Engine Maintenance

[mxnmrv]

Does anyone have a good way to clean drive wheels on engines?

[tinplatacis]

What part of the wheel are you looking to clean? It differs depending on whether you are looking to clean the treads/tires or the gears.

[KRM]

Yeah kind of need to know what kind of drive wheels.

 But for solid metal ones I use a nail file/emery board on the contact surface of the wheels as I power and spin the engine wheels off my work bench transformer then clean them with CRC DQ elect cleaner.  On the traction tires I wipe them down with CRC DQ elect cleaner. I am sure there are other ways but what I do works for me.
 Hope this helps.

[mxnmrv]

Thanks for the reply.  I am looking to clean the solid metal wheels, so thanks for your suggestion.

[mxnmrv]

Hate to be a pain, but what is CRC DQ elect cleaner?

[KRM]

Look it up on the internet ( CRC QD Electronic Cleaner ) it is in stores all over the place comes in a red spray can. I doubt if I can give you a link on here because it would be against the rules of the forum.
It is a electric aerosol cleaner that is plastic safe. I also use it to clean the track. 

Sorry I said DQ and it is QD,

Hope this helps.  Good stuff.

 

Just a note,, Make sure you let it dry before you start the motor back up,,,,,,,,,,,it will burn.    On the good side it drys fast.

[Penny Trains]

If you have a moto (Dremel) tool, you can use a wire brush bit at a slight angle to polish them at high speed if the wheels turn freely by hand.  If they don't spin, you may have to disconnect them from the drive gear to get it to work.  But don't forget the non-drive wheels, gunk builds up on all wheels wether or not they're on powered axles.  This also works well on pick-up rollers and is OK on plastic wheels but not for frequent cleanings.

Becky

[Firelock76]

If you can spin the wheels freely (I mean the drivers) you can use a Scotch-Brite pad to get the gunk off, then chase it with some alchohol.  Works well for me.

Mind you this only works with old Lionels.  The current models (everybody's) use can motors so the wheels won't turn by hand and cleaning those drivers is a PITA.  I use a Q-Tip, alchohol, and plenty of elbow grease and patience.

[rtraincollector]

Normally I'm 100% with you Penny but a wire wheel kinda scares me as if you have magna traction you maybe causeing other problems I have seen little pieces come off of the wire wheels on dremals. I don't use a wire wheel anywhere near a engine. 

[KRM]

And don't forget to wear Safety Glasses!!!!!    

[sir james I]

Hot wire the engine to a transformer, one wire to roller. one to ground. As the wheels spin hold a rag with some cleaner on the wheel.

Make sure whatever you use is Plastic Safe.

[servoguy]

You guys are making this too difficult.  Here is the easy way.

Take 2 or 3 paper towels.  Fold 2 of them into pads to fit on the bottom of a heavy car.  Make them so they cover only about half of the bottom of the car.  Then take the 3rd towel and make a long pad that can be used to hold the two other pads in place by putting rubber bands around the car and the towel.  Put some isopropyl alcohol on the towels and put the car behind the loco that has dirty wheels.  The alcohol soaked pad will clean both track and the wheels of the loco and the car.  You can add cars behind the one with the paper towels, and these cars will also have their wheels cleaned.  

If you just clean the loco wheels, and then put it on dirty track, the wheels will get dirty immediately.  

I prefer this method because it involves running the train which is what this hobby is about.

If there is any rust on the track, the loco will clean off the very top of the rails.  After a few hours of running the loco, you will see a very narrow polished line at the very top of the rails.  I have done this with rusty track that was so rusty the E unit would trip.  I initially had the E unit set so the loco was forward only until the track got clean enough the E unit wouldn't trip.  The more I ran the trains, the better the track looked.

This method will not clean the dried black crud off of post war car wheels.  I think this stuff is dried Lionel Lube, and it is like concrete.

Also, don't use any wire wheels around a loco that has magnatraction.  The wires which break off of the wire wheels love magnets. 

I have pulled some amazing loads with Alco diesels that had their wheels cleaned this way.

[Buckeye Riveter]

rtraincollector

Normally I'm 100% with you Penny but a wire wheel kinda scares me as if you have magna traction you maybe causeing other problems I have seen little pieces come off of the wire wheels on dremals. I don't use a wire wheel anywhere near a engine. 

 

 

I thought I would never be in the same boat as RT , but in this case the wire scares me, too. I use a Dremel tool with a Scotch-brite type of wheel for many types of cleaning on the layout.  I have found the Scotch-brite type wheels at train shows. Also, you can make them.... http://mechanicalphilosopher.blogspot.com/2010/03/making-wheels-from-scotch-brite-pad.html 

 

It takes crud off of locomotives and car wheels very efficiently. There are different wheel densities from soft to stiff. It definitely improves conductivity for lighted cars. For a locomotive I turn thyem upside down in a cradle, and use an alligator clamp harness to provide power if I can't turn the wheels manually, i.e. Marx.