody ever use a chain oiler? I have been looking through the new Aerostich Catalog and looking at the Oiler systems they sell. Some are pretty high tech! I was looking at the Loobman because you can use whatever you want (I can buy WD 40 by the gallon) in the reservoir. the new Accumen unit is the cats azz but the lube is like $24 a can!!!
Click to expand...


I have yet to buy a new Loobman for my busa, but will be doing that shortly. I used my old motor oil in it. Worked AWESOME on my last bike, 20K and no adjustment needed!

I use WD-40 to clean the chain while it's warm, using a "Grunge Brush" that dirt bikers are familiar with, nylon bristles on 3 sides all at once. Then take a piece of cardboard between the wheel and sprocket and spray the heck out of it with an air hose at 90PSI. Wipe things down again and spray chain wax on it and let it dry up.
 
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