I have older brass turnouts that I am starting to get conductivity problems at the switch points. Can anyone recommend a good cleaner to bring the conductivity back.
Thank you
Yes…I found 91% alcohol,a white rag and a bright boy will clean switch points.
Lightly clean with a bright boy followed by a rag-I use gun cleaning patches with alcohol on it.
There’s no need to apply a lot of pressure.
My problem seems to be where the blade meets the rail. The space is so small to get a bright boy in that slot.
Thanks
Ah…Ok…Try the cotton swab dipped in alcohol trick…That should work…
Just be careful using the 91% around painted objects; 91% is also a good paint stripper. A friend of mine plcked up a locomotive that he after just had finished cleaning the wheels. He had a bit of alcohol on his fingers, and messed up some of the paint. Fortunately, we were able to repair the damage.
Electric contact cleaner. A spray on with a little tube included is available from most electronics or motor dealers.
ROAR
Just be careful of the fumes since some will change that “ROAR!” to a small meow!
An adjustable speed dremmel tool with a nylon bristle wheel and some track cleaning fluid is what I use on nickel silver rails. An old tooth brush works well too. The problem with brass rail is the track cleaner fluids won’t remove the tarnish so you may have to use a Brass wire wheel in the dremmel. Use a slow speed so you won’t melt some of the plastic ties. Using some conductor lube may help with the hinge point conductivity.
I just use the nylon bristle in the Dremmel as well. However I don’t use any cleaner with it.
Check the packaging on any Dremel wire or nilon brush. They are not rated for thr max speed of the Dremel and will fly apart and throw bristiles if you run them at 15,000 RPM or whatever is the max speed of the Dremel. Speed 2 or 3 is safer. Been there - Done that! [:O]
Which is why I mentioned using an adjustable speed tool but I forgot to mention to use a low speed with the brushes. I usually use a cordless dremmel that has two speeds, 3,000 and 5,000 rpm’s. Please don’t sic the product liability lawyers on me. Oh wait. I did mention to use a slow speed.
As you use the Bright Boy, it tends to get thinner near the ends, at least how I handle mine makes it do that. They eventually get thin enough to work between the points and the stock rail and I retire them to that use exclusively to preserve their unique shape for this need.
You are fighting an uphill battle when you’re using brass rail. The recommendation to use a contact cleaner/lube is a good one because that will slow down how fast the corrossion returns. I use CRC 2-26, although there are others. I decant a little from the spray can by spraying into a plastic cup, take a popsicle stick and wet the end in the “juice” then give a quick wipe between the point and stock rail. If the points pivot on a rivet, it also helps to apply a spot of the 2-26 on it to help preserve connectivity to the points.
I also use it on my track, very sparingly, but will skip that here.
Get a non glossy busines card and spray a little WD-40 on one end. Stick that end of the card in the switch between the points and stock rail. Rub the card back and forth while applying a little pressure to the point rail against the stock rail.
If you have old brass track the problem is probably corrosion. The oxide on brass is non conductive. Fold a pc of 600 grit "sand paper & pass it between the rail & the point until it is shiny.
Yes, if you hold the brite boy sideways over the track. I do that too, but then the brite boy gets too thin to use, I trim it with a hobby knife, and it’s good to go for a couple more years.
Cotton swab…with ‘‘Brasso’’ on it. You can even do all your rails with it.
Just don’t get carried away with the amount you use.
Back in the early 60’s when I ran Brass rail, that’s all I used, twice a year, depending on environment you have. It was two level and used two drag cars home made Gon’s with extra weight in them, corduroy glued to masonite pads. Could take the whole pad off when dirty and wash with soap and water. Cheap and efficient.
Take Care!
Frank
Solder a small flexible wire between the point rail and the adjacent stock rail. I was having similar problems with my nickel silver turnouts quite a few years ago. After installing the jumpers on all my point rails, loss of contact has been completely eliminated because they are now “hard wired”.
Flexible wire installed …
After painting and ballasting it’s barely noticeable …
Mark.
dat’s it… If the mechanical function works, you can deal with the electrical functin elsewhere. Mechanical function is primary, if that does not work, you are on the ground. (LIONS will eat ur passengers as soon as the CR opens the doors.)
Layout of LION has double cross over entering the terminal at 242nd street. Him not bother to wire the crossover at all. With 48 wheel pickup of LION, the little issues go away.
ROAR
Flat jewelers file. Sand lightly. There are different grades of files.
Rich
Nice work there. I’ve considered that a time or two, but haven’t yet been forced to. I’m using NS HOn3 Shinoharas where that’s an issue, but some have been down for 25+ years.
The rivet – a single one that holds the bridle for the pivot end of the points in Shinohara’s design – gets to where the connectivity isn’t certain. The points have power from side contact with the stock rail, but this doesn’t carry to the stock rails beyond the frog.
Adding a dab of CRC 2-26 helps some without anything else in many cases.
I’ve found two tools that help when the issue is worse with these trunouts. First is a metal uncoupling tool I got somewhere whose tip is just the right size to fit into the rivet’s center. Wiggle around in a circular motion and it expands the “tube” part of the rivet for better contact.
The second is my tapered ream. At it’s narrow end tip, it’s smooth, but ground at a shallow angle towrds its center. It’s just the right shape to spread the “mouth” of the rivet, making it tighter with a light tap.
The next stop if this doesn’t completely solve the issues is to add jumpers like Mark has done, though. Some of these techniques probably apply to various standard gauge turnouts, although check your tool sizes to properly fit if doing an Atlas or SG Shinohara, for instance, as they may require a slightly different tip size for these methods to work.