The wheel cleaner I placed on order is on back order with this company, which is most likely why it was so cheap compared to the other sites.
It gives me a chance to ask the question here, has any one used the Woodland Scenics wheel cleaner? If so, what did you think?
http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/Item/TT4561/page/1 (http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/Item/TT4561/page/1)
i have seen them, but have yet to buy one. it looks like it would work though.
One You Tube reviewer thought it was ok.
Rich
At $29 save your money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The best cleaner is a product I use to clean and lubricate my guns, and bicycles.
This stuff is awesome. It was used by the U.S. Marines to clean and lubricate their weapons.
Many of the Spec-Ops soldiers use it.
It is BREAK FREE CLP(cleaner lubricant and preservative) it penetrates into the metal and
loosens up the dirt, debris and rust. When I pulled out my Dad's collection after being in
storage for 2o some years their was a mold and grunge on the wheels. With a old toothbrush
I scrubbed the wheels and axles and all the gunk came off!!!!!!!!! Not to mention with the teflon
in it the wheels roll wonderfully.
DO NOT USE it on plastic BUT Break Free makes a Preservative which you can use on the
plastic parts and won't harm it.
And best of all it's cheap
$10 for a BIG 12oz can
smaller cans or bottles are just 3-5 dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Try it it works!!!!!!!!!
I have one and I think it works just fine for my needs. I like that it comes with spare cleaning pads so I'm good to go for awhile before buying more. Seems to be a lot less time consuming than other methods I've heard of. A little pricey so it pays to shop around. Got mine at my LHS when they were having a sale. With the time it saves me I have more time to work on my layout :)
Micro Mark has them in N scale and HO scale at what seems to be the best price, so far.
Rich
rb-
I don't have one of these but a friend like his. Remember that it doesn't clean non-powered
wheels so it won't improve electrical pick-up on tender wheels.
-- D
Thanks all. My LHS has one for less than MicroMark when you add in the freight charges, and I like to support them when I can.
They (Woodland Scenics) shows on their video on how to use it to clean rolling stock wheels. I think it is BS though. They have you roll the car back and forth with slight pressure on the car to clean the wheels. Seems to me it is just rolling the dirty wheels over the pads without really cleaning them.
I am trying to convert all my stock to metal wheels anyway. Not sure the best way to clean rolling stock wheels other than Q tips and solvent, and I understand metal wheels require minimal cleaning anyway if the tracks are kept clean.
Quote from: rbryce1 on October 27, 2012, 11:36:33 PM
I understand metal wheels require minimal cleaning anyway if the tracks are kept clean.
rb-
Basically true. Plus, the dirt on your wheels won't matter except on cars which need power, like tenders, cabeese and passenger equipment.
Some folks believe that dirty rolling stock wheels make the rails dirty but it seems to me that dirty wheels pick up more dirt than they spread
around. Keep your rails clean and your trains will run just fine.
-- D
i.ve always cleaned car wheels with a screwdriver blade. the crud buildup will just peel off if you hold the blade against the tread, and turn the axle by hand. locomotive wheels are cleaned by soaking a paper towell with alcohol, then holding the loco in place with one truck on the towel, and applying power.
it is my impression that the pads on the ws cleaner rotate while the wheels on the locomotive spin. somebody correvt me if i"m wrong
The pads are stationary, actually sticky back mounted on the rails of the device. You get power either from a power pack and the provided alligator clips or directly from your tracks .
Here is the video of how it works.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/rVUIVzk_4Pc?rel=0&autoplay=1&showinfo=0&fs=1&hl=en_US&wmode=opaque (https://www.youtube.com/embed/rVUIVzk_4Pc?rel=0&autoplay=1&showinfo=0&fs=1&hl=en_US&wmode=opaque)
I didn't 'spring' for the Woodland Scenics wheel cleaner; but I did purchase their Rail Tracker and Dust Monkeys. I found the Rail Tracker to be an innovative design that allowed me to mechanically clean the rail heads without worrying about slipping off and causing damage to trackside items.
