I’ve heard of a method of cleaning wheels by putting a paper towel over some track putting a little rubbing alcohol on it, and then running the cars over it to clean the wheels. Now heres my question, would it damage the wheels of the cars if I substituted nail polish remover for the rubbing alcohol?
My next question is, what is a way to clean locomotive wheels with out buying those fancy machines?
I have not tested this, but my instincts tell me that the Acetone in nail polish remover will probably dissolve or soften plastic. It is also dangerous to inhale the fumes. There are so many better products out there suitable for wheel cleaning that, in my opinion, there is no need to take these risks.
Thunder,
I started using a dremel with a small wire brush on the end, It cleans the wheels better than when they were factory new in my opion. Its the easiest method (and cleanest too) that Ive found.
I’d like to answer your question about an inexpensive device to clean locomotive wheels.
I mounted a 12 inch piece of track to a piece of 1x2" wood. I cut the wood about 6" longer than the track to make room to mount an inexpensive power pack on it by wraping electrician’s tape around it. (I got my power pack for a couple of bucks at a train show…it’s the cheap power pack that usually comes with a cheap train set. I attached 2 wires to the DC output screws on the power pack and soldered the other ends of each to each side of the rail, at the end nearest the power pack. Then, when I want to clean an engine’s wheels, I place a 4 inch wide strip of paper towel over a section of the track, wet it with rubbing alcohol (available at drugstores for around 50 cents a pint) and place one set of wheels on the paper towel and the other set on the bare track. Then, I turn on the power slowly and let the wheels spin. I turn the engine around, move the paper towel slightly to get a clean section on the track, and then clean the other set of wheels. Be sure to clean the track with alcohol in before you turn the engine around to clean the second set of wheels because it will get dirty as you run dirty wheels on it and will redeposit dirt on the clean wheels. (I hope this is understandable).
I should mention that a large plastic eyedropper (around 6" long available at most pharmacies) is a great tool for wetting the paper towels as mentioned above. It enables you to squirt the paper towel just where you want it rather than trying to pour it out of the pint bottle. I actually pour the alcohol into an empty peanut butter jar because it is easier to work from this than those tall bottles that the alcohol comes in.
Hope this helps.
Mondo
Re: Wheel cleaner substitution.
Most nail polish remover’s today are oil based. Even a thin coat of oil will attract dirt.
Acetone WILL melt plastic and paints if it gets on your fingers.
ALCHOHOL on a paper towel laid across the track loosens - and picks it up - but make sure 1/2 the towel is dry.
It need not be scientific or expensive to clean track or wheels. Just don’t drink the alcohol.
And the eye dropper thing, great idea.
Don’t do that with plastic wheels!!!
Jamison, would you please remove a few of those photos from your signature. They cause every topic you respond to, to be forced into a wide screen scroll, which is really annoying.
Big boy, I should have said that when I clean the brass wheels I use the wire brush and with plastic I switch to an identical looking nylon brush, never has damaged the pastic. I suppose if you would let it sit to long it may, but have yet to experience problems.
And as to the photos, they have been removed. Sorry for the problems it caused.[:)]
Jamison [:)]
Thanks for removing the photos. I liked them but they did cause the screens to widen out which makes it hard to read a topic. When you post a bunch of icons without spaces it does the same thing. You can post pics or icons without making the screens wide by simply using a few spaces between the pics or icons, this way the screens will auto adjust the width of the screen.
Thanks. [:)]
Thanks Jamison, you didn’t need to take them all out, the mosaic was kind of cool. The secret is to get it adjusted so that it doesn’t pu***he screen wide.[swg] Keep in mind that when you change your signature it is changed on every post you have ever made.
One of the best tools for locomotive wheel cleaning is Kadee’s wheel cleaner, if they still make it. Just clip it to the rails, turn the power on and the brass brushes go to work.
The KD thing doubtless works, I’ve had great success at less cost with an old style suede brush. The kind I mean had brass bristles. Remove one row of bristles across the bru***wo or three rows in from one end.(Pliers work well) bend the bristles away from the gap (you don’t want shorts. (If you are really concerned, remove two rows. (I’m in N, and one row is enough, two might be too mush)
Next clip aligator leads to each side of the gap, and connect to you power pack. (Haven’t ried this in DCC, keep a DC pack handy)
Power up, apply loco wheels and clean away.
Getting the suede brush with brass bristles is the hardest part of this project.
TOday I tried the method of putting the paper towel over the track and ading rubbing alcohol andrunning the cars over it, it worked quite well. thanks for all the advice.
This method really works.I made one a while back… I had trouble with my engines running slow and not the up to their best.I tried cleaning the track.Inspecting the rail joiners,ect. After I made this devise and tried it out,their was a major improvement