what’the best,easyist to clean your locomoyive wheels?
I figure some way to power them up off track(IE aligator clips attched to electrical pick ups on the motor) Then use a Q-tip dipped in a cleaner(Goof Off, Goo Gone)and clean each wheel as it’s spinning.Some people hear also use alcohol to do this.
I’ve found that the easiest way for me is to dip a Q-tip in either alcohol or Micro-Mark wheel and track cleaner, turn the locomotive upside down in a cradle, apply power, and clean the wheels that way. It works just dandy, and I only have to do it once in a while.
I’ve also discovered the Tomar track shoes, which is a sliding pickup that fits on the bottom of the locomotive and improves power pickup by at least 50%. And since it slides along the rails, it tends to keep the rails clean, and thereby the locomotive wheels, so it sort of does two jobs at once. I’m in the process of fitting all of my locomotives with the Tomars, and my use of wheel and track-cleaner has dropped to practically nothing. They’re incredibly easy to install, they come with very clear directions, and you can have a locomotive equipped with them in about ten minutes tops. Handy little gadget and a real lifesaver.
Tom [:D]
I use a alcohol ( methylated spirits) soaked rag placed on the tracks and let one set of wheels ( diesel ) or the drive wheels (steam ) spin on the rag (hold the loco from running away), while the other wheels are picking up power. Works brillantly.
Ken.
I finally got around to trying Ken’s method. I thought that it must be working for somebody, so why not for me? I had fairly good results. I dabbed some Goof-Off on a piece of paper towel and laid the piece on the tracks under a loco that had one set of wheels contacting the tracks and the others on the towel. When I powered it up, the wheels turned slowly, but they made decent contact with the paper towel, and after a few seconds, I looked to see that the paper towel had dark stains on it. It works!
I have tried paper towels and a strip of a clean cotton t-shirt, usually I place goo-gone or rail-zip, rubbing alcohol, but I found a cleaner called ACT-6006 made to clean engine wheels. Works great. I found a product that is actually a foam pad mounted on a 1 X3 piece of wood with metal ends that align with the track. The foam has super small slits that the wheels will fall into. It has made cleaning much easier.
loather has a good connection, powered aligation clips from the track to the pick-ups . Turn the loco over and throttle up.
I use MAAS, a metal cleaner/polisher. Use a flat end screw driver with a piece of cotton t-short material around the end, apply the MAAS to the material and throttle up.
I used this method on a 1963 Lionel HO steam loco that wasn’t cleaned in 40 years.WOW!
After your “insistance” [;)] on using MAAS on the tracks has worked so well, I think I may try the same on the wheels of the engines. For anyone that hasn’t tried the MAAS polish or something similar, let me say that is does work!
Since doing the tracks Locomotive3, I am still getting the same performance from the engines running, and have not cleaned the track since, in fact I have taken my finger and ran it along the top of the rail, and I get no black film.
I think an experiment is in order today on the wheels.
To Locomotive3 [tup], it’s odd, sometimes the simple ideas are the best.
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by dthurman
And to think it took me a few years to discover it. Thanks to MR Jan 2003 I was able
to sell off Tony’s clean machine, buy some MAAS and pocket the profit. The
product has been around for many years and it took this long for modelers to
reap it’s benifits… again thanks to MR.
I’ve tried the MAAS polish- does a great job and does resist oxidation as with track cleaning. The only problem I found Is it makes the drive wheels a bit too slippery for me to do it again. I’ll stick to the paper towel and alcohol. But it is fantastic to use on the rails.
Bob K.