cleaning loco wheels

[mikesmowers]

Good morning, I was cleaning the wheels on my HO scale F7A (Model Power) when the driveshafe fell out ,I tried the other set of trucks and the same thing happened. When I removed the metal shell, I only found 1 driveshaft! I figure I was using the wrong approach to do the cleaning. I have always clamped the loco in a soft faced vice and using an old powerpack to turn the wheels, use a piece of well worn 800 grit wet/dry sand paper, It has worked well on my Bauchman, but not on the Model Power. I still haven't found the other driveshaft. How do you allclean your loco wheels? Thanks , MIke

[Anonymous]

Ok i dampen a cloth with rubbing alcohol then lay it across the test track put one set of loco trucks on it then turn up the power enough to spin the wheels and hold loco in place for bout 30 seconds or so then repeat on other truck then move it down to another cloth which is dry and do same thing to dry and remove any excess alcohol takes me bout an hour to do all locomotives you can do same thing to clean plastic car wheels just get a paper towel lay lengthwise across the tracks dampen it with the rub alcohol and roll car back and forth sevral times move it down to clean and dry towel then thats it your done! depending on how many cars/locos you have take you a evenvng or just a copule of hours to do this
hope this helps ya
Larry

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I use a brass bristle wheel cleaning brush from Kadee. It hooks up to a power pack and puts power directly to the locos wheels. There's no need to remove a shell or anything else. The power pack sends power through the brush directly to the locos wheels. As they spin, the brush cleans the wheels. I used to have to do this every couple of days. Since I gleamed my layout, I haven't had to do it at all. This link shows the tool.

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/380-236

[dragonriversteel]

Mike,

Another way to clean them is ...to use a dremel rotary tool with a wire brush wheel. Clean mine this way, when ever the need arises. Yet even another way is to use Q-tips ,dipped in alcohol ,while locomotive is upside-down in a panavise. I do it this way ,when I have my home made Tyco power pack out. I took an old Tyco power pack , alligator clips and some wire, making a tester for track and locomotives. It's alot easier than using A Tech 4 power pack. You touch the alligatoer clips to the wheel sets while cleaning the wheels with the Q-tips.

Patrick
Beaufort,SC
Dragon River Steel Corp {DRSC}

[MisterBeasley]

I just use the alcohol method. I don't think it's a good idea to use abrasives on the wheels. This will scratch up the surface, which provides an opportunity for corrosion and pitting.

[Soo Line fan]

The method you used is not the best. Not only is it hard on the wheel plating, the grit from the sandpaper will fall into the bearing area of the wheel sets via gravity. I do not recommend the use of the Kadee wheel cleaner either. This method will also wear off the plating unless you have solid nickel silver wheels. Even with the solid N/S wheels you will be scoring the surfaces with the wire. The better method is the above mentioned alcohol cloth or buy the pre-moistened alcohol pads. It is both easier and faster.

Jim

[mondotrains]

Hi,
To create my engine wheel cleaning tool, I took a piece of 1 by 2" lumber, about 1 1/2 feet long, nailed down a piece of track about a foot long to it and taped a cheap power pack on top of the last 6" of the wood. Then, I attached the ends of 2 wires to the power pack and soldered the other ends of each wire, one to each side of the track. When I want to clean engine wheels (it's easiest to do a whole bunch of engines at one time), I simply set my "cleaning tool" on my workbench, plug it in and lay strips of paper towel that are about the width of one set of wheels on the tool's track.

I first use Goo Gone dripped on the paper towel, set the wheels to be cleaned on the wet paper towel, set the other wheels on the track to pick up power and turn up the power on my power pack. After doing one set of wheels, I reverse the process and do the other set. Just be sure to keep moving the paper towel along to be sure to present a clean, wet area to the next set of wheels.

I've found that rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol 70%) is not strong enough to take off the real bad gunk, that's why I start with Goo Gone. However, after I've cleaned several locomotive engine wheels with the Goo Gone and my strip of paper towel is used up, I then repeat the whole process with the rubbing alcohol, which finishes the job and more importantly, cleans off the Goo Gone. You don't want to leave Goo Gone on your wheels because it will put a coating down on your track which will attract dust and your wheels will get dirtier faster.

One of the reasons I like my cleaning tool is that I can clean wheels at my workbench, sitting down. There's enough work to be done in this hobby standing up at the layout and the more I can do sitting down, the less stress on my old and tired feet. Also, I don't like the idea of spinning wheels on my layout's track....it probably would take a long time to do any damage to it but why risk it. It would be easier to replace the piece of track on my cleaning tool than replace a piece of my layout's track.


