Large Scale Central

Don't use WD-40 to clean the track

General Discussion
#1

This is good advice from another analog user, Gary, scudding over Terror Trestle:

I have charged a chunk of money several times to a restaurant whose
staff and management believe WD-40 fixes their G-Scale trains. While I
like earning money, it was a hot, irritatingly tedious, and muscle
aching job to clean 800 feet of track by hand to remove the sticky
residue of WD-40. LGB’s Track Cleaning loco could not remove the gummy
stuff. To get the track cleaning loco to even move I had to hand clean
a two foot section of track. The loco moved forward and cleaned track
for a short distance before stalling because the cleaning disks were
quickly over loaded with gummy residue, which caused loss of
conduction of track power to the locomotive.

WD-40 solvents evaporate and leave a sticky residual that is sort of
like gum stuck to track, sliders, and wheels. Track powered trains do
not pick up electricity from gummy rails. Cleaning the rails required
using non-flammable solvent soaked bug remover towels sold in car
parts stores (not a good idea to use flammable solvents where food is
served and/or open flames are used to cook). I expect even battery
powered trains would get a bit sticky and balky if WD-40 was wiped on
rails. Kerosene or lamp oil would work much better I expect.

Just for the record: Rubbing Alcohol applied to aluminum track
gradually builds up an insulating layer. Our club layout suffered from
balky engines for years before I read about this problem in Garden
Railways. When we cleaned the track and applied a tiny bit of Rail Zip
to joiners, our engines ran great on our original aluminum track
layout.

Linseed oil or other varnishes used to coat windings on electric
motors might coat the track better. I made the mistake of applying old
linseed oil one time to wood and it remained sticky for months before
I finally striped it off and applied new linseed oil with excellent
results. I do not know what happens to old oil based paint that makes
it not properly harden, but it is a pain to deal with.

#2

Please do not use any type of varnish on your rails. Varnish is used as an insulator in motors and generators and as such is non-conductive.

#3

I would never advocate using WD40 to clean the track, but in a restaurant environment you might have a cooking oil residue also causing problems in the mixture. Look at the air vents and see if there is any discoloration, even ever so slight, on the ceililng around that area. The residue you are dealing with may be masked by someone saying they have used WD40, but cigarette smoke, food smoke and other airborne grease and tar may be adding to this gooey mess you’ve encountered on the rails. The LGB smoke fluid usually cleans pretty well, but I’ve had to use very controlled amounts of acetone to get some of the gunk off of rails. And acetone has its own whole set of problems and concerns.

#4

First off, the following suggestion is not particularly SAFE. So USE WITH CAUTION. I use Zippo lighter fluid on a lint free rag to really clean rails. It’s great and leaves no residue. I’ve even used this lighter fluid on the leaves of an old Kodak Retina camera’s leaf shutter and diaphragm. Some one had “oiled” the shutter and it became sticky. The lighter fluid throughly cleaned the leaves and the camera works great…and has for several years. So on the track it works great too. JUST BE CAREFUL. I am not responsible if you set your rail road on fire! (Or yourself!)

#5

I have used smoke oil (most probably kerosene or distillate based) but prefer a small amount of methylated spiriits on a rag. Effortless cleaning. The lighter fluid may impact on the plastic tie bases if overused.

#6

I have heard people rave about how good W-D 40 is, and have heard people rave about how bad it is.

I spray a small amount on my switchs about once a month and had never had any problem, or any gunk build up. They are outside.

I have to agree that the restrauant enviroment had more to do with the gunk build up than the W-D 40.

Karl

#7
Karl Reichenbach said:
I have heard people rave about how good W-D 40 is, and have heard people rave about how bad it is.

I spray a small amount on my switchs about once a month and had never had any problem, or any gunk build up. They are outside.

I have to agree that the restrauant enviroment had more to do with the gunk build up than the W-D 40.

Karl


Well you know what WD-40 stand for?

“Water Displacement version 40.”

Thats why it works so well on your switches outside.