The problem arose with cleaning my Peco Electrofrog turnouts. Peco has a strange looking 'object' between the point rails of their turnouts that 'snagged' the Rail Tracker. I would imagine this would not be a problem with other brands of track. I have discontinued use of the Rail Tracker and have gone back to a Bright Boy pad.
The Dust Monkeys didn't seem to to anything. Please understand that I have a small shelf layout and this product might be of more use to those of you that can continuously run trains (instead of point-to-point).
For wheels I use a piece of shop toweling (or a used dryer sheet) that has been well-soaked with ACT-6006 Track & Rail Cleaner. Using a couple of lengths of Bachmann EZ-track and two jumpers running from the EZ-track to a layout siding (it is not a good idea to clean wheels on a scenic-ed part of your layout). After thoroughly cleaning the two pieces of Bachmann EZ-track, I run one power truck of my GE 45-tonner on a piece of soaked shop toweling until there is no more black residue left behind on the toweling (move the toweling several times during this process). After the 'wet' wash, I then run the power truck on a dry part of the shop towel to burnish (and remove any residual deposits from) the wheels. Now follow the same procedure with the other power truck(s). My usual practice is to allow the locomotive to sit overnight before use.
If you are interested in ACT-6006 it can be had at http://www.aerocarlubricants.com/ (http://www.aerocarlubricants.com/) and comes in 120 ml (8 FL oz.) bottles...I usually order two bottles although the stuff lasts a good while.
BTW: there are several reasons NOT to use alcohol on track or power pick up wheels (no problem with non-power pick up wheels). See your local chemistry guy for a little lesson on alcohol (especially denatured) and electrical properties.
Hope this helps,
Ray
Quote from: CNE Runner on October 28, 2012, 01:11:45 PM
I didn't 'spring' for the Woodland Scenics wheel cleaner; but I did purchase their Rail Tracker and Dust Monkeys. I found the Rail Tracker to be an innovative design that allowed me to mechanically clean the rail heads without worrying about slipping off and causing damage to trackside items.
The problem arose with cleaning my Peco Electrofrog turnouts. Peco has a strange looking 'object' between the point rails of their turnouts that 'snagged' the Rail Tracker. I would imagine this would not be a problem with other brands of track. I have discontinued use of the Rail Tracker and have gone back to a Bright Boy pad.
The Dust Monkeys didn't seem to to anything. Please understand that I have a small shelf layout and this product might be of more use to those of you that can continuously run trains (instead of point-to-point).
For wheels I use a piece of shop toweling (or a used dryer sheet) that has been well-soaked with ACT-6006 Track & Rail Cleaner. Using a couple of lengths of Bachmann EZ-track and two jumpers running from the EZ-track to a layout siding (it is not a good idea to clean wheels on a scenic-ed part of your layout). After thoroughly cleaning the two pieces of Bachmann EZ-track, I run one power truck of my GE 45-tonner on a piece of soaked shop toweling until there is no more black residue left behind on the toweling (move the toweling several times during this process). After the 'wet' wash, I then run the power truck on a dry part of the shop towel to burnish (and remove any residual deposits from) the wheels. Now follow the same procedure with the other power truck(s). My usual practice is to allow the locomotive to sit overnight before use.
If you are interested in ACT-6006 it can be had at http://www.aerocarlubricants.com/ (http://www.aerocarlubricants.com/) and comes in 120 ml (8 FL oz.) bottles...I usually order two bottles although the stuff lasts a good while.
BTW: there are several reasons NOT to use alcohol on track or power pick up wheels (no problem with non-power pick up wheels). See your local chemistry guy for a little lesson on alcohol (especially denatured) and electrical properties.
Hope this helps,
Ray
Most here do not know a chemistry guy. You would do better with an Internet link about using alcohol to clean wheels and track and the issues involved. I suspect many here have no idea on what you mean.
Rich
The only thing I can think of is the fact that denatured alchohol is flamable, so a spark could cause an HO scale fire inside your engine due to a spark from your engines electrical system.
Did I win the pony?
denatured alcohol is worse than that. it burns without a flame, so you don't realize it's burning until it's too late. regular isopropyl alcohol is safe.
