I tried to apply a drop of CA to glue truck sideframes to the gearbox on my Athearn GP38-2 and ended up spilling a large puddle that has locked up my front wheel on the front truck. Looks like I'll need to make it a dummy or look into getting a new "traction motor" for my Geep.
With the types of material that make up the gears, wheels and sideframe, you should be able to chip out the CA after if sets. Just take your time and be careful and it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Nail polish remover has acetone, which is supposed to be good for dissolving ACC-type glues. I'm not sure what the stuff would do to the gears, but you might try putting a little on a spare piece of plastic to see what happens- if it's OK, try using it on the gear to help dissolve the glue. The only other option would be to get another truck & gear set, which may be a bit easier to say than to do, if your hobby shop has a scarcity of spare parts.
Between the type of materials this is, any lubrication that should have been present and some acetone, you should be able to remove the CA. Super glue is only super with the right materials and this plastic isn't one of them. Just take your time and you should get it off without hurting the gears.
I did this on one of my SD40-2's, on mine it was the axle gear that glued to the next gear in the geartrain. I just removed the intermediate gear and, er 'Isolated that traction motor'
CA glues don't generally like hot water (which is why they aren't good for mending crockery ). So you could try just dumping the bits in warm (maybe soapy) water for a while and see if the stuff then comes off easily. (Note: "a while" could be 24 hours.) At least with water there shouldn't be any problem with solvent damage to plastic parts - just don't use boiling water .
"CA glues don't generally like hot water ." That's 's interesting. I heard from someone who sold me a bottle that it was cold that definitely caused the CA glues to "give up". Before dumping the parts in water, I might try a brief exposure to the refridgerator of even the freezer. I think I would try it on some "test" pieces of similar material first, of course. George
Thanks for tips. I used some nail polish remover and it did the trick. Glue never touched the gears, thankfully. The wheel was bonded to the metal part behind it and the littel square brass insert that holds the axle in place. They all loosened up and now works fine. Got lucky that the gears didn't get all glued together.
Hooray! Glad to see it worked! Next time the missus goes to Wal*Mart, I'll have her get some nail polish remover to keep on my workbench upstairs. I've tried that trick once myself, and the remover worked- agaiin, it's the acetone that does it.
Watch out. I have never seen acetone that wouldn't "eat" any plastic. I have never had any problem chipping ACC off plastic or smooth metal. I mean, the bottle is plastic, that should tell you it doesn't bond too good to that.
