my kato F7a/b is dcc; electrical pick up strips are dirty; seems to be some confusion as to what to clean them with. any ideas?
I don't understand what this has to do with DCC, but in general I use denatured alcohol on a cotton swab (or I make my own swaps on a tooth pick for smaller jobs) to clean electrical pickup strips.
The old Atlas HO scale Roco drive units were notorious for getting dirty electrical strips that rubbed the back of the wheel. Since they were hard to see many people never thought of cleaning them.
Be careful not to bend them out of position. I first start by blowing them clean with my air compressor, then use a good electrical contact cleaner that's safe for plastic, attaching a spray tube to the nozzle on the spray can. This is available at most RC hobby stores. This is usually all that's needed and keeps me from rubbing them and potentially bending them and it's quick. If this doesn't work then I disassemble the wheels/trucks and resort to using alcohol/with cloth, goo gone, polishing cleaner, etc.
Richard