Speaking of Wheel Cleaning...

[strummer]

...the on-going discussion regarding the Atlas S2 reminded me of something I wanted to ask.

I have an older Kadee wheel cleaner, and I find it slightly difficult to use. I see Trix offers a cleaner of a different type, that sits on the rails and looks a though it might do a better job.

Anyone out there with any thoughts on the pros and cons of each?

Mark in Oregon

[peteski]

Never owned or used the Kadee one but I do use the Minitrix one and it works as expected.  But as you probably saw in tho S2 thread that I also like to wet-clean the wheels (afterwards).

The only negative about that one is that the center plastic spine which separates the brushes will contact exposed gears on some trucks. I haven't damaged any, but it is a bit disturbing to hear the grinding sound when that occurs.  Someday I will try to machine some material off that piece. But enough has to be left to keep each brush separate or they will short out to each other.

Edit: To answer another question, the bristles are made from brass and I have not noticed them causing any scratching on the tread surfaces.  But then again I have not examined them under microscope - but nothing visible with a naked eye. 

Most N scale metal wheels are made either from brass or solid nickel-silver.  Either of these materials is probably of similar hardness to the cleaning bristles.  Sometimes the brass wheels are plated probably with either nickel or nickel-silver. Again, I don't think that brass bristles will cause any damage to those finishes.

And for future reference, here is my post about wheel cleaning from the S2 thread mentioned in the initial post here: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=36509.msg433673#msg433673

And since wer are discussing wheel cleaning in general, here is a pointer to a related thread on the A-board: http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=66203

[jdcolombo]

I've used the Minitrix cleaner for 20 years for my diesels (it doesn't really work too well for steamers, unless you can disconnect the tender and still get power pickup).  Works great, and no, it does not appear to scratch the wheels, even on diesels that have been cleaned 50 times.

What I do is put the Trix on the track, then turn the thottle up to about 80%.  Put one set of wheels on the cleaner, and as they turn, move the engine forward and backward a bit (an inch or so).  Then flip the engine around and do the other set.  A simple wheel cleaning and track cleaning seems to solve 99.9% of all electrical pickup problems I encounter.  Funny how that works . . . 

John C.

[Santa Fe Guy]

Mark. I and most of my friends use a very soft thin lint free cloth soaked in Lighter fluid. Lay it across the track and then power up your loco almost full bore and just run one set of wheels on the cloth whilst holding the loco lightly and move it back and forward over the cloth. Repeat for the second truck. It works a treat and causes no wear on the wheels.
You will be surprised how much gunk is shown on the cloth.
I have used this on my RR for over 20 years and do it once a month before each ops session.
Locos run great afterwards.
Rod.

[nkalanaga]

My Minitrix cleaner is permanently wired to the lighting power supply, 10 volts, and covered with a small shed.  Lift the shed, clean the wheels, put the shed back.  It can't get lost, is solidly mounted, and is safe to use with my Nn3 motors as well as the standard gauge.

The shed is next to the transfer tracks, so both gauges run right by it, and covered nobody knows it's there.

It doesn't seem to have done any damage to wheels in the few years I've had it.

[Viperjim1]

I have I believe the trix cleaner but mine has 3 wires . 1 red 1 black and 1 brown and the brown is for the pin that connects the tender to the loco as in atlas and rivarossi and concor and the like and it works excellent and when I clean the bristles I just hold it upright and use contact cleaner and all the gunk washes away. I also have the woodland  scenics wheel cleaner and this works excellent also as you put power to it and it has a stop on both ends and you can run it until the wheel sets are clean and they have a courser pad that you can use for those caked on wheels and you can use the entire pad as it gets dirty and just order new pads which last awhile as it comes with 2 sets, and for 25.00 or so it works great when testing locks also as you don't have to keep changing directions to observe the workings.