Paul3 wrote: Personally, I would stay away from the non-brass wire wheels for cleaning equipment. IMHO, the non-brass metal ones are just too agressive and will strip the plating off the wheels with ease, while the nylon ones weren't capable of cleaning real crud off the wheels (crud that's older than I am, IOW).The brass wire wheels from Dremel are much softer than the other metal kinds. They seem to almost polish the wheel tread vs. scratching the heck out of it while still getting off the gunk.Paul A. Cutler III************Weather Or No Go New Haven************
Personally, I would stay away from the non-brass wire wheels for cleaning equipment. IMHO, the non-brass metal ones are just too agressive and will strip the plating off the wheels with ease, while the nylon ones weren't capable of cleaning real crud off the wheels (crud that's older than I am, IOW).
The brass wire wheels from Dremel are much softer than the other metal kinds. They seem to almost polish the wheel tread vs. scratching the heck out of it while still getting off the gunk.
Paul A. Cutler III************Weather Or No Go New Haven
************
This is absolutely true. I've been using a brass brush in my Dremel for quite a while and there is no scratching of any of my wheelsets. Brass is soft and the thin bristles on those Dremel brushes are easily bent, so they get bent in the direction the Dremel is turning and act more as a polisher than a scrubber, so unless you have a reversable Dremel and you change direction of the brush frequently, the brass brush is the best idea, you still need to chemically clean your wheels occasionally, alcohol or laquer thinner is best, but routine maintenance with a brass brush is the best way to go.
Cleaning plastic wheels is better left to alcohol or vinegar, the brass brush CAN generate enough heat to warp or melt those plastic wheels, I use alcohol and sometimes laquer thinner on a Q-tip and have had zero problems, the nylon brushes for Dremels pose a similar hazard, heat, they can get quite hot if you run them at more than 3 or 4 thousand rpm, so if you use them keep the rpm's down and don't press to hard.
To those that say that the brass will strip the plating off or scratch the wheels , I have to ask.... how hard are you pushing on that brush? what kind of tool are you using it in? [a 20,000 rpm drill is a BAD idea!] and what brand are those wheels that the plating comes off so easily? The subject of wheel cleaning is always highly debated and theres always a myriad of ideas, I use what works for me, and to date, I have ZERO scratching or loss of plating on any wheelsets.
Paul A. Cutler III************Weather Or No Go New Haven************
SouthCoastRail wrote:I agree with twhite's sentiment of wire wheels taking the plating of the loco wheels. You might solve the problem in the short time but eventually when the plating comes off the wheels will get harder to clean.I have had success cleaning locomotive wheels by just using that wonder product WD40. Use a thick paper towel sheet folded over and spray the end. This is then placed over the rails, the loco placed on the track with the controller on, then just run the wheels up through the WD40 and then further along the towel to the dry section to wipe off the crud. You will soon see it on the towel. Keep repeating and turn the towel each time until you see no more black wheel marks.Then rotate the loco to do the other end (read diesel) and repeat. I'm sure this method has been documented in the past but I find it quick and easy and haven't noticed any deteriation of the wheel tread.Haven't tried it out on freight/passenger stock but with locos it works well as the wheels rotate and clean themselves on the dry portion of the towel.Bob
I agree with twhite's sentiment of wire wheels taking the plating of the loco wheels. You might solve the problem in the short time but eventually when the plating comes off the wheels will get harder to clean.
I have had success cleaning locomotive wheels by just using that wonder product WD40. Use a thick paper towel sheet folded over and spray the end. This is then placed over the rails, the loco placed on the track with the controller on, then just run the wheels up through the WD40 and then further along the towel to the dry section to wipe off the crud. You will soon see it on the towel. Keep repeating and turn the towel each time until you see no more black wheel marks.
Then rotate the loco to do the other end (read diesel) and repeat. I'm sure this method has been documented in the past but I find it quick and easy and haven't noticed any deteriation of the wheel tread.
Haven't tried it out on freight/passenger stock but with locos it works well as the wheels rotate and clean themselves on the dry portion of the towel.
Bob
I used WD-40 in the beginning, but switched to alcohol and Q-tips for all my loco's wheels when my friend suggested it. It made more work for me cleaning the track up from the film it left behind and made all the locos lose traction.
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John,A Bright Boy is still a useful item to have for stubborn dirt on wheels and track.
