Fearful Drips! Maybe not?
Last month I talked a little bit about nozzle placement and how to avoid excessive oil being thrown off the chain onto the surrounding components.
This month I want to talk about drips on the floor and a low tech solution!
Running a chain oiler is a balance , we need to get enough oil on the chain to do all the things we want to do such as...
-Lubrication of the dozens of pivot points and bearing surfaces
-Keep the O/X-rings wet
-Reducing wear and tear
-Inhibiting corrosion
-Cleaning off the grit dust and debris that would otherwise collect and form a "chain life reducing" grinding paste.
In order to achieve all this the oil needs to wash over the entire chain, that means when you stop, gravity will have its way and it will start to pool at the lowest point- IE your chaincase covers and eventually your garage floor- its not much, perhaps just a drip or two and its easy to distuinguish from a leak as these drips are black and dirty.
This might also occur for no apparant reason when the weather warms up- detailed historical research has revealed that in the UK this has happenend before- often around this time of year!
The reason you might get drips now and not in the winter is simply that the oil on your chain becomes more fluid as it and the weather warms - warmer oil flows faster so drips off the chain more readily.
You may also find that moving your bike after its been static for a day or two - on the centre stand for instance onto the side stand will induce some drips as the oil that has collected on all the flat or slightly bowl shaped surfaces is dislodged.
The simple low tech solution to these drips is to place a bit of old carpet or cardboard under the bike when you park it up. you can of course turn the oiler down BUT you run the risk of a less than optimal flow of oil to the chain!.
Ride Safe!