I'm on the verge of buying one of these and wondered if anyone out there has one and likes it. Right now I use the "lay a paper towel soaked with alcohol on the tracks and spin the wheels on one truck at a time" method, but I think it puts too much stress on the drivetrain. Anyway, opinions welcomed or other systems out there worth trying - thanks.
Jerry, I use the same method as you. Not sure it puts too much strain on the drive train if done gently. I have not seen the WS wheel cleaner, though, how does it work?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVUIVzk_4Pc http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/item/TT4561/page/1 Alan, here are a couple of links. The youtube link explains it the best. Objectively it appears to clean the wheels by the same basic method as our tried and true paper towel and alcohol. The difference is it is a dedicated place to to it and all wheels are cleaned at once on special pads. Eliminates the need to spread the paper towel on a section of your track and risk damaging any scenery. So on the surface one might question whether it is worth $30..which is why I was wondering if anyone here had bought one and thought it was of value. There is a locomotive I have that threw a drive shaft off the worm housing once when I was doing the cleaning on a paper towel, I guessed from the difference in traction from the rails and the paper towel as I was holding it. After that I switched from holding the loco and letting the wheels spin on the towel to just letting the loco roll back and forth across the towel, but I never thought that was a very effective method. Just one of those things I think about at night :wideeyes:
Yes, I have the WS wheel cleaner. It's meant to be used without any added liquids e.g. alcohol. It's certainly convenient - just attach the alligator clips and you're in business. I have found its rails tarnish in the environment where I store it [out on the deck with the layout] and they're awkward to clean without affecting the pads. Does it work? Sort of. It definitely improves the wheels, but it's not as effective as I had hoped. My wheels get very dirty with the layout situated on our enclosed but not watertight or airtight deck. It gets lots of dust and damp. At the risk of perhaps damaging the pads, I might try it with alcohol some day. I'd say it's a good gift idea for the guy who has almost everything. I'd give it about a 5 or 6 out of 10. Mike
I will go ahead and second Mike's thoughts on this one. Definitely works, had definitely hoped it would have worked better than it does. I tried it with three different locos (aiming for different levels of wheel grime) and each time I did the alcohol on the towel method afterwards, and each time the pads were dirtier, but still, the towel came away dirty anyway. I'm probably going to try it with alcohol soon-I don't see any risks (if I'm missing one, say so) with doing so. Worst case scenario, I have to let it dry out 5/10
I am wondering how long each pair of pads will last? I guess the idea is to throw them away and replace with new ones - or can they be cleaned. How much do new pads cost?
They give you a couple of spares, and they are usable on both sides, so they'll last quite a while. No idea how much replacements would be though. Mike
The replacement roto pads for the wheel cleaner is item #TT4562 and the retail price is $ 7.99. With each pack, you get 3 - sets of cleaning pads and 1 - set of scrubbing pads. Best regards, Brian
Sounds reasonable pricing for replacements, so getting new ones should not put anyone off buying one. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
I'm not a fan of the scrubber pads, but the regular pads seem to do a pretty good job, and they are much easier on the wheels than some of the other options out there. As noted, the pads get dirty on one edge, then you swap the pads side to side to use the second edge. I also have thought about trying some cleaning liquid, but I worry that anything that will clean the wheels will also do bad things to the sticky stuff that holds the pads in place. When my firsr set of pads get totally used up, I plan to try it and see......if the sticky gets ruined at that point I won't have wasted anything.
I guess I'm just cheap, but for years I have been cleaning locomotive wheels with acetone believe it or not. I have about an 18 inch long piece of track that I can hook up to a power source. then I'll take a piece of paper towel, about 6 inches square and lay it across the rails and with power to the rails I'll pull the locomotives wheels across the piece of paper towel with the acetone on it. All of my locomotives are weathered and I haven't see the least bit of damage at all to the locomotive or the paint. I have been doing this for over 20 ears. I guess any type of solvent that does not leave a residue would work.
