Disc brakes squealing, should I use WD40?

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 Godwin 05 Jul 2022

On the radio yesterday Jeremy Vine said he did.
Quite logical reasoning actually,

  1. He had heard you could use WD40 for anything.
  2. He did not think it was Oil based.
 ChrisJD 05 Jul 2022
In reply to Godwin:

What's he on about - it's a heavily refined mineral oil based product

'Over the past few decades, the name Stoddard Solvent was synonymous with all mineral spirits. Today, the mineral spirits found in products like ours are more refined and processed (see hydrogenation, hydrotreating and distillation techniques) providing mixtures with varying boiling points, cleaning ability, and chemical composition. 

The catchall phrase “Stoddard Solvent” is no longer adequate to tell the proper story. WD-40 Multi-Use Product does indeed have 50% mineral spirits, but they are refined and purified for specific characteristics needed to meet today’s performance, regulatory and safety requirements'.

https://www.wd40.com/myths-legends-fun-facts/

 Marek 05 Jul 2022
In reply to Godwin:

> He had heard ...

> He did not think...

... sums it up pretty well.

 NorthernGrit 05 Jul 2022
In reply to Godwin:

Treating a system which specifically relies on friction to operate (with rather disastrous consequences if they don't) with a product specifically designed to reduce friction is 'logical'....?

1
 Ridge 05 Jul 2022
In reply to Marek:

> He had heard ...

> He did not think...

> ... sums it up pretty well.

Sums his audience up too.

 Kean 05 Jul 2022
In reply to Godwin:

When I was a kiddo, I had the bright idea of using WD40 on my pushbike chain. After not very long, I remember it started squeaking. The squeaking got worse. I had a closer look and could see a fine paste had developed, full of metal particles - and the chainwheel teeth looked like they'd gone all pointy. 

5
 LastBoyScout 05 Jul 2022
In reply to Kean:

> When I was a kiddo, I had the bright idea of using WD40 on my pushbike chain. After not very long, I remember it started squeaking. The squeaking got worse. I had a closer look and could see a fine paste had developed, full of metal particles - and the chainwheel teeth looked like they'd gone all pointy. 

Worse than that, a guy my Dad once worked with was a keen cyclist and claimed to soak his chain in a bucket of WD40! I remember thinking even at my young age that sounded ridiculous.

4
 Phil79 05 Jul 2022
In reply to Godwin:

Squealing disc brakes usually down to pads/caliper being misaligned, pads being worn or something on the pads that there shouldn't be.

Nothing to do with lack of lubrication, and its an incredible stupid idea to apply oil based lubricant to pads or rotor surfaces (unless you fancy using the car in front/wall/tree/pedestrian to stop you instead!).

Post edited at 15:50
 deepsoup 05 Jul 2022
In reply to Phil79:

>  its an incredible stupid idea to apply oil based lubricant to pads or rotor surfaces

Although a little smear of copper grease on the back of the pad (between pad and piston) can sometimes work wonders.

 Cobra_Head 05 Jul 2022
In reply to Godwin:

Rub the rotors with emery cloth, lightly! JFD

 mondite 05 Jul 2022
In reply to Godwin:

I prefer to remove the pads. Guarantees no noise (okay not strictly true when the pistons pop out....).

 jim jones 05 Jul 2022
In reply to deepsoup: exactly the right thing to do, copper slip or “neverseeze” compound is intended for that purpose. 

 jim jones 05 Jul 2022
In reply to Godwin: the WD in the product name stands for water dispersant, and developed originally as a switch cleaner. 

1
 jim jones 05 Jul 2022
In reply to Cobra_Head: 

scuffing the friction compound on the pad can be effective too. They can develop a polished surface which reduces braking efficiency a product of which can be noise. 

 Siward 05 Jul 2022
In reply to jim jones:

Yep the pads can certainly cause squealing. I wiped them with alcohol recently, got lots of black gunk off them (everything else was clean) and solved the squeaking that had been bugging me for ages. 

 CantClimbTom 06 Jul 2022
In reply to Godwin:

Not sure how well it'd work on bicycle disk brakes but I did once accidentally get a tiny bit of WD40 inside the front drum brake of a small motorbike while using the stuff to clean the wheels.

The effect was pretty dramatic. The wheel then had a braking choice between: nothing at all or suddenly fully locked. Binary brakes!

Let us know if you test Jeremy Vine's bicycle maintenance tips and how you get on with it.

In reply to Godwin:

What a perfect metaphor for our government this thread is.

jcm

 LastBoyScout 06 Jul 2022
In reply to deepsoup:

> Although a little smear of copper grease on the back of the pad (between pad and piston) can sometimes work wonders.

I always do on car and motorbike brake pads, but shouldn't be necessary on the tiny pads in bike brakes - although I admit I sometimes do.

