cleaning unitrack: which fluids best?

[CaptOblivious]

I started with 70% alcohol (i use 95% to clean circuit boards, good stuff!), but I found it was stripping the pain.t from my Tomix cleaning car, yuck. No doubt it is excellent on track, but use a car that is metal in construction, and tha applies conservatively so it doesn't drip on your Unitrack and strip it too.

[cteno4]

hugh, its not gone after my tomix car paint yet, but maybe i just wipe it up fast. isopropanol usually works well as a paint stripper if you soak it for longer periods, not as a fast contact stripper. it doesnt go after most styrenes so i have soaked stuff over night in it to strip things completely. ultrasonic passes really helps to get the bits out of the little grooves and depressions.

 

that being said i think the best overall cleaner is the large roller types with cloth wipes soaked in isopropanol. these get the rail heads and edges (only parts that have to be clean) really well with some good scrubbing action, but still pretty passive. also easy to change out the wipes as they get dirty and good indicators how clean/dirty the track is. they also dont rub on the ties so no worries of rubbing up the tie paint. just takes a bit more patience to let it run round and round, but the best advice from an experienced older modeler was to to use some red wine while cleaning the tracks. not on the tracks mind you but into the person doing the cleaning, makes it go by much nicer! he was right.

 

i really like the tomix for its vacuum, always amazed what ends up in there and i realize that if it ends up in there good chance it could have ended up in the gears on an engine truck...

 

jeff

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Will the Tomix Vacuum motor run in reverse?

 

I'm asking because I'll program the decoder accordingly and to half throttle as others mention.

 

It's probably safer to vacuum than to blow debris as it'll get lodged into N Scale mechanisms.

 

I'm getting mine soon.

[The_Ghan]

What decoder are you putting into the Tomix track cleaning car skip?

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[Guest Closed Account 1]

TCS M1.

 

It's too expensive to get the DCC LightbpardsKoards and then slip in a 6pin decoder.

[The_Ghan]

TCS M1.

 

It's too expensive to get the DCC LightbpardsKoards and then slip in a 6pin decoder.

 

Skip,

 

There's a better solution than those guys in Germany.  New Generation is a small business in Japan that specialises in creating drop in decoders for various Japanese manufacturers.  They also have a drop in decoder for the Tomix track cleaning cars here.

 

I found this site by accident about a year ago.  I'd been reading a thread about modifying another decoder to fit - I think it was a German thread and I remember using Google Translate to get through it all.  When I stumbled onto New Generation I sent him an email.  He was out of stock at the time but I put in an order for 4.  He emailed me back about 6-8 weeks later to say that they were ready and I had them by about September.  Unfortunately I've not had time to install them and test them out yet.

 

You might like to investigate before hacking into that track cleaning car.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[Bernard]

Ghan - what an easy solution to convert the Tomix cleaning car!  :icon_thumright:

Let us know after you install a decoder how you like the results.

[The_Ghan]

Actually Bernard,

 

I'll start a new topic on it in DCC,

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[vadimav]

Please tell about your experience of using NO-OX and Aero Car Hobby Cleaners.

 

1) I tried to  use NO-OX, NO-OX is nonconductive and looks like vaseline, It attract dust to rails and wheels, interrupting DCC. May be i do something wrong?

 

2) I tried  Aero Car Hobby Cleaner, ACT 6006  but it also ABSOLUTELY non-conductive liquid and don't leave conductive layer after drying.

 

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Vadim.

[CaptOblivious]

Please tell about your experience of using NO-OX and Aero Car Hobby Cleaners.

 

1) I tried to  use NO-OX, NO-OX is nonconductive and looks like vaseline, It attract dust to rails and wheels, interrupting DCC. May be i do something wrong?

 

2) I tried   Aero Car Hobby Cleaner, ACT 6006  but it also ABSOLUTELY non-conductive liquid and don't leave conductive layer after drying.

 

-------

Vadim.

 

Resurrecting a dead thread. I've had very good luck with the Aero ACT 6006 track cleaner, but what I use almost exclusively now is the ACT 3753 "Conducta Lube". It does take a long time to dry, making for slick track—very hard to pull the cleaning car uphill for a second pass!—, but claims to leave a conductive film when dry.