Hope this helps.
Mondo

[Bill54]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MESSING

Ok i dampen a cloth with rubbing alcohol then lay it across the test track put one set of loco trucks on it then turn up the power enough to spin the wheels and hold loco in place for bout 30 seconds or so then repeat on other truck then move it down to another cloth which is dry and do same thing to dry and remove any excess alcohol takes me bout an hour to do all locomotives you can do same thing to clean plastic car wheels just get a paper towel lay lengthwise across the tracks dampen it with the rub alcohol and roll car back and forth sevral times move it down to clean and dry towel then thats it your done! depending on how many cars/locos you have take you a evenvng or just a copule of hours to do this
hope this helps ya
Larry

Diddo!

I use the same method. However, I also have the Kadee tool with the brass bristles that is powered through the track. It won't harm the metal wheels like an abrasive paper would but it doesen't do as good a job and is a little harder to work with. Using a cloth dampened with alcohol works much better and is a lot faster.

Bill

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dragonriversteel

Mike,

Another way to clean them is ...to use a dremel rotary tool with a wire brush wheel. Clean mine this way, when ever the need arises.

I used this method last night on a very old street car (it had been sitting for 20+ years). The wheels need a good clean up and alcohol didn't work.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MESSING

Ok i dampen a cloth with rubbing alcohol then lay it across the test track put one set of loco trucks on it then turn up the power enough to spin the wheels and hold loco in place for bout 30 seconds or so then repeat on other truck then move it down to another cloth which is dry and do same thing to dry and remove any excess alcohol takes me bout an hour to do all locomotives you can do same thing to clean plastic car wheels just get a paper towel lay lengthwise across the tracks dampen it with the rub alcohol and roll car back and forth sevral times move it down to clean and dry towel then thats it your done! depending on how many cars/locos you have take you a evenvng or just a copule of hours to do this
hope this helps ya
Larry

I used to use this method in years gone by. I stopped using it when I found out it was causing damage to wheels spinning on the track. It wasn't doing the motors any favors either. Since I've been using the Kadee Speedi-Driver Cleaner Brush, I haven't had to replace any wheels and have had no burned out motors. I'll probably get blasted for this, but two things I learned from the alcohol and paper towel method is: 1. The paper towel (not always) can tear and little pieces go where you don't want them. 2. Alcohol is flammable and can cause severe burns. I found out about this the hard way when a spark from one of the locos wheels spinning on the track, ignited the alcohol. I got away with only first degree burns. The loco and a small area of my layout were a total loss. After that, I started cleaning the loco wheels outside on a test rig.

[selector]

I suggest good old acetone. It is not to be used lightly, natch, but if careful, it leaves no traces of itself (read-"use it outdoors or in a well ventilated space") and does one aitch of a job on the guck.

[twhite]

I invert my locos in a cradle, turn the power on and use either acohol or Micro-Mark wheel cleaner dabbed on with a Q-tip. Since I have a garage railroad, I don't use any abrasives on the wheels, as I'm afraid the pitting will only attract more hard-to-get gunk from the treads.
Despite having a garage railroad, I find that I don't have to clean the track as often as I used to. Why? I installed Tomar pickup-shoes on all of my locos. Improves the running characteristics about 50%, and you can hardly see them.

Tom

[dragenrider]

I use a home-made track cleaner made from an old Atlas code 100 rerailer. I cut slits beside the rails and threaded a thick paper towel over them. Spray on some alcohol, apply power to spin the wheels on the damp towel and Presto! Clean wheels! [:O]



For information on building this simple device, see the this thread:
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=59205

[jeffrey-wimberly]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dragenrider

I use a home-made track cleaner made from an old Atlas code 100 rerailer. I cut slits beside the rails and threaded a thick paper towel over them. Spray on some alcohol, apply power to spin the wheels on the damp towel and Presto! Clean wheels! [:O]



For information on building this simple device, see the this thread:
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=59205

Is that an IHC shell I spy?

[emdgp92]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mondotrains
[brI first use Goo Gone dripped on the paper towel, set the wheels to be cleaned on the wet paper towel, set the other wheels on the track to pick up power and turn up the power on my power pack. After doing one set of wheels, I reverse the process and do the other set. Just be sure to keep moving the paper towel along to be sure to present a clean, wet area to the next set of wheels.

Goo Gone works great at cleaning locomotive wheels. After trying various methods, including a bristle brush in my Dremel, I've settled on the Goo Gone. I too, don't think using abrasives on wheels or track is a good idea. Sure, it removes the grime, but it also damages the surface. On track, I use a hard rubber eraser, or a piece of cloth soaked in Goo Gone.