> Heating wax up is slow. I use a $12 crockpot and it takes a couple hours. Obviously, it's not like it takes any effort on your part, but there's some built in latency. ("Low" heat is about right in the steady state, but it melts faster if you use "high.")
It's a bit silly, but I've used a simple ESP8266 board with a relay and a DS18B20 temperature sensor controlled by some Arduino code to make a simple temperature controller. It runs a Telegram Bot so I can start/stop the Crockpot and it notifies me when it reaches the desired temperature and when when lubrication is done.
Over the top, but it was interesting to implement. I might release it one day.
> Again for bicycles, some kinds of quick link / master link wear quite quickly and can only be reused a handful of times (e.g., Shimano 11 speed). So one surprising expense in repeatedly removing chains to hot wax is the consumption of quick links. Can be mitigated with different brands of quick link, and/or using drip-on wax a few times between hot waxes.
Whipperman makes the Connex Link. It does not require tools and can be reused as many time as you'd like. No 12 speed version yet, for some reason, though.
I'm that guy... who chimes in whenever someone mentions a temperature controller. I've learned the hard way that some kinds of controls such as solid state relays can fail or get stuck in the "on" state, leaving you with thermal runaway. Also, software and firmware have to be considered as points of failure.
to soften the carnauba wax in my shop I just took a heating element from an old stove and put a diode on one of the AC legs to halve the power. wax gets semi-solid so that it can be applied easily, but doesn't drip. I'm sure you could use an inductive hob to the same effect.
I wonder if that wouldn't solve the master link wear issue if you could wipe soft gobs of it on the chain instead of taking it out and submersing it completely.
> I wonder if that wouldn't solve the master link wear issue if you could wipe soft gobs of it on the chain instead of taking it out and submersing it completely.
It wouldn't penetrate as well, and you might end up wasting a lot of it / making a mess. The goal is to get wax inside, and you prefer it to be a liquid for that.
Just note that there are two ways to install it. Follow the instructions exactly as described.
Edit:
Specifically, connect the link at the bottom of the chain, put the link on the front of the right hand side link and the back of the left hand side link.
Otherwise, shifting to the lowest gear will not be smooth.
It's a bit silly, but I've used a simple ESP8266 board with a relay and a DS18B20 temperature sensor controlled by some Arduino code to make a simple temperature controller. It runs a Telegram Bot so I can start/stop the Crockpot and it notifies me when it reaches the desired temperature and when when lubrication is done.
Over the top, but it was interesting to implement. I might release it one day.
> Again for bicycles, some kinds of quick link / master link wear quite quickly and can only be reused a handful of times (e.g., Shimano 11 speed). So one surprising expense in repeatedly removing chains to hot wax is the consumption of quick links. Can be mitigated with different brands of quick link, and/or using drip-on wax a few times between hot waxes.
Whipperman makes the Connex Link. It does not require tools and can be reused as many time as you'd like. No 12 speed version yet, for some reason, though.
https://www.connexchain.com/en/connectors/detail/connex-link