Its not as evil as many say.
I would be lost without my Bright Boy at times.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I use Rail-Zip with great success, but it must be dried or it can draw dirt to it.
I used a small amount of metal polish on a polishing disk while the loco was running to duplicate, to an extent, the gleam method many people use on the track. I kept the polish off the sides as I did not want to shine the sides. The wheel treads were much brighter than the wheels cleaned with Rail-Zip alone, and the locos run great.
Another thought, to remove temptation, is to toss the wire wheel cleaner and the bright boys.
John
jeffrey-wimberly wrote:I've been using a Kadee Speedi Driver Cleaner for years and have noticed no damage to the wheels. Of course I don't push the brass bristles of the brush hard against the wheels either. Just enough to make contact. It strips any dirt off nicely. I think after three years I would have noticed any damage, particurly when I'm looking for it.
I agree..You hit the nail on the head when you said":Of course I don't push the brass bristles of the brush hard against the wheels either. Just enough to make contact."
I fear a lot of modelers press to hard or didn't fully understand the instructions on how to use the Speedi cleaner.
CP5415 wrote: I read the article, kinda makes sense.Now i have to go shopping for a couple of nylon wheels for my Dremel.Gordon
I read the article, kinda makes sense.
Now i have to go shopping for a couple of nylon wheels for my Dremel.
Gordon
The nylon wheel does a great job. When my club had a "clean all wheel on equipment" before it could be placed back on the layout project, many used this for all the rolling stock. Of the 60+ members most of whom had at least 40-50 pieces the Dremel made the job a snap. I only used the Demel for heavily crudded wheelsets. Most of mine that wasn't too bad was done by running the car over an alcohol soaked paper towel then moved to dry portion.
Many times, people will clean track and loco wheels only to drag all the filthy rolling stock around the layout. This project made a huge difference in keeping the track clean far longer.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
http://southcoastrail.blogspot.com/
twhite wrote:Frankly, when I read that article, I cringed. I used to use a wire wheel cleaner, and it just tore the plating from my loco wheels. Now I wouldn't touch my loco wheels with anything but a liquid wheel cleaner (alcohol, even nail-polish remover). In fact the only thing that has saved my older locos with no plating on the drivers is installing Tomar track shoes as an auxiliary pickup (and they work just fine). But save youreself a later nightmare--if you don't have any alcohol to clean your wheels, just don't run the equipment until you can GET some. Believe me, I speak from bitter experience. Tom
Frankly, when I read that article, I cringed. I used to use a wire wheel cleaner, and it just tore the plating from my loco wheels. Now I wouldn't touch my loco wheels with anything but a liquid wheel cleaner (alcohol, even nail-polish remover). In fact the only thing that has saved my older locos with no plating on the drivers is installing Tomar track shoes as an auxiliary pickup (and they work just fine). But save youreself a later nightmare--if you don't have any alcohol to clean your wheels, just don't run the equipment until you can GET some. Believe me, I speak from bitter experience.
Tom
And normally Tom, I would have used nothing but alcohol...it's a calming sort of thing to sit there and give my things the attention they deserve. The wire wheel was the softest of my wheels and it wasn't hard contact. It's something of a spur of the moment thing I did out of impatience.
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You didn't specify what type of train wheels you were cleaning. This wire brush might work great on Lionel steel wheels, but on soft brass and nickel-silver commonly used for HO equipment wheels this could easily scratch them up and make them collect dirt that much faster. Take a look at your "clean" wheels with a 10x jewlers loup or other high quality magnefying glass and then decide if you really want to clean wheels in this fashion.
It could wear down plastic wheels quickly.
This afternoon I brought out a couple of locos that I haven't run in a few months. The wheels needed cleaning badly, but I didn't want to run them on my freshly cleaned track and momma was out of alcohol. I don't know what possesed me, but I grabbed the trusty B&D Wizard rotary tool with a soft wire wheel and went to the wheels on low speed. It worked wonders and in less time than it normally did with Q-tips and alcohol....Then, I got January's MR handed to me from momma's shopping trip.
I thought I had found something new until I read Lionel's workshop section...I guess I'll be cleaning the plastic wheels on all my rolling stock tomorrow after I charge all the spare batteries. I also understand why plastic wheels get so dirty so fast now. I guess there's always something new to learn.