How to dry a wet chain before lubing

[fatboy123cycling]

In my opinion it can be dangerous to use an airline to 'dry ' you chain.
1. You should always use safety glasses when use an airline
2. Make sure there is no one in the 'firing ' line.
3. When you use air pressure - yes, you will blow water out - but you will also compact any debris into the chain.
4. Use an oil based cleaner

 

[gbb]

In my opinion it can be dangerous to use an airline to 'dry ' you chain.
1. You should always use safety glasses when use an airline
2. Make sure there is no one in the 'firing ' line.
3. When you use air pressure - yes, you will blow water out - but you will also compact any debris into the chain.
4. Use an oil based cleaner

You're not a H&S officer are you ?
Seriously though, most is correct if you want to be safe and careful.
I work in engineering and have access to everything you could possibly want, a compressor included. When i was a heavy weather commuter i used to, on a regular basis...
Remove chain, wipe loose debris off, spray with a degreaser then blast out with an airline, its amazing how much black crud keeps coming out. Then soak in a tray of oil, then hang it up on a nail to drip excess oil into same tray, then wipe wipe wipe and refit.

The truth is, that sounds a lot of faff, but having everything around you meant it was literally 5 minutes or so work.
The other truth is, despite very rigorous chain care....it made very little difference to the mileage life of my chains.

I now work on the principle, wipe clean, a drop of oil onto each roller, let it soak in for 5 minutes then wipe wipe wipe. A chain isnt THAT expensive.

 

[battered]

I have a solution:
Hose off loose crud. Shake off excess water.
Apply lubricant of choice, preceded by WD40 if desired (I don't bother).
Ride it up and down the street a few times.
Put it back in the garage.
Go and do something more interesting. The water WILL evaporate, the lubricant WILL remain. If you get a few rust spots once it's dry, relube the chain.

WD40 is a mixture of 20% light oil in naptha (petrol, give or take) and will soften lubricants. The naptha will evaporate very quickly, the light oil remains and mixes with your lubricant.

 

[Soltydog]

Remove chain from bike, place on a baking tray. Place in top shelf of oven at gas mark 6 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Refit chain to bike.

My last major clean of the bike involved removing the chain & giving it a degrease & wash, then to dry it I popped it on top of our multi fuel stove, not quite as drastic as the oven method When Mrs SD came home "why is there a bike chain on the stove?" Her response might have been more severe had it been in the oven

 

[Fab Foodie]

This thread demonstrates that some people have too much time on their hands and not enough to worry about .....

 

[bikeman66]

There is usually a fair bit of moisture in compressed air too, so it could be self defeating. A decent chain cleaner with appropriate cleaning solution will de-grease the chain anyway, meaning you still have to make a good effort to re-lube it anyway. If you're that worried about it, use a hairdryer. At the end of the day, it's just not worth losing any sleep over. As long as the chain is cleaned and re-lubed it will be fine.

 

[Fnaar]

I leave the bike in my passageway (covered, but effectively 'outside' with a through draught. I leave it there, then clean and lube it a few days later

 

[Nytsom]

Wipe with cotton rag, hair dryer can speed up the drying process..

 

[400bhp]

Dry chain-spray GT85-leave for a few hours - return - oil the chain.

 

[Dave 123]

I leave the bike in my passageway (covered, but effectively 'outside' with a through draught. I leave it there, then clean and lube it a few days later

I hope you lube first before it goes in...