Electronic rail cleaner

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steve howe
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Electronic rail cleaner

Postby steve howe » Thu Mar 03, 2022 7:56 pm

A '00' club colleague has told me he uses an electronic rail cleaner which (as he's an electronics buff) he says works very well and he seldom has to clean his track or wheels. I remember these things being marketed some years ago as 'Relco' but I've always fought shy of the thought of something that 'zaps' dirt.

I'm wondering if anyone still uses them and how would they work with sensitive electronic controllers like the Pictroller?

nigelcliffe
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Re: Electronic rail cleaner

Postby nigelcliffe » Fri Mar 04, 2022 8:07 am

Bad idea with modern locos.

Anything with a DCC decoder in it, and high risk of destroying the decoder.
Not good for some electronics fitted at factories in some models.
And, they don't clean track.

Probably no impact on your Pictroller.

You're better off with a rag and some white spirit for rail cleaning.

- Nigel

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Will L
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Re: Electronic rail cleaner

Postby Will L » Fri Mar 04, 2022 10:41 am

nigelcliffe wrote:...And, they don't clean track...

Agreed, in the 70s & 80s our OO gauge exhibition layout had one of these things fitted, but we still spent the usual length of time cleaning track and locos at least once, and to start with twice, per exhibition day. What did improve the cleaning problem was learning that very little or no lubrication was required by our locos and if you did oil one, most of it ended up on as dirt on the track.

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steve howe
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Re: Electronic rail cleaner

Postby steve howe » Fri Mar 04, 2022 11:26 am

nigelcliffe wrote:Bad idea with modern locos.

Anything with a DCC decoder in it, and high risk of destroying the decoder.
Not good for some electronics fitted at factories in some models.
And, they don't clean track.

Probably no impact on your Pictroller.

You're better off with a rag and some white spirit for rail cleaning.

- Nigel


That's what I thought, although I don't use DCC I do have coreless motors and high end (Mashima) iron cored which I think would be more sensitive to electronic interference. I shall continue to avoid such devices! good to know though, thanks for your input.

Steve

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zebedeesknees
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Re: Electronic rail cleaner

Postby zebedeesknees » Fri Mar 04, 2022 11:31 am

I believe the principle to be that a high enough voltage would track across either particles or tiny air gaps sufficiently to 'lead' current flow, much like lightning does though air. It didn't clean so much as bypass obstructions, but that's marketing! The downside was that carbon deposits build up and make the problem worse.
'Course, I have a total solution, but few want to know... ho ho ho ..

Ted.
(A purists' purist)

Dave Franks

Re: Electronic rail cleaner

Postby Dave Franks » Fri Mar 04, 2022 12:10 pm

We had two on a club layout at the time when Lima brought out their 08 shunter and within a very short time the plating on the Lima wheels on everybody's 08s was eroded away and the wheels were the devil to keep clean thereafter so it's a no from me too.

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Tim V
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Re: Electronic rail cleaner

Postby Tim V » Fri Mar 04, 2022 12:53 pm

Convert to DCC - 16v AC* on the track at all times punches through dirt.

*I know it's not AC but similar ...
Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)

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zebedeesknees
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Re: Electronic rail cleaner

Postby zebedeesknees » Fri Mar 04, 2022 3:51 pm

Tim V wrote:Convert to DCC - 16v AC* on the track at all times punches through dirt.

*I know it's not AC but similar ...


So all these 'stay alive' extra circuit bits in DCC locos are superfluous are they?

Ted. (Watching the MERG postings in Digest)
(A purists' purist)

nigelcliffe
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Re: Electronic rail cleaner

Postby nigelcliffe » Fri Mar 04, 2022 5:13 pm

zebedeesknees wrote:
Tim V wrote:Convert to DCC - 16v AC* on the track at all times punches through dirt.

*I know it's not AC but similar ...


So all these 'stay alive' extra circuit bits in DCC locos are superfluous are they?

Ted. (Watching the MERG postings in Digest)


They're doing the same job as small rechargeable batteries :-)


- Nigel

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zebedeesknees
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Re: Electronic rail cleaner

Postby zebedeesknees » Fri Mar 04, 2022 6:05 pm

nigelcliffe wrote:
zebedeesknees wrote:
Tim V wrote:Convert to DCC - 16v AC* on the track at all times punches through dirt.

*I know it's not AC but similar ...


So all these 'stay alive' extra circuit bits in DCC locos are superfluous are they?

Ted. (Watching the MERG postings in Digest)


They're doing the same job as small rechargeable batteries :-)


- Nigel

Thank you Nigel.

So if one is going to convert, it makes sense to go straight to radio control, and cut out the middle decades! (Cheaper, less complicated, and more effective too)

Ted.
(A purists' purist)

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Will L
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Re: Electronic rail cleaner

Postby Will L » Fri Mar 04, 2022 11:36 pm

zebedeesknees wrote:...So if one is going to convert...

That's a big if.

But I agree if I was starting from scratch today...

nigelcliffe
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Re: Electronic rail cleaner

Postby nigelcliffe » Sat Mar 05, 2022 9:28 am

Will L wrote:
zebedeesknees wrote:...So if one is going to convert...

That's a big if.

But I agree if I was starting from scratch today...


And didn't want sound, and didn't want lots of locos (because simple radio control rapidly gets too messy).....

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zebedeesknees
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Re: Electronic rail cleaner

Postby zebedeesknees » Sat Mar 05, 2022 11:28 am

nigelcliffe wrote:
Will L wrote:
zebedeesknees wrote:...So if one is going to convert...

That's a big if.

But I agree if I was starting from scratch today...


And didn't want sound, and didn't want lots of locos (because simple radio control rapidly gets too messy).....

I can currently run 36 locos at the same time - if I had the fingers, hands, track and desire, from the 3 Txs here. Then an alternate 36 by re-binding, ad infinitum. And, by the way, each Deltang Rx has a servo drive, plus a separate output, toggle or momentary. I use the toggle to switch carriage lighting, all from the Tx.
Plus, if the sort of effort I see on MERG going into DCC and automation went into adding sound to Rxs, then it surely would happen by the end of this year.
What about r/c is messier than DCC and 'frog juicers' then Nigel?

Ted.
(A purists' purist)

nigelcliffe
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Re: Electronic rail cleaner

Postby nigelcliffe » Sat Mar 05, 2022 5:53 pm

zebedeesknees wrote:Plus, if the sort of effort I see on MERG going into DCC and automation went into adding sound to Rxs, then it surely would happen by the end of this year.


No it wouldn't. Because you'd have no sound files.

I'm not arguing that radio is a wrong route - see what I wrote in Snooze about ten years ago. It still has issues which were outlined back then, which remain to be solved.

And, it remains "bloody awkward" to get radio gear and batteries into some of my locos. I know what size radio gear can be, I've built R/C road vehicles for 2mm scale.

- Nigel


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