How Wet is Chain Oil?

I have a small plastic container that I put a spare chain into and sealed it closed with a small puddle of chain oil. That was 2 months ago and today the rivets on that chain are all rusty and the inside of the container looks wet. Does chain oil contain water?

 

Mine doesn't. Was the chain wet when you put it in?

 

I didn't think it was.

 

Condensed moisture from the excess air volume trapped in the container.

 

Does that mean I need to fill the container to overflowing to prevent rust? If so, can I put more than one chain in the bath? I have plenty of spares to fill a lot of the space.

 

You need air for oxidation, just make sure the chain is completely covered with oil.

 

It's likely that you closed the container on a humid day, and the container was exposed to a variety of temperatures that caused it to warm or cool quickly. This causes it to "rain" inside and once that water drops down under the oil puddle, that water stays there. We see it all the time inside industrial equipment. Be thankful it doesn't involve machinery worth thousands.

 

How about some sort of stand in the bottom that would keep the chain up out of any water that may settle?

 

It's not water that "settles". There's moisture in the air, and it may condense onto any solid surface. That could be the walls of the container or the chain itself. Like others have said, the best way to prevent rust is to make sure the entire chain is covered in oil. You could also just give it a light spray with some type of oil before putting it in the container which should be good enough for short term storage.


Or, if you REALLY want to get serious, give it a short spray of oil and vacuum pack it!

 

If the chain was full immersed in the oil, raised above any water puddling below, and arranged so that condensing water runs down off it to the bottom, yes.

I just oil up the chain and store it in a ziploc bag if I'm not hanging it on the wall. If it's in the bag, I squeeze out excess air.

David

 

Keep it ripping through wood. Problem solved!

Gary

 

I just leave chains on saws or hang them on the wood in shed or a nail. Leave on a bench or bucket. No recall issue with rust. Some surface but it gets rubbed off when use that chain.

 

Yea, just fill the container all the way to the top with oil and chains and problem solved.

By the way, THIS is the exact problem with ethanol in our gas!! ethanol mixed with any amount of water moister turns to a gummy substance, which in turns clogs your fuel lines, carb jets.... NIGHTMARE!! Most fuel stabilizer additive's today have something in them which "eats" the water keeping this from occurring. This is a huge problem to keep under control on boats. My boat has a 250 gallon aluminum fuel tank, aluminum gets cold and attracts moister from the air.... vicious cycle. So keep your fuel tanks either FULL or EMPTY, and use Startron additive in every can of gas you have. That stuff is liquid gold as far as I'm, concerned!

And for good measure, I install a fuel line drain on all my small engines I cant easily empty the fuel out of when done (generator, tractor, splitter, snowblower....) so I can empty them when storing for longer than a few weeks un-used.

 

I assume that startron marine is designed for two stroke. Most of that alcohol based stuff to treat fuel shouldnt be used in two strike.

 

Startron "marine" stuff is exactly the same as "Startron" regular stuff, except more expensive. As far as I can see anyway, I have not seen or herd a difference (discussed many times on marine sites). Same stuff, different bottle and price.

It's fine for 2 strokes and 4 strokes. In my case, I use the diesel version of it (my boat has diesels). But I use the gas version for everything else, including a shock treatment in all my cars/trucks once a year.

 

Why not put the chain in a zip lock bag with a small amount of oil and then in the container. Less air will get trapped in the zip lock.

 

Why all this fuss over a chain? Just hang it on a nail out of the rain after its oily and nothing g much condenses on it. I have sum on nails for years that I could run right now if I wanted too. They even have been getting blowing rain on them in bad storms.

 

I was thinking the same thing....

 

Because someone try to find the best method for having a 20 euros chain for 100 years or more. Bull...............