Breathing Life into Dry Chains

[2 Stroke Pete]

Hi All,

Just wanted to know what you guys do with dry chains. I have been soaking mine in bar oil, then hanging them to let the oil drip off. I am not sure if it the right thing to do, however just wanted your opinions/guidance.

I love they way new chains feel out of the box, slightly oily, however I can't seem to ever get them that way and end up with very oily/slippery using my method, even when hanging them.

 

[jackjcc]

Soaking them in oil is the best way to bring them back to life. They don’t come from the factory soaked in bar oil though. I don’t know what weight they put on them but it feels similar to wd40 to me. It doesn’t soak into the cardboard box at all so that is kinda different, any excess oil should end up on the box. Not sure what magic they have going there.

If you have lots of rust to remove after soaking a solvent bath followed by more oil is effective to get the rust out. I’ve rarely had to rejuvenate chain with more than a quick bath in wd40 and then running it.


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[ChoppyChoppy]

Put them on the saw and run them.

 

[Conquistador3]

For really hard cases put them in kerosene for 30 minutes, then leave them overnight wrapped in a couple shop towels. Diesel fuel is just as fine but more expensive. WD40? There are better ways to spend all that money on, such as more chainsaws.

 

[Robin Wood]

use brake fluid, cheap and best result

 

[Little Al]

Don't know if they still do it but Renolds chain used to do a kit for off road bike chains (could be used on any chain)consisted of a smaller & larger metal canisters the small one contained an amount of grease the larger one was filled to the mark with water the chain was pressed into the grease the unit was set on a heat source & the water was brought to the boil & kept boiling for several minutes until the grease was thin & runny & penetrated the chain links heat was turned off & chain hung above grease can to drain grease solidified on the inner surfaces there was sufficient to do approx 10 chains bike chains & some saw chains I treated ran very smooth fo a good period of time as the grease didn't fling of

 

[NSEric]

One of the more oily penetrating lubes like deep creep or wd40 gel would work well.
I'd likely just drop the chain in the container of diesel I have for cleaning bike air filters over night then dry it off with a rag.

 

[holeycow]

I have an old hubcap with oil in it sitting on an old hot plate for infrequent chain therapy. I’ve used it on motorcycle chains, mostly.

Ya gotta get it warm if you want penetration

 

[Bobby Kirbos]

Ya gotta get it warm if you want penetration

That's what ........

Oh never mind. Too easy

 

[Franny K]

Is the intent to store or use the chain? The oil on a new chain is most likely a corrosion inhibitor. Maybe install the chain kind of loose, dribble bar oil in bar groove, push chain by hand, repeat, tension properly.

 

[Marshy]

Dry chains? Never heard of such a thing. Just turn your oiler up.

 

[Deleted member 117362]

For really hard cases put them in kerosene for 30 minutes, then leave them overnight wrapped in a couple shop towels. Diesel fuel is just as fine but more expensive. WD40? There are better ways to spend all that money on, such as more chainsaws.

use brake fluid, cheap and best result

Both methods work great.

 

[Okie]

For old spare chains I use old used ATF fluid. I do not hang them up on a nail afterwards though. I use ATF oil soaked paper hand towels and place the chains in 2 zip loc bags (ATF will eventually penetrate one zip loc bag and the bags labeled as to DL count and what they fit. I then take a cardboard box lined with a plastic trash bag to store the chains.
The trash bag keeps oil from seeping out.
I also use the zip loc bags method to keep a spare chain in the saw case when going to the woods, good non rusty sharp chain readily available if needed.
They are ready to install years later and no rust when using ATF.

 

[HarleyT]

Lo-fat Mayo, or Miracle Whip is the ONLY thing to use!!!

 

[pro94lt]

Just put em on a wore out bar and let the oiler do its job...

 

[buzz sawyer]

Also the first time I've heard of "dry chains". Can someone elaborate or show a photo? If the oiler on the saw is working correctly, that should be all you need. Now if the chain is so rusted that the links are frozen, it's a goner. I have never soaked a new or used chain in anything as long as the links are free.

 

[2 Stroke Pete]

Thanks for all of your replies, all good suggestions. Oakie, great idea regarding zip lock bags.

Oiler is working fine as other chains do not have an issue, only a couple of chains are affected. I will send through some pics. Links are also fine and working freely definitely not frozen/ceased.

 

[Justsaws]

As a collector of chain saws I have a couple of buckets that dry, rusted chains get tossed into. A surprising amount of them are barely used .404, .05 or larger so when I get around to them they get soaked in ATF with a solvent like mineral spirits, acetone works better however it evaporates to quickly for soaking multiple chains. Get them broke loose mount the chain up and the run them in with the saw oiler until the oil flung off the tip is rust free. If it is really really bad rust on hard to find chain then a wire brushing and an acid bath/rinse before the ATF.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I you are trying to get rid of rust, soak the chain submerged 24 to 36 hours in vinegar poured into a pie pan. Next day, clean off the junk and soak anther day further in diesel fuel for lube. After that, check for any rust-frozen links. I doubt there will be very many. Usually Liquid Wrench will loosen those up. I've saved dozens of chains this way. Occasionally I've also used Evapo-Rust or a 50:50 mixture of vinegar and Evapo-Rust. Chains stiff as a board will then sometimes come back to life.

 

[HarleyT]

Why not just run the damn chain on a saw with a working oiler?