I have been reading here and other places that CRC 2-26 makes a great track cleaner. I was leary to say the least. After all, it is a lubricant. But I have a black film on my track that is a bugger to remove.
So I tried it on a test section and it works. It cleaned the black film on the first try. I tried it on a 2.6% grade and there was no slipping at all. Amazing! I then filled my CMX track cleaner and put it to work.
It might be my imagination, or wishful thinking, but the trains seem quieter. There is less track noise.
Trying to find it in a liquid at a reasonable price seems imposible. So I bought a spray bottle from Amazon, with free shipping.
Thanks to everyone that recommended it.
SouthPennIt might be my imagination, or wishful thinking, but the trains seem quieter. There is less track noise.
Well, I share your imagination, although I did not clean my track with this stuff. The method I used is called "gleaming" - I carefully spread a metall polish on top of the rails, let it dry for a moment and polished it off. My trains are less noisy now, run smoother. I attribute this to the clean railheads!
Although, Ulrich, the gleaming method as first described here a decade and more ago involved burnishing the rail bearing surface with a stainless steel washer large enough to cover both rails across the gauge. It is an important step in the process.
Search the forums for crc 2-26. There have been many discussions with opinions and results from many.
Some use Wahl Clipper oil.
Some use Graphite. I was recently reading about graphite in the MRH forums.
Many have their own solution that works for them.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
SouthPennI have been reading here and other places that CRC 2-26 makes a great track cleaner. I was leary to say the least. After all, it is a lubricant. But I have a black film on my track that is a bugger to remove.
CRC 2-26 is a contact cleaner lubricant that leaves a barrier to slow down and prevent Oxidation which is what the black film is, mixed with any other vapors and dust in the air we breathe....simple as that. On NS track it is more conductive than Brass track.
Gleaming works....but is labor intensive. A tried and true method for over 65yrs. has been the use of NO-OX a cleaner/lube for elecctrical use's. Some people say it don't work as well.....but the one's that say that, have not used it.....a fact!
Google NO-OX for Model track cleaning and read for Yourself...MRH had a great article on the subject by Linn Westcott.....
''Be Happy in Your Track cleaning''
Take Care!
Frank
I have the same 16 oz. bottle that I bought through Grainger. I'm sure it will be a lifetime supply for my needs. I decanted it into a little 2 oz. micro-fine, A-West needle applicator.
I'm finding more uses for the 2-26 every day! I recently did a bit of an overhaul of an A-B-B-A set of Life-Like Fa-1s & 2s. These are the design where the truck bolster is used for electrical contact with the truck. A drop of CRC on the bolster plate and on the bronze pick-up bearings really helps with continuity here.
It is also great for lubing the axle points on Walthers passenger cars which are notorious for being "lead-sleds" like the hand brakes are set! One tiny drop into the axle point and they roll like they have roller bearings.
It is also the only lube I'll put on motor shaft bearings.
Up to this point I haven't tried 2-26 on the rail head. I use 99% isopropyl in my CMX but maybe I'll try a little and check the results.
Thanks,
Ed
I believe 2-26 was actually invented to be a TV tuner cleaner, so its no surprise that it cleans track. I use it as a lubricant in my locomotives in place of labelle's.
Of course, TV tuners are long gone but 2-26 can be used for many things, and its plastic compatible. Its a quality product.
- Douglas
zstripe SouthPenn I have been reading here and other places that CRC 2-26 makes a great track cleaner. I was leary to say the least. After all, it is a lubricant. But I have a black film on my track that is a bugger to remove. CRC 2-26 is a contact cleaner lubricant that leaves a barrier to slow down and prevent Oxidation which is what the black film is, mixed with any other vapors and dust in the air we breathe....simple as that. On NS track it is more conductive than Brass track. Gleaming works....but is labor intensive. A tried and true method for over 65yrs. has been the use of NO-OX a cleaner/lube for elecctrical use's. Some people say it don't work as well.....but the one's that say that, have not used it.....a fact! Google NO-OX for Model track cleaning and read for Yourself...MRH had a great article on the subject by Linn Westcott..... ''Be Happy in Your Track cleaning'' Take Care! Frank
SouthPenn I have been reading here and other places that CRC 2-26 makes a great track cleaner. I was leary to say the least. After all, it is a lubricant. But I have a black film on my track that is a bugger to remove.
I'm sorry....not sorry to say You are incorrect..arcing is caused by track being too clean. The black is Oxidation..plain and simple. It will be on all metals, that don't have any electric current or wheels running on them....You can take a piece of flex track that has never had a engine running on it and you will still have the black come off it.......Had chemistry for 4 solid yrs. You'll find that black on all metals, including Aluminum, which by the way will have more.
That arcing stuff is a myth, on NS rails. Scintered alloy wheels of past Athearn engine's would arc sometimes on Brass track, but the brass track would even be worse with the black.
