Happy Easter MRRDERS. I was talking to a good friend of mine, who's a great modelrailroader about the perfect track cleaning solution (ie WD40 RADIO SHACK)he told me that he used a spray conrol/contact cleaner lubricate on his track, after he used it, he said that his locos ran like brand new, no sputtering, no stopping, no having "THE HAND OF GOD" moving the locos!! What do you guys n gals think of this idea, I'm sure you would have to be careful of any acid or chemical reaction to the track, but what is your reaction, inquirering minds want to know! LOL
I really don't have much problem with keeping track clean. I'll occasionally run a CMX fluid drip using mineral spirits around the main maybe once every six months.
I have read several discussions about contact cleaners and have found the one suggested most often is the CRC 3140 in the green can. I have sometimes used it for spot cleaning trackwork.
I have never used anything that leaves behind any film or oil. Some swear by transmission fluid, Flitz, Whal Clipper Oil, Goo Gone (!) and who knows what else.
For contact areas on locomotives and passenger car pickups I use De-Oxit and/or CRC 2-26.
Good Luck, Ed
My club uses CRC 2-26. Now only need to clean track where work has occured.
Peter
Wd40 leave a film that will attract dust in the long run.
CRC 2-26???, Can you tell me who makes this solution???
CRC makes CRC
https://www.crcindustries.com/
They have scores of specialty chemicals for industry and commercial use.
I believe the 2-26 is available at some Big-Box stores and maybe auto parts stores. The 2-26 fluid is usually in aerosol cans but my former employer bought some for me in a pump sprayer that I like to decant into 1 ounce needle-point applicators. I can get into motor bearings and axle end points with the needle tipped bottle.
Regards, Ed
Apparently CRC 2-26 is not available in Canada. I searched the CRC Canada website and they showed the product, but when I clicked on the 'Where To Buy' icon it said that no stores carry the product. If it is in aerosol containers I doubt that it can be shipped across the border.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
TrainsRMe1Happy Easter MRRDERS.
I thought this was internet slang for Murderers! I do not like this abbreviation!
Anyway... never spray WD-40 on your layout. Also, WD-40 is not a penetrating oil, which many people assume.
Do keep WD-40 on hand. It can be a miracle worker for all kinds of things.
Stuff you need in your house...
WD-40
PB-Blaster (penetrating oil)
Permatex Silicone Lubricant Spray
For track cleaning I will also state that CRC contact cleaner on a paper towel is great. Do not use CRC Brake and Parts Cleaner! It is not plastic safe.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Lots of these traditional contact cleaners tacitly assume pressure on the 'contacts' in use after application. Along with solvent cleaning they provide a mobile, thin, self-healing film which 'wets' the metal. This excludes air and a range of corrosive contaminants, and displaces with pressure until (unlike a lubricant) the metallic asperities on the contact surfaces touch to allow current flow.
Incidentally many of these films happen to be insulative/dielectric for 'boring technical reasons'. People who do not understand chemistry think that a "conductive lube" actually conducts electricity well. They do not: they condition and maintain the surface so that with displacing pressure the underlying contact can be good.
In part this is why good 'gleaming' is important whether or not you are a "TOR application" aficionado. In models without something like Magne-Traction or that British system with magnetic plates under the track, only rolling contact with the 'adhesive weight' of the model provides the electrical connection -- not spring pressure, wiping action, or forced 'spring-loaded' connection as in electrical switchgear or plugs and connectors. This governs the type of 'film' best suited for model-railroad purposes.
Now, any self-healing film is likely to hold 'some' dirt or other airborne contaminants. Key, regardless of chosen 'substance', is regular cleaning to remove this followed by re-establishment of the thin, mobile, self-healing layer. That implies that if you use an actual cleaning solution you may need to re-apply your TOR -- but sparingly; it also follows that a pass with a John Allen-style weighted rear-side-of-Masonite pad might remove crud but leave enough of the dressing to self-heal.
There are true conductive lubricants -- they are usually heavily-loaded with conductive materials (such as silver particles) that touch in sufficient number as to give reasonable current path. They are expensive and rare, but if used in model-railroading quantity, where 'a little goes a long way', they might be an attractive option in 'trouble spots' like some axle bearings. Their use in place of something like De-Ox-It products for TOR might be interesting to test.
Overmod Along with solvent cleaning they provide a mobile, thin, self-healing film which 'wets' the metal.
Several engine manufacturers specify the CRC contact cleaner as the final cleaning step for critical gasket surfaces because it leave no thin film or residue behind.
Yes, not all products billed as 'conduction enhancers' leave a film. I should have been clearer about that. But much of this discussion invoked CRC 2-26, which will leave a film. Elucidating the difference between that product and a 'contact cleaner' also happening to be provided by CRC is important.
I do suspect that where no special 'ingredients' affect the contact surface, a proper mixture of solvent and perhaps detergent would do the job about as well, or more cheaply, than a 'branded' proprietary mixture. This might not apply to a cleaner preferentially packaged as a spray for more 'pinpoint' application, but typical track use doesn't really favor spray from a can (as Ed noted).
Overmodbut typical track use doesn't really favor spray from a can (as Ed noted).
I spray the CRC onto a paper towel and wipe the track with that.
SeeYou190I spray the CRC onto a paper towel and wipe the track with that.
