Cleaning Tarnished Rail Ends. Cola, Vinegar or other lotions or potions?

I use a small wire wheel on a dremel, since I can do that in the field, and it's quick and easy. I use the dremel brand stainless wire wheel, the carbon steel ones don't last as long and rust outside. It only takes a few seconds to clean up the last 1/2 inch of rail for clamps or joiners.

Greg
 
Bruce in NZ said:
I'd suggest using a fibreglass burnishing brush on the rail ends. It does not take long and the abrasion is quite fine compared with a wire brush It will not deal with the inside of a rail joiner though. These, if desired, could be cleaned chemically. These tools are also useful for preparing surfaces for solder as well as for general cleaning up.

Personally, I wouldn't want the rails looking any brighter than necessary. The burnishing can be confined to the lower half of the rail, which result (short of masking fluid) can't be achieved by the chemical methods.
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I concur that a fibre glass burnishing brush will do a good job to the rails but tricky to the inside of the Fishplates. I am looking for an all conquering easy overnight system that will do a goodly amount of rail in one hit. Well depending in the amount of juice and size of Non Metal Receptacle. But of course it may be that trying to do too much in one hit will not work so well?

As for the brightness of the rail, a week or two outside will resolve that. But as Bruce says indoors his method would be better.
 
daveyb said:
dont bother XXXXXXX with vinegar coke or toilet duck,,,,

i tell you now,,, brick acid is the way forward,, i got a big long 4ft tub and plonked all my track in it and sold the lot

came up like new,,

cleans it in a few hours and can be left overnight,, then wash off with a hose or dunk in another 4 ft tub

it is bloody awesome and cleans the ties too
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I have some brick acid and tested it yesterday on a short piece of track with good effect so my question is, where do you get a 4' tub so I can do the long lengths? Is it a bath, what's it made of? I have an old zinc bath in the garden but I'm sure my memory of chemistry tells me this would not be suitable. It's also still too short for the longest lengths..
 
voodoopenguin said:
I have some brick acid and tested it yesterday on a short piece of track with good effect so my question is, where do you get a 4' tub so I can do the long lengths? Is it a bath, what's it made of? I have an old zinc bath in the garden but I'm sure my memory of chemistry tells me this would not be suitable. It's also still too short for the longest lengths..
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Correct..
You need a non-metallic container..

For small amount of track, some old plastic guttering, would do one or two length at a time..

For a greater quantity of track:
A rectangle of bricks, and two layers of builders polythene, should do the trick??
 
PhilP said:
Correct..
You need a non-metallic container..

For small amount of track, some old plastic guttering, would do one or two length at a time..

For a greater quantity of track:
A rectangle of bricks, and two layers of builders polythene, should do the trick??
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Hoping to do a fair amount before the final laying down of the new run in the garden so guttering not suitable but something to remember for the future. The bricks and plastic is also worth remembering but I've just realised I might have the best solution already. There is a large water butt I haven't connected up to gutters and piping and a 4' length of track would not quite fit in it however it would leave enough to help lift it out and turn over to do the other end and when all done it has a tap to help drain it.
 
Zerogee said:
Thanks Jimmy, info much appreciated! :)

Jon.
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Got SWMBO to buy the GEL, painted it on left 5 minutes, quick re-rub with a brush, another 5 minutes, rinse and finished. I recon that in 20 minutes I could have twenty lengths with clean ends and ready to connect.

Better than leaving to soak overnight, no large containers to find; I think this is my solution to connectivity with pre-owned track.
 
JimmyB said:
Got SWMBO to buy the GEL, painted it on left 5 minutes, quick re-rub with a brush, another 5 minutes, rinse and finished. I recon that in 20 minutes I could have twenty lengths with clean ends and ready to connect.

Better than leaving to soak overnight, no large containers to find; I think this is my solution to connectivity with pre-owned track.
Click to expand...

Good to hear that you've tested it, Jimmy, my pot of the gel arrived yesterday but I've been too busy to try it out yet!

