Is your chain oil sticky??

[john87]

Hi All,

 

Now back in the day, all chain oil was gooey sticky stuff. In recent times i have used Stihl Forest plus that i "think" was sticky, Rock oil barguard that is well and trully gooey and sticky, and now i have bought some husqvarna premium mineral chain oil that does not appear to be sticky in the least..

 

What do you all use?? The makers of my saws [Echo] specificallly say NOT to use synthetic or vegetable oils, so they are right out..

 

Just could not understand why the husqvarna oil does not seem gooey and sticky??

 

What you all think??

 

john..

[Macpherson]

4 hours ago, john87 said:

Hi All,

 

Now back in the day, all chain oil was gooey sticky stuff. In recent times i have used Stihl Forest plus that i "think" was sticky, Rock oil barguard that is well and trully gooey and sticky, and now i have bought some husqvarna premium mineral chain oil that does not appear to be sticky in the least..

 

What do you all use?? The makers of my saws [Echo] specificallly say NOT to use synthetic or vegetable oils, so they are right out..

 

Just could not understand why the husqvarna oil does not seem gooey and sticky??

 

What you all think??

 

john..

 

I think that several companies offer a range of viscosities to suit different saws, if I remember correctly Rye oil is one of these.

 

Currently got Rototech from Northern arb which was a good deal at the time👍

[Macpherson]

5 hours ago, john87 said:

Hi All,

 

Now back in the day, all chain oil was gooey sticky stuff. In recent times i have used Stihl Forest plus that i "think" was sticky, Rock oil barguard that is well and trully gooey and sticky, and now i have bought some husqvarna premium mineral chain oil that does not appear to be sticky in the least..

 

What do you all use?? The makers of my saws [Echo] specificallly say NOT to use synthetic or vegetable oils, so they are right out..

 

Just could not understand why the husqvarna oil does not seem gooey and sticky??

 

What you all think??

 

john..

 

HI, had to have a gander on the subject after you brought it up.. I gotta say that the less sticky it is the more they sell.

So a 

 

Oil tackifier - oil tackifiers - tacky additives - knowledge base

WWW.BRAD-CHEM.CO.UK

---

An oil tackifier is an additive that keeps a lubricating oil in place where it is required. To do this it needs to give the oil...

 

[spuddog0507]

The Super sexy from northernarb is fine or it was ? i bought 6 25ltr drums about 2yr ago and down to the last one now i dont know if its changed in quality but it will of gone up in price of late, i think i paid about £30 + VAT per drum, The best oil IMO out there is the Exol heavy chain oil, its not the cheapest but it is gooey and sticky as, lasts well as compared to others, one lad who works with us bought some stihl oil and it was like hydraulic oil thin as P - - s i dont think he was impressed with it,,

[IronMike]

I had been using Super Sexy stuff, bit needed to buy some in a hurry recently and got some Morris stuff called Croma 30. Seems decent so far. Was about £55+vat for 25 litres, bit that's about the price unfortunately these days. I got 2 X 25l of Super Sexy stuff for about £70 last time so near enough same as you paid @spuddog0507

[peatff]

I got 5 litres from Aztec Oils in Bolsover for £8 and it is definitely tacky, almost stringy.

[Hodge]

I use super tack bio oil and it's £59 plus vat for 25lt. It's good stuff.

[john87]

9 hours ago, Macpherson said:

 

HI, had to have a gander on the subject after you brought it up.. I gotta say that the less sticky it is the more they sell.

So a 

 

Oil tackifier - oil tackifiers - tacky additives - knowledge base

WWW.BRAD-CHEM.CO.UK

---

An oil tackifier is an additive that keeps a lubricating oil in place where it is required. To do this it needs to give the oil...

 

 

Hi there,

The link you gave was very interesting. The talked about adhesive and cohesive strength of the oil film. Now, i happen to be a bit of an "expert" in the difference between the two! I have a qualification in materials technology, part of which was the joining of materials by adhesive means...

 

Adhesive strength, is the ability of the adhesive, in this case the oil, to resist being pulled from the surface of the substrate [our chain]

 

Cohesive strength on the other hand, is the ability of the adhesive material to resist being pulled apart ITSELF, So, in the case of glue, the glue itself would pull apart, whilct leaving a layer firmly attached to both parts of the substrate..

 

It is hard to know what to do for the best, as on the one hand thick and tacky will resist being thrown off, BUT if an oil it too thick to flow where it is required, like around the pins of the chain, then these will be running dry..

 

Many years ago i was involved with the lubrication of some cast iron slideways on a machine. We thought that EP90 would be the stuff to use, but in use, the oil quickly turned black with wear particles from the cast iron. We then used a thin, light oil. Problem instantly cured.. The thick EP oil that you would think would be perfect, turned out to be too thick to penetrate into the moving parts owing to the tight clearances between the parts..

 

With chain oil, it is hard to know what to do for the best..

 

john..

[john87]

8 hours ago, spuddog0507 said:

The Super sexy from northernarb is fine or it was ? i bought 6 25ltr drums about 2yr ago and down to the last one now i dont know if its changed in quality but it will of gone up in price of late, i think i paid about £30 + VAT per drum, The best oil IMO out there is the Exol heavy chain oil, its not the cheapest but it is gooey and sticky as, lasts well as compared to others, one lad who works with us bought some stihl oil and it was like hydraulic oil thin as P - - s i dont think he was impressed with it,,

I looked up the Exol oil.. The heavy version is ISO220, that is about SAE60.. I would imagine that unless you are working in 90 degree heat, that would be FAR too thick.. In the cold here i doubt the pump would be able to move the stuff..

 

They do a "standard" grade too. That is about SAE30, which would be more like it here in the uk i think..

 

I was using the rock oil barguard stuff. That is about SAE30. It seems great in summer, but when it was cold a while back i did start to get worried if it were not a bit too thick. It is certainly tacky stringy stuff..

 

I will just have to see how i get on with the new stuff [the husqvarna premium] and see what happens..

 

john..

[Dan Maynard]

1 hour ago, john87 said:

It is hard to know what to do for the best, as on the one hand thick and tacky will resist being thrown off, BUT if an oil it too thick to flow where it is required, like around the pins of the chain, then these will be running dry

 

Another property is the change in viscosity with temperature, you will also hear older people talking about thinning down the chain oil with diesel when it's cold. Don't need to do it this with the Stihl synthetic, I think it's pretty consistent hot or cold.

 

Certainly after some years running it I don't suffer excessive bar or chain wear so I think it works just fine even if doesn't have initial appearance of syrup.