Does anyone recognize this track cleaner car? The black thing on top screws off so I assume some sort of liquid goes in the tank. But what?
This car is a Life-Like from the 1980s. To use it just put some isopropyl alcohol or a liquid track cleaner like Track Magic (not sure if it is still in production) in the tank and it should flow into the pad on the bottom of the car to clean the track.
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Thanks! I just looked on eBay and Track Magic still exists. I’ve decided to swear off eBay for a month like Sober October for some. It’s almost the 2nd of April and I’m still standing strong.
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I’ve got my own small fleet of these, and use them regularly. Although I don’t put track cleaning fluid in the tank, nor would I recommend anyone do that, as in my experience the tanks leak easily (I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one that holds liquid), and will get fluid everywhere. I just put the fluid directly on the pad.
My rivarossi one holds fine, i have never owned a Life like one.
I have one with no tank but if it did I would just put as much liquid in it as i suspected i would need for that one time operation.
Hadn’t thought about a leakage factor. Maybe I’ll put some water in it and leave it in the sink to see what happens. Directly on the pad would be fine if necessary. Thanks all.
Regards,
Russ
I think it’s not so much that the tanks themselves leak as the tubing and joints do thanks to cheapness and age… and there’s an utter lack of a metering valve. As soon as you fill one, it will start dribbling even if there are no leaks en route, and it will continue to dribble until the tank has emptied. Unfortunately there isn’t a good way to shut off the flow with fluid remaining in the tank (so you need a method like using some sort of syringe to empty as well as fill it)
The problem I had with them is that they only ‘wet and scrub’ the track; they do nothing much to pick up the solubilized schmutz that comes off the railheads. For that you want at least one John-Allen-style Masonite car (or equivalent) following the dribbler in the cleaning train ‘consist’… or some arrangement with dry absorbent pads, etc.
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From all I’ve read, solubilized schmutz removal is very important with DCC.
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Very.
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