I have a CMX track cleaner and I like it. Originally used alcohol in it but I decided I wanted to try something more agressive. Bad decision. I used nail polish remover (100% acetone) to clean my Kato Unitrak. It actually worked great to clean the rails until I noticed that some of my turnouts were not operating right. They were sticking in position and would not change until I added some extra force to the points to break the points loose. Apparently I laid the cleaner on too heavy and it migrated to the plastic ties. The acetone had softened the ties enough that the points had stuck to them.
I played around with the turnouts for awhile and as the acetone fully evoporated and the ties returned to their normal hardness, I got the turnouts working again. Don't know if there is any long term impact but they seem to be operating OK now.
Fortunately, I had only cleaned a portion of my layout and this issue had only impacted about 6 turnouts in the area I had cleaned. I have a total of 60 turnouts.
This was my bad. I know aceton is a strong solvent and I should have tested it on a piece of track before I attacked my layout with it. I would still like to use something a bit more aggressive but I will test it first. I have been told that lacquer thinner is also a good cleaner so I will check that out on a piece to track to see if it also softens the Unitrak plastic.
Paul D
N scale Washita and Santa Fe RailroadSouthern Oklahoma circa late 70's
You lucked out. I remember someone cleaning their pastic protective glasses with acetone in organic chemistry lab. They melted away (and he should have known better)
I've read laquer thinner is popular in the track cleaner. I am not convinced that is a healthy thing to drip around my basement. I was exposed to many chemicals and now have reactive airway disease.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Get the drip rate down correctly.....then use what they recommend..lacquer thinner. When drip rate is correct, you won't even smell the lacquer and you won't damage anything. Been using the two I have since they came out. The only thing I have to watch is using it in My brick streets. I do that track by hand and some vehicle crossings. It sounds to Me like even though the acetone is more agressive you don't have the drip rate correct and is soaking the pad........the pad should just be damp. I have mine set at 6 to 8 drips a minute and that works for Me.....
Could have been a more costly error on Your part.........
Take Care!
Frank
The ACT-6006 sounds interesting. What are the active ingredients?
Hello all,
Looking at the label it only states, "Paraffinic Hydrocarbon".
I have used it in a track cleaning car and it has worked well.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
We use acetone on the club layout's CMX car all the time. You had the valve open too far and soaked the pad to much, that's all.
Out cleaning train actually has a CMX car plus a pair of Centerline cars (with the big brass cylinders in the middle). Front one has the rubbery pad, then the CMX car, and then the second Centerline car with a Handi-Wipe on the roller. Track immediately behind the train is completely dry to the touch, never melted any of the palstic on the Atlas, Peco, and Walthers track. ANd since acetone is a fairly strong solvent - it really cleans the gunk off.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Randy is right....had valve open too far and let too much acetone flow through. I tried to monitor it but I am working in N scale and it is really hard to determine the drops. I really liked how well the acetone worked. I may give it another try and montitor it more closely.
That's what I figured about the drip rate being set wrong...soaking the pad.
Take the pad off the car and set the car on a piece of track with a piece of cardboard where the valve drips...open the filler valve a little to let air in and slowly turn the drip valve control knob until it starts to drip, adjusting it to drip about 6 to 8 drips a minute. Remember how many turns it took to get that rate and mark with a notch/arrow on the tank and control knob, replace the pad and you should be good to go. Lacquer thinner works perfect for Me.....no need to have any car wipe off anything......the engines follow the CMX......I push the car, not pull it.....
We need 4 diesels to pullt he cleanign train - but the problem is, though no oen sees to listen, is not that the track is really that dirty, but that the older modules use fitter sections between them, and even with fairly fresh rail joiners those sections quickly go dead. EVERY train not pulled by a steam loco with all wheel pickup on the tender and the engine needs at least 2 power units, jsut to get across these dead spots, not because the train is so heavy (though we certainly can run trains that actually need more than one powered loco to pull because of the weight). Newer modules were designed to directly butt together with no filler peices of track, so there is no potential dead track when crossing between them. But those older modules are in some cases 30 years old if not older, and that's just the way it was done.
zstripe That's what I figured about the drip rate being set wrong...soaking the pad. Take the pad off the car and set the car on a piece of track with a piece of cardboard where the valve drips...open the filler valve a little to let air in and slowly turn the drip valve control knob until it starts to drip, adjusting it to drip about 6 to 8 drips a minute. Remember how many turns it took to get that rate and mark with a notch/arrow on the tank and control knob, replace the pad and you should be good to go. Lacquer thinner works perfect for Me.....no need to have any car wipe off anything......the engines follow the CMX......I push the car, not pull it..... Take Care! Frank
Thanks Frank. Good approach to determing the actual drip rate. There is only a tiny space between the valve and the pad on my N scale thus it is hard (impossible for my old eyes) to view a drip rate.
another method, assuming it drips between the rails (I can't remember)
1. put some heavy paper between the rails of 1-2 sections of (spare) flextrack (you don't want it soaking through)
2. run car at 10 smph (16.1 scale feet per second -- approx 1.2" per second)
3. Measure the drips, they should be approx 1 foot apart (6 drops /min = 10 seconds between drops * 1.2"/sec )
-Dan
Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site
Success. I used Franks suggestion for adjusting the nozzel and got it working right. I used Lacquer thinner instead of acetone this time. No problem with getting excess fluid on the plastic Kato roadbed. May have worked out the same if I had used acetone in lieu of lacquer thinner as long as the flow rate was right.
I am happy with the results. I have a few really picky locos that do not like dirty track of any kind. After cleaning, I could run them super slow with no problems.
Thanks for all the help
Don't forget it is Kato unitrack. The plastic in them is much more sensitive to these things.