Hi Everyone,
I have a couple of N-Scale steam engines which have electrical pickups on the tenders, I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas or practices for cleaning the wheels on the tenders and pilot trucks. Thanks,
to the forums.
I am in HO but this method will work for any scale. I take a straight piece of track and place a paper towel on it. I then add a few drops of 70% Isopropyl Alcohol and run the engine until it stops on the paper towel. I gently pull the loco back and repeat the process. It also works great for rolling stock too.
Will
I use a little slower method than Will's, I use a Q-tip dipped in alcohol, press it against the wheel tread and rotate the wheels with my fingertips. Not as fast as Will's, but it does the job very nicely especially on tender wheels.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
twhite I use a little slower method than Will's, I use a Q-tip dipped in alcohol, press it against the wheel tread and rotate the wheels with my fingertips. Not as fast as Will's, but it does the job very nicely especially on tender wheels. Tom
This is the same method I use as well, although I usually go one step farther by placing the entire loco upsidedown in a cradle, attaching power leads to the loco, and then clean "all" of the wheels at once with the rubbing alcohol on a Q-Tip. It actually doesn't take that long or that much longer than the other method but I "feel" it is more thorough. On N Scale you may also be loosing contact if you have "wipers" as well so check those too. Sometimes bad contact can drive you crazy trying to find the culprit and N Scale engines are naturally "lighter" than HO engines so good contact becomes just that much more of an issue.
If you're running straight DC get yourself an old power pack and install a pair of wires with alligator clips on the ends to attach to the loco. If you're using DCC pick up a 2nd hand Bachmann DCC system and hook it up for running the engines in your cradle.
With either system this is where a set of AMP and VOLTAGE guages are invaluable as they will tell you whether you are loosing contact or have a short somewhere, otherwise you are pretty much "flying blind" without them.
I also cannot stress the importance of having a set of guages on your layout hooked into your power supply for the same reasons mentioned above. A lot of fellows seem to ignore this and then when they have a problem they are litterally "chasing their tails" to find the problem.
Mark
WGAS
Another method is to use a Dremel or other motor tool with a soft, brass wire brush on low speed. Hold the wheels from spinning too much as you gently clean each one.
A wire brush could damage any plating on the wheels. I'd just use 91% alcohol which will eat anything it touches without damaging the wheels.
Springfield PA