WD-40

Originally Posted by lynw

But not as chain lube. Good for cleaning a chain, but like paraffin needs to be on a max of 10 mins. IIRC it will start to dissolve the rings if left on. No doubt someone will correct me.

yes only as a cleaner and a rust preventer.

Originally Posted by shao

C'mon now, think there's some dis-information going on here. WD-40 is a combined degreaser/lubricant. As it comes in the can, it's not very viscous, but spray some on your brake disk and tell me it's not a lubricant...(dont try this at home kids...)

While it may be a lubricant the fact is it may well dissolve your rings on a chain. THAT is the real point here, not being pedantic over whether its a lubricant or not.

However, please feel free to test this on your chain and tell us whether your chain doesnt last as long using WD-40 as opposed to lubricants which are designed not to dissolve the rings. :P

[Sid Squid]

WD40 won't dissolve chain 'O' rings, the solvents aren't that strong and they won't be there long anyway as they are light and evaporate quickly.

WD40 is a lubricant and will lube your chain just fine. However, as it is such light lubricant, it will do the job for a very short time, so short a time as to make it an impractical choice at the very least.

o new thought......

could i spray soem WD in me scottoiler n itl clean me chain and then put some oil back in ??? just a thought about how to clean me chain the lazy way ?

If you have a Scottoiler the there's no need to clean the chain. Just turn the wick up for a few miles

[northwind]

Originally Posted by lynw

While it may be a lubricant the fact is it may well dissolve your rings on a chain. THAT is the real point here, not being pedantic over whether its a lubricant or not.

The main solvent in WD40 is extremely similiar to paraffin... The reason you hear this concern repeated is that the manufacturers refuse to state conclusively that it won't disolve the o-rings, I think. People seem to take that as "Can't be safe, or they'd say so".

I used to love WD-40 but recently bought a can of GT-85, it smells lovely.

Originally Posted by andyaikido

I used to love WD-40 but recently bought a can of GT-85, it smells lovely.

Is GT-85 the pink foamy stuff ?

If you want to clean your chain use the brake and chain cleaner..and then proper lube to lube it.

If you spray WD40 on a rubber o-ring it will swell and deteriate after time. Not good to constant use on your chain.

Chain o-rings (along with most I guess) are made from nitrile rubber, which is resistant to degradation from oil, etc. Paraffin/kerosene shouldn't harm chain o-rings, as it's just another fraction of raw crude but from further up the column.

The WD-40 manufacturer won't tell you what's in it 'cos it's a secret.