[8D] Happy Easter MRRDERS. I was talking to a good friend of mine, who’s a great modelrailroader about the perfect track cleaning solution (ie WD40 RADIO SHACK)he told me that he used a spray conrol/contact cleaner lubricate on his track, after he used it, he said that his locos ran like brand new, no sputtering, no stopping, no having “THE HAND OF GOD” moving the locos!! What do you guys n gals think of this idea, I’m sure you would have to be careful of any acid or chemical reaction to the track, but what is your reaction, inquirering minds want to know! LOL[;)]
I really don’t have much problem with keeping track clean. I’ll occasionally run a CMX fluid drip using mineral spirits around the main maybe once every six months.
I have read several discussions about contact cleaners and have found the one suggested most often is the CRC 3140 in the green can. I have sometimes used it for spot cleaning trackwork.
I have never used anything that leaves behind any film or oil. Some swear by transmission fluid, Flitz, Whal Clipper Oil, Goo Gone (!) and who knows what else.
For contact areas on locomotives and passenger car pickups I use De-Oxit and/or CRC 2-26.
Good Luck, Ed
My club uses CRC 2-26. Now only need to clean track where work has occured.
Peter
Wd40 leave a film that will attract dust in the long run.
CRC 2-26???, Can you tell me who makes this solution???
CRC makes CRC [:-^]
https://www.crcindustries.com/
They have scores of specialty chemicals for industry and commercial use.
I believe the 2-26 is available at some Big-Box stores and maybe auto parts stores. The 2-26 fluid is usually in aerosol cans but my former employer bought some for me in a pump sprayer that I like to decant into 1 ounce needle-point applicators. I can get into motor bearings and axle end points with the needle tipped bottle.
Regards, Ed
Apparently CRC 2-26 is not available in Canada. I searched the CRC Canada website and they showed the product, but when I clicked on the ‘Where To Buy’ icon it said that no stores carry the product. If it is in aerosol containers I doubt that it can be shipped across the border.
Dave
WD 40 is very common and used for all kinds of things it’s not really designed for. It is mainly designed to clear water contamination off electrical conductors. I dislike the pong so hardly ever use it.
Electrical contact cleaner is actually designed for cleaning conductors. Radio Shack makes a really good one. At least it did when it was last in Canada. There are many brands. It’s a much better product for cleaning railheads.
To sell into Canada also requires French language labelling which some manufacturers decline to pay for.
I thought this was internet slang for Murderers! I do not like this abbreviation!
[:O]
Anyway… never spray WD-40 on your layout. Also, WD-40 is not a penetrating oil, which many people assume.
Do keep WD-40 on hand. It can be a miracle worker for all kinds of things.
Stuff you need in your house…
WD-40
PB-Blaster (penetrating oil)
Permatex Silicone Lubricant Spray
For track cleaning I will also state that CRC contact cleaner on a paper towel is great. Do not use CRC Brake and Parts Cleaner! It is not plastic safe.
-Kevin
Lots of these traditional contact cleaners tacitly assume pressure on the ‘contacts’ in use after application. Along with solvent cleaning they provide a mobile, thin, self-healing film which ‘wets’ the metal. This excludes air and a range of corrosive contaminants, and displaces with pressure until (unlike a lubricant) the metallic asperities on the contact surfaces touch to allow current flow.
Incidentally many of these films happen to be insulative/dielectric for ‘boring technical reasons’. People who do not understand chemistry think that a “conductive lube” actually conducts electricity well. They do not: they condition and maintain the surface so that with displacing pressure the underlying contact can be good.
In part this is why good ‘gleaming’ is important whether or not you are a “TOR application” aficionado. In models without something like Magne-Traction or that British system with magnetic plates under the track, only rolling contact with the ‘adhesive weight’ of the model provides the electrical connection – not spring pressure, wiping action, or forced ‘spring-loaded’ connection as in electrical switchgear or plugs and connectors. This governs the type of ‘film’ best suited for model-railroad purposes.
Now, any self-healing film is likely to hold ‘some’ dirt or other airborne contaminants. Key, regardless of chosen ‘substance’, is regular cleaning to remove this followed by re-establishment of the thin, mobile, self-healing layer. That implies that if you use an actual cleaning solution you may need to re-apply your TOR – but sparingly; it also follows that a pass with a John Allen-style weighted rear-side-of-Masonite pad might remove crud but leave enough of the dressing to self-heal.
There are true conductive lubricants – they are usually heavily-loaded with conductive materials (such as s
Several engine manufacturers specify the CRC contact cleaner as the final cleaning step for critical gasket surfaces because it leave no thin film or residue behind.
-Kevin
Yes, not all products billed as ‘conduction enhancers’ leave a film. I should have been clearer about that. But much of this discussion invoked CRC 2-26, which will leave a film. Elucidating the difference between that product and a ‘contact cleaner’ also happening to be provided by CRC is important.
I do suspect that where no special ‘ingredients’ affect the contact surface, a proper mixture of solvent and perhaps detergent would do the job about as well, or more cheaply, than a ‘branded’ proprietary mixture. This might not apply to a cleaner preferentially packaged as a spray for more ‘pinpoint’ application, but typical track use doesn’t really favor spray from a can (as Ed noted).
I spray the CRC onto a paper towel and wipe the track with that.
-Kevin
Be sure you’re wearing gloves impervious to the solvents (probably at least 4mil nitrile or chloroprene) and be very careful not to breathe the overspray and spent propellant that the paper towel doesn’t catch. And wrap the “applicator” up in something like a plastic grocery bag afterwards to minimize ‘human contact exposure’ [:)]…
[8D]Well Friends
I went to Home Depot and found the CRC 2-26, I’ll let you know how it works out, and yes, I will use gloves and paper towels!!
Dave, I replied to this thread last night, around 5:00AM, and included a link - you can apparently buy that stuff at Canadian Tire. I dunno where my post went, though.
EDIT: Here’s the LINK
Wayne
Yup, I have a can.
Joe, I had never heard of this product. I just did some reading, and it sounds like good stuff. According to the manufacturer it is safe for plastics and leaves no residue.
Thanks for the tip.
-Kevin
It is second on the list of approved track cleaner fluids, just below kerosene.