415 Heavy Duty vs. 415H

[Timbone]

I am confused over a simple issue.

My bike is running flawlessly on a BBR Tuning Sprocket Adapter (40T) that I ordered from BikeBerry. I have been doing this for years now and I've always used 415 chain. When I built up my current ride, I fixed the drive sprocket to an old 415 chain I had procured sometime before. I had another 415 chain to choose from but I noticed on a test fitting that it's narrow half-links would not seat onto the sprocket.

I bought my most recent kit from Dax that came with a 415 chain. It wouldn't fit the sprocket, either.

I looked at the BikeBerry website and under their adapters it had a note that they would only accept "415 Heavy Duty" chains. OK, so they are the vendor and they only advertise "415 Heavy Duty" chains, so I will order one from them. I received the new chain yesterday and - wouldn't you know it? - it will not work, either.

I am wondering what makes the 415 chain I am using workable. I have only ordered chains or kits that advertise 415 chain.

I don't know what the deal is. Anyone else ever run into this problem?

 

[crassius]

heavy duty means stronger - this can be done by using better steel with more polishing of joints for better tolerances, but the chinese usually just make thicker side plates and thicker pins & rollers - ideally, this shouldn't make the 3/16 width of the tightest links any smaller but might in some cases

I've seen similar years ago when rear sprockets were much fatter that the current 44T sprockets, and that is why so many threads here that are 5 or 6 years old talk about chains failing to stay on rear sprockets. We don't see that so much now wth the thinner sprockets, but if you have a fat one, you could grind or file the teeth a bit thinner as we used to do.

pics might help showing where chain is not fitting

 

[Timbone]

Crassius, thank you for the insight.

I did some testing with all the pieces of chain I have left over from various projects.

One section I found that worked was marked "KMC 415H". So I need 415H.

The difference is so subtle I can't distinguish it with my eyes. I am not going to grind any metal off unless it's an emergency fix. I'll order a real 415H chain, KMC if I can find one, and that should settle that.

 

[crassius]

usually, one just needs to grind the tips of teeth - the pull happens down in the valleys between teeth and tips just find the gap to align chain

 

[Wags]

There is a difference between the 415 and the 415h I had the same problem. The 415 motorized bike chain the 415H motorized bike chain and a 415 kmc are all different in inner width. They are all considered a 3/16 chain but yet they do have different in her widths. Go figure.

 

[Timbone]

Update: I received my KMC 415H chain today. It wouldn't work, either! So I got out my dremel and very calmly and carefully ground down each of the 40 teeth on the draft be sprocket. I removed just a bit of metal on each side of the tooth, just enough to flatten it out a little bit. It didn't take long. My ride is very smooth now.

 

[gary55]

There is a difference between the 415 and the 415h I had the same problem. The 415 motorized bike chain the 415H motorized bike chain and a 415 kmc are all different in inner width. They are all considered a 3/16 chain but yet they do have different in her widths. Go figure.

I caught on to that when I ordered a bunch of 415H masters by mistake. They are noticeably large on the reg. 415 chain.

 

[crassius]

Update: I received my KMC 415H chain today. It wouldn't work, either! So I got out my dremel and very calmly and carefully ground down each of the 40 teeth on the draft be sprocket. I removed just a bit of metal on each side of the tooth, just enough to flatten it out a little bit. It didn't take long. My ride is very smooth now.

I get it done fairly quickly with a bench grinder, but my friend gets it almost instantly with a wide belt sander.