Well after running trains for a while i noticed the wheels getting very dirty. I cleaned the track with alcohol. How do i clean the wheels? I have read that some people turn them over hook up power and clean them that way. Where do you "hook up power to" ? There must be a easier way than disassembling the engine. Thanks Paul
Cleaning wheels
- Thread starter plbab
- Start date
If the power pickup is on the wheels (instead of little shoes that ride along the track), you can make a wiper with two brass strips sandwiched in some styrene to provide power to the wheels when the loco is upside down. The wiper will look like a "H" - you connect power to the top legs, and put the bottom legs on the pick up wheels. That will let you turn them as you clean with q-tips and alcohol, of whatever you have chosen.
Don't forget though, that the rolling stock all have wheels
and will need cleaning too. You can do this with the same materials. If you do try a dremel tool with a brush ** don't ** use a wire briush on plastic wheels, and don't let the wheels spin, as the heat that is generated may melt the needle-point "bearings" on the axels.
Andrew
Don't forget though, that the rolling stock all have wheels
and will need cleaning too. You can do this with the same materials. If you do try a dremel tool with a brush ** don't ** use a wire briush on plastic wheels, and don't let the wheels spin, as the heat that is generated may melt the needle-point "bearings" on the axels.Andrew
I clean my locomotive wheels by tacking a small piece of old t-shirt material over a three foot length of track on a board. I wet the material with alcohol and then hook up a cheapie power pack to the track. Run the loco over the wet material and hold it so the wheels spin on the cloth. I get remarkable results almost immediately.
Ralph
Ralph
F
Fred_M
Same as Ralph except I used paper towel. I call it the burnout method as it leaves nice black marks on the towel. Most of my lokey even pull posi. 
Fred
Fredplbab said:
Hi Paul -
Here's a picture.
Space the brass "upright" parts (yellow) to match the track. Connect your power to the upper parts of the legs, and press the lower parts against the wheels with power pickup. Hold the styrene (green) to avoid any electrical shocks...
To connect power, you could solder leads on or use the leads with the alligator clips you can find at Radio Shack, etc.
Andrew
Attachments
As well as your locos, clean your car wheels. Use the cloth/paper towel over the tracks; wet a bit of the towel with your cleaning solution and run the cars back and forth over the towel. Shift it when you get two dirty stripes on the towel; keep shifting until you don't get anymore stripes.
Alternate method is to turn the car upside down and attack the gunk with a Qtip full of cleaning solution.
For the locos, you may want to turn upside down, hold wires to the pickup wheels and with your third hand, hold a Qtip to the dirty wheels.
Kadee and a few others make little wheel cleaning brushes with brass bristles and leads that you can just apply to the loco wheels -- turns and scrapes at the same time. (You need to have pickup from both wheels on an axle for this to work; doesn't work in non-powered/non-pickup axles.)
Alternate method is to turn the car upside down and attack the gunk with a Qtip full of cleaning solution.
For the locos, you may want to turn upside down, hold wires to the pickup wheels and with your third hand, hold a Qtip to the dirty wheels.
Kadee and a few others make little wheel cleaning brushes with brass bristles and leads that you can just apply to the loco wheels -- turns and scrapes at the same time. (You need to have pickup from both wheels on an axle for this to work; doesn't work in non-powered/non-pickup axles.)
you can also turn the throttle a good ways up and wet the papertowel on the track and set the loco on the track. The one set of trucks picks up the power while the other set gets the cleaning.
Turn around and repeat.
Turn around and repeat.
I also use the burnout method but i use a white cloth and wd40.
Before i put them on the track, i do it again on a clean cloth to remove any left over dirt.
The results are great. Ralph
Before i put them on the track, i do it again on a clean cloth to remove any left over dirt.
The results are great. Ralph