Chamfering off the leading edge of the pad material can help, if it isn't already.

 gethin_allen 06 Jul 2022
In reply to LastBoyScout:

Nothing stupid about soaking a chain in a bucket of WD40, it's an excellent solvent for chain oil and with a bit of agitation will clean a chain beautifully. Give it a bit of a wipe with a rag and a spot of lube and it's perfect.

The only slight issue is the price of WD40, I soak my chains in paraffin or white spirit as it's much cheaper and does the same job.

 graeme jackson 06 Jul 2022
In reply to NorthernGrit:

> Treating a system which specifically relies on friction to operate (with rather disastrous consequences if they don't) with a product specifically designed to reduce friction is 'logical'....?

WD40 was specifically designed to Disperse moisture to prevent rust in the aerospace industry - hence Water Dispersant attempt no.40.

It was NOT designed as a lubricant but has mistakenly found it's way into many households as such.

2
 Swig 06 Jul 2022
In reply to WD40 sceptics:

A few people here are in danger of saying that WD40 is not a lubricant. But it is. See the myths link!

To be fair I do use a specific non-spray lubricant on bike chains. 

 LastBoyScout 06 Jul 2022
In reply to gethin_allen:

> Nothing stupid about soaking a chain in a bucket of WD40, it's an excellent solvent for chain oil and with a bit of agitation will clean a chain beautifully. Give it a bit of a wipe with a rag and a spot of lube and it's perfect.

Indeed, but the claim wasn't anything to do with cleaning the chain and everything to do with it's supposed lubricating properties.

> The only slight issue is the price of WD40, I soak my chains in paraffin or white spirit as it's much cheaper and does the same job.

White spirit for me - 2 chains sat in some at the moment. Just need to remember which one goes back on which bike!

 deepsoup 06 Jul 2022
In reply to LastBoyScout:

> I always do on car and motorbike brake pads, but shouldn't be necessary on the tiny pads in bike brakes - although I admit I sometimes do.

I should admit that I've never actually tried it on a pushbike myself - don't entirely trust myself not to get any on the face while handling those teeny tiny little pads.

 deepsoup 06 Jul 2022
In reply to LastBoyScout:

I may have fallen for an urban myth here but I believe that's what petrol was originally invented for before it was ever used as a fuel, and it's probably the best solvent you could find for that job - a tad dangerous though!

1
 Cobra_Head 06 Jul 2022
In reply to jim jones:

>  

> scuffing the friction compound on the pad can be effective too. They can develop a polished surface which reduces braking efficiency a product of which can be noise. 

Agreed, I meant to mention that too. Nice one.

 nniff 07 Jul 2022
In reply to graeme jackson:

> WD40 was specifically designed to Disperse moisture to prevent rust in the aerospace industry - hence Water Dispersant attempt no.40.

> It was NOT designed as a lubricant but has mistakenly found it's way into many households as such.

Not so - Technical Data Sheet (TDS) here:  https://wd40.co.uk/product/wd-40-multi-use-product-original/  , which lists its lubricating qualities. 

The reason that millions use it as a lubricant is that it is one, albeit with different properties to the stuff in a car engine or gearbox.  Personally, a glob of gearbox oil on a creaking kitchen door hinge or a Camalot is not appropriate, but WD40 works well. 

Lots of things have lubricating qualities.  Water, for example, is also a lubricant, albeit not a very good one. If you were to try, say, Hairless Heart on a rainy day this would quickly become apparent.

In reply to nniff:

The history of the invention of WD-40 by the Rocket Chemical Company is on Wikipedia:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40
 

 Martin W 26 Jul 2022
In reply to gethin_allen:

> The only slight issue is the price of WD40, I soak my chains in paraffin or white spirit as it's much cheaper and does the same job.

Per the formulation in the link posted by Stefan Jabosen above, WD40 is mostly "paraffin" - as in the generic usage for alkanes: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkane#Trivial/common_names.

The Wiki article linked by Stefan also says:

It acts as a lubricant, rust preventative, penetrant and moisture displacer. There are specialized products that perform better than WD-40 in each of these uses, but WD-40's flexibility has given it fame as a jack of all trades.

I prefer to use chain lube formulated for that purpose and in fact there are specific WD-40 products for bike maintenance, as mentioned on the myths page, and listed here: https://www.wd40.com/products/?category=bike  So even WD40 themselves acknowledge that there are more appropriate products for chain lubrication than what they call "WD40 Multi-use product" on their web site.

 65 26 Jul 2022
In reply to Godwin:

Brake fluid is even better, the clue is in the name. The best thing is to soak new pads in it for a few days before fitting them. I also rub it into the chamois pad in my shorts. Saddle sores are a thing of the past and it’s much cheaper than Assos bum cream.


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