Honestly, I wasn't sure if I should post here or in Support, but since I'm likely carrying on with my build anyway, let's say Stuff.
Putting together a used Surly frame, which had some signs of rust around the BB and fork end areas, so I decided to treat it before assembling (and winter). I've used clear Waxoyl which turned out to be more foamy than flowy, so I'm not sure it will have spread over all the insides of the tubes, despite my rotating the frame around, and making sure the frame and aerosol were both pretty warm.
I anticipate this may get some overkill votes, or maybe futile votes, but wondered if anyone else has tried this another way or with another treatment.
And if anyone needs some Waxoyl for the same reasons, just let me know. The bike shops seemed not too keen on this steel treatment question, but I found the Waxoyl (which is fairly nasty chemical gunge, admittedly) at Pentlands Auto. I'm hoping it does the job protecting all that bare cromo inside.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Stuff
Rust treatment for steel
(11 posts)-
Posted 8 years ago #
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Too late now and probably a completely useless comment, but I use Dinitrol now (on vehicles not bikes) as it flows a bit better - I think in general it is preferred to Waxoyl for undersealing etc.
In any case I don't think what you're doing is overkill - seems very sensible to me...
Posted 8 years ago # -
As with all rust, good idea to check what the source is. Where is the moisture / mud coming from? Can you stop it in the first place?
Posted 8 years ago # -
Thanks to both. It looks like only a little rust, judging by powdery traces around the small holes at the bottom of fork ends and bottom bracket; no rust appears on the outside.
Interesting to know about Dinitrol. The Waxoyl was more foamy than I was expecting, so I'm not sure the consistency is ideal for coating insides of tubes. I'd read that it's supposed to stop rust in progress, in any case.
Surly lists fogging oil and boiled linseed oil on their website for preventing rust on a new frame, but I thought applying liquids without a sprayer would be difficult.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Boiled linseed (which isn't linseed oil which has been boiled, it has chemical drying agents in it which makes it act a bit like actual boiled linseed oil of yore which was boiled up with lead) is fairly runny stuff, so would easily flow into all the nooks and crannies inside a bike frame but the chemical drying agents allow it to solidify into a protective polymer fairly quickly in reaction with the air.
Don't be tempted to use it in lieu of raw linseed oil for preserving household wood items in the kitchen (e.g. chopping boards, wooden spoons) as the drying agents can contain lead.
Also heed the cautionary tales about not storing/binning bundles of oil-soaked rags together. The drying / hardening reaction is exothermic and they will quite readily spontaneously combust.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Is bike frame rust that much of a 'thing' to be worth this bother?
'Rusty frames' tend to have had years of neglect - usually in a damp outside place.
I'm surprised how much rust isn't an issue. either rain/damp doesn't get inside tubes that much, or frames are treated by manufacturers or they just develop an internal coat of protective rust.
I recently had a 531 frame repaired. A seatstay (probably the thinnest tube) had rusted - at a point where it had been damaged (probably by someone screwing on a rear light).
Posted 8 years ago # -
@chdot didn't you repair that 531 frame with a stay taken from a bike where rust had gone through the downtube underneath the lug, causing it to fail?
Posted 8 years ago # -
Ah, I forgot the donor had a rust problem.
Misremembered a brazing problem - like another one I had.
Either way, not common.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Indeed, I think in this case it was a failure of manufacture and not maintenance; there was either a pocket in the brazing fillet or a gap where the tubes and lugs met that allowed moisture to collect and begin to rust the tube from the inside.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Dinitrol 3125 is generally regarded as much better than waxoyl. When I had my 1970s MGB GT (before it rusted away) I went to few classic car meets and most people seemed to prefer dintrol. I had waxoyl some of the box sections in my car but too thick heavy attracts dirt I then switch to dintrol 3125 that worked much better. Dintrol is thin and can be sprayed in with a compressor and runs in to gaps waxoyl is too thick and wont run unless very hot.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Thanks to everybody. I may try to add some boiled linseed oil to coat the tubes a bit better. Any tips on how to apply it?
Posted 8 years ago #
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