Take Your Xacto knife handle and rub some MAAS polishing creme used for all metals and watch all the black that will come off it and it will be nice and shiny....was that caused by arcing?? I don't believe so.
zstripe I'm sorry....not sorry to say You are incorrect..arcing is caused by track being too clean. The black is Oxidation..plain and simple. It will be on all metals, that don't have any electric current or wheels running on them....You can take a piece of flex track that has never had a engine running on it and you will still have the black come off it.......Had chemistry for 4 solid yrs. You'll find that black on all metals, including Aluminum, which by the way will have more. That arcing stuff is a myth, on NS rails. Scintered alloy wheels of past Athearn engine's would arc sometimes on Brass track, but the brass track would even be worse with the black. Take Your Xacto knife handle and rub some MAAS polishing creme used for all metals and watch all the black that will come off it and it will be nice and shiny....was that caused by arcing?? I don't believe so. Take Care! Frank
Since you've had some chemistry maybe you can tell us
I've always heard that the black oxidation is actually electively conductive
and doesn't interfere with the electrical flow from the track to the motor
Is that true ?
TerryinTexas
See my Web Site Here
http://conewriversubdivision.yolasite.com/
C&O FanI've always heard that the black oxidation is actually electively conductive and doesn't interfere with the electrical flow from the track to the motor Is that true ?
Yeah, don't know about that. Even if so, you don't want it to build up, as your wheels will start derailing.
Keep in mind that less is more with 2-26 when it comes to treating track. You get the same effect whether it's a little or a lot -- and a lot can be messy or even lead to a reduction in tractive effort, just like too much of anything slippery.
For track applications, the track should be clean to start with, otherwise the 2-26 will mobilize the existing gunk and it will then still require cleaning for best results. Ideally, you apply it thinnly (a wetted cork is my preferred method based on how I was shown to apply it), then wait overnight (or morning to night, whatever leaves it be for 8 hours or so so that the carrier will completely evaporate. The finish this leaves is NOT shiny (which can be somewhat unrealistic unless you're on the main), which is one reason why narrowgaugers like it. Then you shouldn't need to add or redo it for a year or more.
Yes, it is rated as a lubricant, but a very thin one, so not for gears, etc, but works well for contact points on loco trucks, wheel bearings in rolling stock trucks, etc.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
C&O FanI've always heard that the black oxidation is actually electively conductive
On NS track this is true.....but all environments are not the same...meaning what is in the air you breathe in Your house, are you a smoker, kitchen vapors, so on etc. There are miniscule dust particles in the air we breathe in and out of our homes that will stick to your rails and after awhile build up and interfere with conductivity. The use of a lubricant/barrier on the metal greatly reduces that build-up......NO-OX has been proven to do that, the longest.
If You have a 650 watt flood light...turn off the lights in a room at night, turn on the flood light and look at all the dust particles that are floating around in the air....amazing! All homes are not the same however...so everyone's experience, will not be the same.
Why do people have nose hairs?
Btw: My 46 yr. old Son, is a Metalurgist, who buys and sells precious metals for the past 20yrs.
zstripeall environments are not the same...meaning what is in the air you breathe in Your house, are you a smoker, kitchen vapors, so on etc. There are miniscule dust particles in the air we breathe in and out of our homes that will stick to your rails and after awhile build up and interfere with conductivity.
Very true about the variable environments and multiple sources of gunk.
One that is very common now that didn't used to be such a factor is chemical blackening and weathering. The quality stuff nowadays almost always has blackened wheels and the treads are often not polished. You'll do that when you run them. That stuff has to go somewhere.
Then there is rail. Not sure anyone else offers it, but ME weathered track is thick around here. I usually buff the railhead with a Bright Boy after installation, but the stuff is electrically conductive -- trains run on it. I suspect that the various wheel blackening agents are similarly conductive.
Another source is paint from weathering. Some of my Blackstone stuff comes weathered and there will sometimes be some overspray from that, as well as my own efforts on other items that contrubute to crud.
C&O Fan zstripe I'm sorry....not sorry to say You are incorrect..arcing is caused by track being too clean. The black is Oxidation..plain and simple. It will be on all metals, that don't have any electric current or wheels running on them....You can take a piece of flex track that has never had a engine running on it and you will still have the black come off it.......Had chemistry for 4 solid yrs. You'll find that black on all metals, including Aluminum, which by the way will have more. That arcing stuff is a myth, on NS rails. Scintered alloy wheels of past Athearn engine's would arc sometimes on Brass track, but the brass track would even be worse with the black. Take Your Xacto knife handle and rub some MAAS polishing creme used for all metals and watch all the black that will come off it and it will be nice and shiny....was that caused by arcing?? I don't believe so. Take Care! Frank Since you've had some chemistry maybe you can tell us I've always heard that the black oxidation is actually electively conductive and doesn't interfere with the electrical flow from the track to the motor Is that true ?
I am a retired chemist. Nickel Silver rail is an alloy of Copper and Nickel (NS). The oxidation of NS rails produces, among others, two oxidation states of copper: Cuprous Oxide (Cu2O), which is reddish brown in color, and Cupric Oxide (CuO), which is brownish black in color.
Copper oxides are semi-conducters: yes they will conduct electricity but not nearly as well as unoxidized copper (or Nickel Silver alloys). Obviously, increasing the buildup of these oxides will diminish the electrical pickup properties in model railroading, but being semi-conductors they will conduct some electricity.
Wayne
Modeling HO Freelance Logging Railroad.