Does Using Alcohol Leave a Residue on Track or Wheels?


Greg@mnrr

Section Hand
I've used alcohol to clean my tracks and the wheels of my locomotives. It sure gets the debris off the wheels and does improve the performance of the locomotives. But, I read somewhere that using alcohol leaves a slight residue after the alcohol dries. Is this factor to have cleaner wheels or track?

Advice.....

Thanks.

Greg
 
I read somewhere that adding a little water to 91% isopropyl alcohol will get rid of the film that plain alcohol can leave behind. That was a recommendation for cleaning glass, but should work for trains too.
 
The garden RR I volunteer at uses 70% isopropyl. Whatever the remaining 30% is doesn't seem to affect the conduction.
 
I've used alcohol to clean my tracks and the wheels of my locomotives. It sure gets the debris off the wheels and does improve the performance of the locomotives. But, I read somewhere that using alcohol leaves a slight residue after the alcohol dries. Is this factor to have cleaner wheels or track?
Interesting. Pure isopropanol will not leave a residue. So any residue is coming from the % that is not alcohol and would depend on what the company is using for that filler. Seems the cheapest thing would be water. so ???

I read somewhere that alcohol leaves the track TOO dry, so it causes micro-arcing and microscopic pits in the rail and wheels. They recommended a wipe of electro-conductive fluid after an alcohol cleaning.
 
I was using lacquer thinner for over a decade, then I switched to mineral spirits after reading in Model Railroad Hobbyist that it doesn't leave any static electric charge on the track that leads to micro-arcing. Seems to work like they said - I haven't had to clean my tracks very often since then.
 
Well last week I cleaned my O scale Weaver RS-11 wheels with alcohol and it has conventional sound and it’s been going crazy random horn blast and things and it all started after I cleaned the wheels with alcohol. How do I fix this what would I re-clean the wheels with? Need some help guys
 
Personally, I've always used a thin napkin saturated with 90% alcohol placed across the 2 rails and held the loco back as it spins its wheels in the alcohol. Paper becomes streaked with black crud. Runs fine after..I don't know about any film. 90 evaporates to seemingly, zero. Same with rails.
Far as unpowered wheels, I hold the car upside down and let my thumbnail shovel off the crud while turning the opposite wheel with other thump.
 
The random horn soundings might be alleviated by the application of some graphite to the loco's wheels. But please do not try this without others commenting on this or doing additional research yourself. Further side effects of using graphite may include nausea, headaches, loss of muscle control, dizziness, vomiting, blah, blah, blah.
 
Well last week I cleaned my O scale Weaver RS-11 wheels with alcohol and it has conventional sound and it’s been going crazy random horn blast and things and it all started after I cleaned the wheels with alcohol. How do I fix this what would I re-clean the wheels with? Need some help guys
I don't know why cleaning would do that. But Atlas, Bachmann, and several other companies make electrically conducting cleaners and lubricants.

railzip.jpg


The old timer's at my former club used Wahl clipper oil. And some recent literature says to use automatic transmission fluid.
 
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I've used ATC 6006 track cleaner which also leaves a conductive coating, but I never heard of anyone else's experience in using this product for track cleaning.

Greg
 
No one has mentioned CRC 2-26 spray
I use the CRC Contact Cleaner and Protectant (green can) with excellent results. Once I started, after the research article was written, my track contact issues disappeared. Rarely have to revisit the track to clean it. I also spray it on the track ahead of the engine and it cleans the wheels. I have no appetite to make it more complicated than that.
 
This from Joe Fugate, my experience is similar:

“Track and wheels will get dirtier quicker when cleaned with alcohol alone.
Using non-polar solvents are better electrical cleaners because they help to keep new oxidation later as much as polar solvents.

Non-polar solvents:
- mineral spirits
- turpentine
- kerosene
- toluene (nasty stuff, though)

Semi-polar solvent:
- ethyl acetate

Polar solvents:
- isopropyl alcohol
- ethyl alcohol
- denatured alcohol
- acetone
- ammonia

Better choices for cleaning electrical surfaces are the non-polar solvents or at least a semi-polar like ethyl acetate.
If your reaction to this news is: "I've never had a problem with the polar solvents", I challenge you to try cleaning wheels and track with a non-polar solvent instead. You may find things stay cleaner longer!
The non-polar solvents reduce micro-racing and oxidation of active electrical surfaces. You who have been in the hobby for a while may remember the "clipper oil keeps your track clean longer" discussion from decades ago. Clipper oil is NON-POLAR. Also, if you check contact cleaners like DeToxIt or CRC-26, you will find they're slightly oily.”

This is not the complete article, it’s just what I have on the iPad.
I still use alcohol but run another cleaner afterward with good results.
 
I've heard of the term 'burnishing', which is basically a process that closes the micro-pores of the rail. Haven't seen a definite process, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.
 
The random horn soundings might be alleviated by the application of some graphite to the loco's wheels. But please do not try this without others commenting on this or doing additional research yourself. Further side effects of using graphite may include nausea, headaches, loss of muscle control, dizziness, vomiting, blah, blah, blah.
You left out wheel slip...
 



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