G`day Folks, You must be all aware of most of the commonly used methods for cleaning wheels on rolling stock. They are as many and varied as the track cleaning methods. For many years I have used the electric wire brush method and felt that it was fairly efficient, until I tried the liquid method...ie Isopropyl Alcohol or Methylated Spirits. Whatever way you choose to do this, cleaning with these liquids I feel is far superior and removes gunk from wheels that appeared to the naked eye to be clean. The end result is much better running, especially at low speeds, until the gunk builds up again. With that in mind, it`s good to have yourself set up to approach this vital maintenance in an easy and efficient way. The method used in this Gormo`s Shed is a strip of Chux draped across a test track, to which Methylated spirits is added. The loco is then run and restrained to allow a couple of wheels at a time to traverse the wet Chux. The Methylated spirits releases the gunk and it is trapped in the Chux. I have decided to fit some wire restrainers to the test track to better hold the Chux in place, otherwise this method is not of own making. Enjoy the video. Gormo
Excellent Gormo. As you are aware, I have been using Isopropyl Alcohol for some time now and it is great. The best part is that it doesn't leave an oily film and the fact that it evaporates quickly, leaving the surface of wheels or track (rails) clean. Another great use of isopropyl is for cleaning the rail head. I squirt some onto a small length (1 1/2") of paddle pop stick (ice lolly stick) and rub across the surface of the rail. The isopropyl cuts through the gunk and the wood grain catches it. The benefit of this is that the wooden stick is non abrasive. Cheers, Gary.
Excellent tutorial and video Gormo, though to be honest when I saw to topic header in my head I instantly saw a chicken being rubbed on the wheels Cheer's, Pete.
Yes, this method seems to me the best way of cleaning wheels that I have seen, especially good that it is the least abrasive. I have just made a dedicated plank for cleaning which is very similar to yours, I use the full sized (so far, they will be cut down as they get dirty) chux cloth for cleaning, but I find with the right direction of rotation of the wheels I can keep the cloth in place with little effort. With the iso-propyl on the traction tyres i would caution that a bit. I come from another world a people who keep various forms of tape machines, notably cassettes, alive. One of the issues is cleaning the rubber pinch roller. These are really similar to a traction tyre, but a lot more precise. There is considerable consternation about how to clean these as most reckon that iso-propyl will damage the rubber. I guess in a model railway sense this is less an issue as there is more mechanical wear to the tyre than in a tape drive and the tolerances aren't so tight as the tape drive and thus will be replacing the traction tyres much sooner. I was thinking that you wouldn't have to clean the tyred wheels too much as they don't form part of the pick up circuit anyway. It will however remove a bit of glazing and improve the grip. Cheers Tony
Hi Paul, Chux cloth is a simple, open weave, probably polyester sort of thing. Tesco is the only brand of supermarket there that I remember, so I found this https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/252440070 No affiliation to the retailer or the product, just the first match I found. Cheers Tony
'J' cloth or equivalent, which is what Tony found the link for. However, I've found 'Lint Free' cloths do a better job. Not sure which ones I bought, but something like these. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rustins-...953156?hash=item3f9e1283c4:g:K90AAOSwH~Ra~eHs The other thing I'd mention is that I've read Methylated Spirit leaves a residue, not sure if this is true but I've stuck with IPA. Ed
Thanks Pete, Nah !!!.....chickens wouldn`t work mate.....that`s silly.......goats would be much better...... Gormo
Thanks Tony, The rubber on the traction tyre possibly would suffer more from running than cleaning I would think..????...however it is good to have this information. The tyre certainly benefits from cleaning in that it seems to increase grip and reduces the spread of gunk on the rails. Who knows..????....time will tell. I guess if anyone is worried about the traction tyre being cleaned, all you have to do is not wet the chux on that rail and you`re away....no harm done. Gormo
G`day Ed, I`m not sure either about the residue.???? If it`s there it`s not obvious for two reasons. Firstly I can`t see it........which doesn`t mean much with my eyes.... And secondly......the running is significantly improved. Now if a residue were there and having a negative impact surely the running would suffer.??? So I know what you`re on about because I`ve seen this white residue on things before, but it doesn`t appear to be happening on the wheels. Possibly the friction with the cloth is helping remove it if it`s there at all..?????.......don`t know. All I know is that is seems to work..?? Gormo
Think it's something to do with the purple dye they put in it Gormo. Maybe it's more of an issue with cleaning track, rather than wheels Ed
