I bought some of that highly rated Nano-oil and want clean out the current grease and oil in my loco gears, before the re-lube, most of which seem to be plastic or nylon of some sorts. That’s where my problem begins.
I seem to always see that it is recommended to clean any loco gearing before re-lubing. I agree. That’s good. Most items I see, don’t go any further on what to use – just clean them! However, when I go looking for recommended solvents, I don’t find much except to not use solvents on plastic as they may dissolve the plastic. The most frequent statement I find is to clean with soap and water. Occasionally, I find WD-40, Alcohol and mineral spirits used by people.
Soap and water is too much of a hassle to use in my basement which does not have a sink and running water.
I would like something that I can just put in a small pan and use a brush to clean the gears without fear of ruining the gears.
I tried a search here and kept getting not available, 505 errors, and then a pointer to every post in this forum! Arrrggghhhh!!! The internet, is not much help except for soap and water and don’t use strong solvents.
What do you use, safely, other than soap and water to clean your plastic/nylon/delrin/whatever gears, without fear of damage, before relubing?
Thank you for you help on this. In advence, much appreciated.
I occasionally find myself in that spot as well, and here is my solution.
I use a kleenex or blue shop towels as they are very absorbent and a soft tooth brush. Clean off the bulk of old lubricant with the wipe and then use the brush cross face to the gears. again clean off with more kleenex or wipes and then examine the gears under a bright light and magnifier for any burrs or flash,or anything else that would make the gear less than perfect. This has worked well for me when I didn’t feel like setting up a wash station at that moment.
You should be able to use alcohol (91% or, if you’re in Canada, 99%) to dissolve some old lubricants, and then dish detergent and hottish water is your best solution. If you don’t have a sink available, use a glass jar or other similar container. A toothbrush is useful for getting in between the gear teeth, and once you’ve done the initial work to remove the worst of it, another soak in fresh soap and water won’t hurt. Rinse thoroughly with plain water, then allow to air dry - you don’t want to get lint from cloth or paper towels to get lodged between those freshly-cleaned teeth. [swg]
You should be aware that some lubricants can harden to such a degree that they must be manually removed using a suitable hard object, such as the back (non-sharp) edge of an X-Acto #11 blade. I recently re-worked an old brass locomotive for a friend, and the grease between the gear teeth (it had obviously sat unused for a long time, allowing most of the lubricant to migrate to the bottom of the axle gear) was so hard that it would actual cause the motor to stall every time that area came in contact with the worm.
I just purchased some Nano oil myself, I applied it to my Rivarossi Heisler, it was starting to get a little noisy. I didn’t really see much oil or grease left on any of the gears, so I applied it while running on a set of rollers. I must say, my noisiest loco is now my quietest, great stuff!
I use 99% isopropyl alcohol (Canadian eh!) but the 91% available in the US should work just as well. The gears come out very clean. I do not use soap and water after the alcohol. I use an old margarine tub as a bath.
One small suggestion regarding using a toothbrush. I cut the bristles to about half their length. This gives me a much stiffer brush but one that is still gentle enough to not scratch the gears.
Also, before starting to clean your gears, vacuum the work bench or at least put down fresh paper towels over the whole work area. It is very easy to pick up particles from other projects and have them end up in the freshly cleaned gears.
Buy Súper Clean, a degreasing eco-friendly cleaner ta Wal Mart, in a spray bottle or a larger (64 oz) bottle. It cleans and degreases without affecting plastic. I use it for some paint removal and all other cleaning tasks. You can do it at the kitchen sink, after letting the parts soak a bit, then rinse with water and let dry before reassembly and lubrication. It’s that simple! Cedarwoodron
Thank you to all who replied. Gonna try the 91% alki and get me an old toothbrush and cut it back as one of you suggested. Super Clean sounds good, but also removes paint? Sounds kind of like strong stuff.