IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

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Proton
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IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby Proton » Sat Mar 20, 2021 3:52 pm

Hello,

I have a US-manufactured track cleaning car with felt pads, and I have used IPA successfully for cleaning plastic-based, copperclad, and brook-smith track. Pre-Covid I tended to buy whatever was on the shelf at the local Home Depot, but now I have to buy online there is a bewildering (and annoying) choice of purities available, ranging from 50% to 99% pure.

If anyone could share there experiences or views, particularly from an efficacy perspective, it would be appreciated.

John

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John Bateson
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Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby John Bateson » Sat Mar 20, 2021 4:17 pm

Given that a one litre offering from Amazon can be had for around £10 and offering 99% pure ...


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hexeal-Grade-Isopropyl-Alcohol-Isopropanol/dp/B079YVPZDF/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=ipa&qid=1616256840&sr=8-6

John
Slaving away still on GCR stuff ...

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Guy Rixon
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Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby Guy Rixon » Sat Mar 20, 2021 4:38 pm

The "alternative products" on the Amazon page suggested by John B. perhaps offer the answer. Most of the IPA products are at least 99% pure, and those sold at lower purity (aqueous solution?) are marketed as antiseptics. My guess is that 50%-70% pure IPA is fine for sterilisation but perhaps not ideal as a solvent.

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Martin Wynne
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Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby Martin Wynne » Sat Mar 20, 2021 7:03 pm

John Bateson wrote:Given that a one litre offering from Amazon can be had for around £10 and offering 99% pure

Or 5 litres for £20 :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B082XQ4W4R/

Just received some of that for use with resin printing, and it's fine.

Martin.
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Jol Wilkinson
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Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby Jol Wilkinson » Sun Mar 21, 2021 10:04 am

Also available on Fleabay with free P&P.

Given that model railway suppliers can't /won't supply paints, solvents and flux by post, how do Amazon and Ebay sellers get away with it. Several clearly state that they provide Royal Mail 48 hour delivery. A couple of years ago I received two aerosols of highly inflammable carburettor cleaner through the post from an Ebay seller "packed" in a large jiffy bag.

Proton
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Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby Proton » Sun Mar 21, 2021 2:46 pm

Thanks for the replies everyone, and I think I will splurge for the 99% pure. Don't want my trains to have to make do with a watered down antiseptic when they should be getting the pure malt!!

John

David Thorpe

Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby David Thorpe » Sun Mar 21, 2021 10:53 pm

Whether IPA is the best stuff to clean your track is of course another matter.

DT

Proton
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Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby Proton » Sun Mar 21, 2021 11:02 pm

David Thorpe wrote:Whether IPA is the best stuff to clean your track is of course another matter.

DT

Do you have any suggestions David?

John

David Thorpe

Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby David Thorpe » Mon Mar 22, 2021 11:54 am

What's best for track cleaning has long been a matter of dispute and has been discussed on this forum - viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6426 . In particular, have a look at the MRH track cleaning article to which John Palmer provided a link about 11 posts in. As I see it, people tend to fall into at least four camps - polar solvents, eg IPA, non-polar ones, eg paraffin or WD40 Contact Cleaner, abrasives including rubber, hardboard and cork, and graphite. No doubt there are others. There have also been several discussions on RMWeb. Every method appears to have its supporters who claim that it is the best, and that includes IPA. If that's worked well for you, don't let me put you off!

DT

Proton
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Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby Proton » Mon Mar 22, 2021 12:17 pm

Thanks David. IPA has done the trick for me for a few years, relatively odourless, no residue, and works well with the tank car cleaner. The only thing to watch with pads which rub the track is they can catch on turnout blades and check rails, with unfortunate results!.

John

Philip Hall
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Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby Philip Hall » Mon Mar 22, 2021 6:22 pm

Its been interesting to read this because I think I am going to return to an abrasive rubber block (with a quick vacuum afterwards) on the layout, mainly because I have not cleaned a long length of nickel silver test track (6m) for nearly six months after a run over with the rubber, and it still works perfectly. The rail is very old EMGS bullhead and looks a bit tarnished but seems to have no effect on the running. The engine concerned is a Bachmann Dukedog with four collectors each side and the wheels are Alan Gibson which have been checked and trued so as to be perfectly concentric. So I think plenty of pickup also helps together with properly round wheels. On a four car train starting is smooth and slow with no hiccups. I've been running it up and down a couple of times once or twice a week.

It's also interesting that the 1m lengths of track are joined with Peco Bullhead fishplates, not all of them are a very tight fit on the rails (as this a temporary section) and there is no discernable voltage drop. As a result I'm not going to bother with droppers to each section of rail either, maybe just a soldered thin flexible link between sections just in case.

This probably all goes against current (sorry!) thinking but it does seem to work.

Philip

bécasse
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Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby bécasse » Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:44 pm

Philip Hall wrote:Its been interesting to read this because I think I am going to return to an abrasive rubber block (with a quick vacuum afterwards) on the layout, mainly because I have not cleaned a long length of nickel silver test track (6m) for nearly six months after a run over with the rubber, and it still works perfectly.


I would suggest copying French modellers and using a wine cork (of the non-plastic variety, although I suspect that the plastic ones would work as well) rather than an abrasive rubber. The corks clean remarkably effectively and there is always a ready supply available at French exhibitions (art least after lunch).

David Thorpe

Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby David Thorpe » Tue Mar 23, 2021 11:36 am

There used to be quite a ready supply of wine corks in our house, but I'm afraid that screw caps are now the order of the day and they're no good at all for track cleaning.

DT

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steve howe
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Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby steve howe » Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:44 pm

Proton wrote:
David Thorpe wrote:Whether IPA is the best stuff to clean your track is of course another matter.

DT

Do you have any suggestions David?

John


Indian Pale Ale ? ;)

steve

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kelly
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Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby kelly » Fri Mar 26, 2021 8:08 am

Jol Wilkinson wrote:Also available on Fleabay with free P&P.

Given that model railway suppliers can't /won't supply paints, solvents and flux by post, how do Amazon and Ebay sellers get away with it. Several clearly state that they provide Royal Mail 48 hour delivery. A couple of years ago I received two aerosols of highly inflammable carburettor cleaner through the post from an Ebay seller "packed" in a large jiffy bag.


I recently ordered a can of black rattle primer (for warhammer minatures that my other half is getting back into recently) via eBay. The first can didn't arrive, the second came by RM 48 and the shipping label said 'Nail Polish' on it, a tub of Tamiya thin poly cement came in a similar fashion, labeled as 'Nail Polish' on the declaration form. I suspect this is how they get around it, or some simply don't care. It perhaps depends how they hand their products over to RM I guess?

Amazon, similarly delivered a white rattle primer the next day free, but they're using their own couriers more and more these days, dropping the likes of RM/Yodel/Hermes in the process, thats going to hurt those three considerably as a large amount of RMs business is Amazon deliveries.
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Penrhos1920
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Re: IPA Purity for Track Cleaning

Postby Penrhos1920 » Sat Mar 27, 2021 8:12 pm

steve howe wrote:
Proton wrote:
David Thorpe wrote:Whether IPA is the best stuff to clean your track is of course another matter.

DT

Do you have any suggestions David?

John


Indian Pale Ale ? ;)

steve


100% IPA straight from Romford. Anything else isn’t IPA


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