Jon.
 
Is there a commercial name for the brick-acid, please?

Should it be available from any DIY store, e.g. Wickes's or B & Q please?

Even after several days of soaking in vinegar and/or cola some of my track is still badly tarnished. What would happen to the track if it was left submerged indefinitely?

I can lose nothing by trying brick-acid.

Sarah Winfield
 
As you may have seen, the brass will turn copper colored, that is because the acid (whatever type) will attack and leach out the zinc that helps make brass.

When you get to this point, you can only abrade the copper surface to get down to the brass again.

So, extended soaking will do this. Is there harm? I think the thickness of the "copper only" is so thin that you have not damaged anything. You will probably want to abrade the surface afterwards.

Yes, stronger acid seems to be what you need. From my research, brick acid is 10 to 30% hydrochloric acid (HCL).

Really any acid will do, just more concentrated. Vinegar is about 5% acetic acid, which is less vigorous than HCL.

We have pool acid here, which is called muriatic acid, which is just somewhat dilute HCL. Muriatic acid for cleaning concrete here is normally about 31% concentration by mass.

OK, so is all this work to make the track look new, or is it so tarnished you cannot run trains? I would think once clean, an "eraser type" track cleaner on the rail head is all you need. I would only dip the ends of the rails in acid to get them really clean for power conduction, and the rail joiners will be an issue to clean period, perhaps the best route is to buy inexpensive rail clamps, and dump the joiners.

Greg
 
My efforts at track cleaning are mainly to do with conductivity between the rail joints. I'm also cleaning the fish-plates and the adjoining rail ends.

I figure I would need upwards of 150 rail clamps; bearing in mind i am using mainly 300mm track lengths.

That adds to my overall cost and it's not even a permanents layout.

Sarah Winfield
 
Sarah Winfield said:
My efforts at track cleaning are mainly to do with conductivity between the rail joints. I'm also cleaning the fish-plates and the adjoining rail ends.

I figure I would need upwards of 150 rail clamps; bearing in mind i am using mainly 300mm track lengths.

That adds to my overall cost and it's not even a permanents layout.

Sarah Winfield
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I always use copper slip on the rail joints it seems to keep conductivity for quite a few years.
 
Sarah Winfield said:
My efforts at track cleaning are mainly to do with conductivity between the rail joints. I'm also cleaning the fish-plates and the adjoining rail ends.

I figure I would need upwards of 150 rail clamps; bearing in mind i am using mainly 300mm track lengths.

That adds to my overall cost and it's not even a permanents layout.

Sarah Winfield
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Sarah,

Rail clamps will outlast all of us.. They will retain their value (if you should need to sell-on) and will provide a maintenance free solution far superior to the slide-on joiners.. - Especially if you should change your mind and alter your layout.

The little (all be it temporarily laid) track I have used with power on the rails has always been a problem. - S/h track, and mangled joiners.. Track clamps were a worth-while investment.

PhilP.
 
I bought some Copper, Multi-purpose grease but I think this is not the "copper slip" that you refer to. This is to prevent disc-brake squeal.

What is the commercial name for what you use, please?

Sarah Winfield
 
So I would say forget spending the money on the acid and exposing all the rail. Get a small wire brush on a dremel tool (you should own) and clean the tips, after the soaking the rail tips will still need brushing anyway.

Yes, 150 clamps could cost, what about the price on these: http://www.glendalejunction.co.uk/TL45RailClamps.html

You could do them bit by bit. The track is the foundation, and it not being a permanent layout is actually even more reason to use easy to fit rail clamps as opposed to joiners.

Have you considered looking at ebay for used ones on a good deal?

Greg
 
Sarah
That will be fine.. You only need a tiny amount (about half the size of a pea) if each joint.. If you end up with a mess of grease, you are using too much.
 
A friend of mine built a multigauge garden railway and used this stuff for all the fishplate joints.



It's been down for over 20 years and although the rail tops need cleaning as one would expect, there has never been a break in electrical continuity.


Paul
 
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