I am trying to melt SILCA Hot Wax using the SILCA Chain Waxing System. At 75°C, it takes about an hour for the wax to melt.
I recorded the process at several points and took photos. I have read that it takes others around 15 to 20 minutes to melt the wax, so I assume I am missing something obvious. Even when I cut the solid wax into smaller chunks during the process, it still takes more than an hour.
Could you help me understand what I might be doing wrong?
1h+ to melt with Chain Waxing System
byu/scientific_problem inbikewrench
by scientific_problem
24 Comments
Max the temp for warming then drop it to 75. Goes way faster
I use a 10 € beauty wax cooker and set it to 125 °C. Why? Because I also set it to 75 °C and it took nearly 90 minutes. Setting it to 125 °C heats the wax much faster.
I keep it at 125 until it melted like 90 % and set it to 75, wait until it’s completely melted. Then put the chain in for like 5 minutes, turn the pot off and wait until the wax is starting to cool on top, then pull the chain out.
I set it 95°C, put the chain in, put a chopstick through the chain coupler, go for a dump, a shower and by the time I’m done, the chain is fully submerged and just about done too.
I melt the wax in the mircowave in a jug and use the melter to keep it at temperature for use. After I’m done it’s back in the jug!
I may be an impatient idiot.
Just use oil.
set it above 90°C then reduce to 75 to wax
Jesus the lengths some people go to basically keep the chain greased 😅
Solid circlejerk material
As others have said, turn it up to 125. Once it’s fully melted in ~15 minutes, lower it to 75, when it gets down to 75 I put chain in for 10 minutes.
And my wax
It looks like you may have more wax than you need but not sure. I use Molten Speed Wax with a cheap $10-$15 crockpot. I use to just turn it on and let it sit for a while but I was in a hurry one day so I decided to use my heat gun, now I just use the heat gun to to turn it from solid to liquid then let the crockpot get it to temp. Way faster than way.
That’s a really gratuitous amount of wax. Less would melt faster.
Put a lid on it while it’s warming up. You are losing a ton of heat out the top.
I used to use a crock pot. Now I use an old rice cooker. It melts things very fast and once melted it actually drops the temp a bit. I won’t ever go back to a crock pot.
Did they change the directions from Silca? I’ve been doing it for a few years and what it used to tell you to do is set it to 125c to melt. Put the chain in wait 10mins and set it to 75c once it’s cooled to 75c then remove the chain and let it drip dry.
Did you have the lid on?
you have to be crazy to buy, especially “chain waxing system” from one of these bicycle component manufacturers
You can go on Amazon and buy a miniature crockpot or the little warmers for “beauty wax” for just a couple bucks and it does literally the exact same thing
If your pot has a removable container, and the inside is sealed, boil water and put it in that space. This will increase the contact area between the pot and the heat source of the pan, and it will heat up faster.
Just make sure the inside is sealed and the water doesn’t leak into the pan.
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My razors have 13 blades!
pussy on the chainwax
And here I am, looking for factory waxed chains 😀
I use a $1 bowl from the dollar store and a double boiler setup. I never have this problem.
I just used a old pot on my stove checking it with a thermometer…. Why tf would you spend money on a heater for wax? … The old pot cost me 3€ on a flea market.
Just put it In a water bath on the range.