Guess I don't get the pony, huh?
Quote from: rbryce1 on October 28, 2012, 06:43:23 PM
The only thing I can think of is the fact that denatured alchohol is flamable, so a spark could cause an HO scale fire inside your engine due to a spark from your engines electrical system.
Did I win the pony?
rb-
No pony for you. The fire
won't be HO scale; it will be full twelve-inches-to-the-foot scale.
-- D
As was mentioned above, the major problem with alcohols is their flammability. Model railroads use electricity...electricity can cause sparking (a lot more than you think between locomotive wheels and rail surface - hence the need to clean track)...sparking can be the ignition source for residual alcohol (perhaps some spilled on ballast, under ties, between point and stock rails of turnouts.
'Rubbing' alcohol is probably what most of us use on our layouts. Rubbing alcohol can be [legally] blends of either ethanol or isopropanol and other denaturing agents. For example the government (U.S.) requires that ethyl-based rubbing alcohol be composed of (per volume): 8 parts acetone, 1.5 parts methyl isobutal ketone, 100 parts pure ethanol. Nasty huh?
Alcohols are not considered electrical conductors (EC's)...much like pure water. A nice article on this fact can be found at: http://www.angelfire.com/ab6/hershey/saec.pdf (http://www.angelfire.com/ab6/hershey/saec.pdf)
Friends, it is of paramount importance that you ask a person, giving advice, to cite their source(s). All too often I have seen posters give anecdotal evidence as support for their stance (anecdotal = personal experience/observation). You want to know the science behind some of these statements. As RichG advised; "You would do better with an Internet link..."
In summary: Why would you use a product that is non-conductive, and flammable, for the cleaning of electrical components (i.e. tracks and wheels)? Doesn't it make more sense to use a product that was designed for that purpose?
Regards,
Ray
The trouble with alcohol is that it has a drying effect on surfaces. The metal wheels and track
do not have absolutely polished surfaces. Thus dirt and grime and sludge will enter these
micro crevices and attract more dirt grime etc. With weaponry the same issues arise, You
want your surfacea areas where metal moves upon metal to be as frictionless as possible.
This is where Break Free does a wonderful job. Once the metal surface areas are clean those
metal "pores" are filled with the teflon from the Break Free. Weapons undergo intense heat especially from "rapid fire" sessions where 60 or 70 rounds have to be delivered downrange
in 60 seconds or less!!!
Our model or toy trains do not generate anywhere near this type of heat not to mention the
teflon is suspended in vegetable oil. The probability of spontaneous combustion or fire
hazard is extremly low.
My son and I wipe down our track with "goo gone" lightly applied to a old rag and then follow up with a dry rag. A lot of the "black carbon deposits" come up and the track is "very clean"
The trains run smoothly without a hitch. !!!!!!!!!!
Hope this helps
Quote from: Doneldon on October 29, 2012, 12:34:22 AM
rb-
No pony for you. The fire won't be HO scale; it will be full twelve-inches-to-the-foot scale.
-- D
I thought we were talking about 1-2 drops of alcohol? That must be some really potent stuff.
rb-
A drop or a gallon, it will still be 1:1 scale.
-- D
So I still don't get the pony, huh?
Denatured alcohol and Q-tips should be fine for rolling stock wheel cleaning - no sparks there. Maybe backed up with a small screwdriver to clean substantial crud build-up. Here's the thing with dirt build-up on rolling stock - a little dirt won't hurt much. It may put some dirt back down on the rails though as noted above that can be a bit of a two-way street. What happens over time is that the dirt can build up enough that it will be almost the same thickness as the wheel flange depth, creating derailments. It appears that plastic wheels tend to pick up dirt faster, apparently from static electricity, so metal wheels (or at least metal treads) are better.
I usually use a Kadee wheel cleaner on motive power. It consists of a pair of brass brushes separated by a plastic plate. The brushes are hooked to clip leads that you clip onto the track. There's a spare lead for clipping to the insulated drawbar of steam locos. Turn your track power up and the wheels clean themselves as they spin. The unit will work with anything from N to O scales.