Well Friends
I went to Home Depot and found the CRC 2-26, I'll let you know how it works out, and yes, I will use gloves and paper towels!!
hon30critter Apparently CRC 2-26 is not available in Canada. I searched the CRC Canada website and they showed the product, but when I clicked on the 'Where To Buy' icon it said that no stores carry the product. If it is in aerosol containers I doubt that it can be shipped across the border. Dave
Dave, I replied to this thread last night, around 5:00AM, and included a link - you can apparently buy that stuff at Canadian Tire. I dunno where my post went, though.
EDIT: Here's the LINK
Wayne
I use
ba&prrI use WD-40 Specialist® Contact Cleaner
Joe, I had never heard of this product. I just did some reading, and it sounds like good stuff. According to the manufacturer it is safe for plastics and leaves no residue.
Thanks for the tip.
It is second on the list of approved track cleaner fluids, just below kerosene.
It appears that we have to be careful with CRC. There is a formula 2-26 which contains an appreciable percentage of light mineral oil (up to 20%) and if you did not want an insulating hydrocarbon layer on your railheads this would not be good. It will leave a film.
The Canadian Tire link Wayne provided apparently shows the correct 'non-residue-leaving' product, their 'electrical contact cleaner'. The MSDS for this shows as containing acetone, isopropyl alcohol, naphtha, and isohexanes (all listed equally as composing "10-30%" of the composition as supplied. That would certainly be effective as a solvent, but be sure to think about and then use safe practices regarding these chemicals.
LastspikemikeWD40 specialist contact cleaner is basically gasoline
Um... no it is not. I did not see anything in common with EPA approved unleaded gasoline.
Not all hydrocarbons are "gasoline" by any means.
Technically, heptane is almost like an anti-gasoline [in the sense of 'gasoline' as effective fuel for internal-combustion automobiles]: it is the substance that is the reference for zero octane in fuel rating
The isohexanes in the CRC contact cleaner are closer to how gasoline would be expected to behave (isooctane is basically fancily-substituted pentane in the first place).
(Incidentally, gasoline without 'additives' like TEL or MTBE is an excellent solvent, much better than kerosene... but it still has, ahem, certain characteristics that make it less preferable than alternatives for most purposes... )
White mineral oil has little in common with white naft, and that's the closest you're going to come to any real comparison with naphtha: the constituents of naphtha are at most around six-carbon chains where the mineral oils by most definitions start around 16.
For fun look at the stated vapor pressure ... at 20 Centigrade! ... in that Radio Shack MSDS. I would want that stuff far, far away from me.
SeeYou190 TrainsRMe1 Happy Easter MRRDERS. I thought this was internet slang for Murderers! I do not like this abbreviation! Anyway... never spray WD-40 on your layout. Also, WD-40 is not a penetrating oil, which many people assume. Do keep WD-40 on hand. It can be a miracle worker for all kinds of things. Stuff you need in your house... WD-40 PB-Blaster (penetrating oil) Permatex Silicone Lubricant Spray For track cleaning I will also state that CRC contact cleaner on a paper towel is great. Do not use CRC Brake and Parts Cleaner! It is not plastic safe. -Kevin
TrainsRMe1 Happy Easter MRRDERS.
Any self respecting man should be able to fix anything with either WD-40 or duct tape.
If it moves and it's not supposed to, use duct tape.
If it doesn't move and it's supposd to, use WD-40.
OvermodTechnically, heptane is almost like an anti-gasoline; it is the substance that is the reference for zero octane in fuel rating
I always thought Propane was the reference for zero Octane, oh well. I don't miss trying to explain how the Methane Number is different for natural gas than the Octane Number for gasoline.
Lastspikemike For when the duck tape runs out of stick. Which it does in sunlight and enough rain.
You need to buy better quality duct tape. Compromise elsewhere.
I checked Canadian Tire's website. They carry several CRC products but they do not list CRC 2-26. That doesn't necessarily mean that they don't have it, but I won't be able to go to our local store for a couple of months or more, both because of Covid-19 and my ankle.
Wayne, your 'Edit' to your last post apparently wasn't complete. It only said "Here's the" and nothing more.
hon30critterWayne, your 'Edit' to your last post apparently wasn't complete. It only said "Here's the" and nothing more.
Hmm....there is a working link after "the", but you're right, it doesn't show the correct product, even though my search included the correct data. I can check here in town, to see if they carry the correct stuff, as we're not yet in lock-down.
That's what I see, no link.
Mike.
My You Tube
Interesting that the link as posted is invisible -- that may be some ad blocker at work. There appear to be several redirects through information-harvesting sites before the information actually resolves. The actual link is to this:
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/crc-electronic-cleaner-128-g-0381712p.0381712.html
Anazing the amount of tracking data presumably about Wayne and his preferences that I had to remove even from the final page URL to be able to post it 'non-doxxingly'...
OvermodInteresting that the link as posted is invisible -- that may be some ad blocker at work.
Perhaps, but it's visible to me and does work, too. I wonder if the "upgrade" of this forum will address issues like this?
My RailFriends Here is the news, I'm happy to say that the CRC 2-26 is a suscess!!! I sprayed some on folded sheet on paper towels, wipe it on the track and vioa!! perfect connection!!!!!
Is the CRC product in the Canadian Tire link the same stuff ? There is no mention of the 2-26 aspect on the can. I'm assuming it probably is, but we all know what can happen when we assume ....
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