Anyone want to weigh in on the Woodland Scenics N TT4560 Roto Wheel Cleaner? I'm thinking about getting one if it's useful. Or is there a better alternative I'm unaware of? Cost is of secondary importance.
I picked one up a couple months ago at a local train show. I'm VERY happy with it. You wouldn't believe the amount of "stuff" that came off my wheels !!! I just wish it was a bit longer.
I randomly grabbed their dusters, since dust is a huge issue for me. What are the wheel cleaners like? Abrasive at all?
I've got one and am really happy with it. They have "scrubbing pads" and "cleaning pads". The cleaning pads are not abrasive at all. The scrubbing pads are just the stiff side of velcro, so they are abrasive enough to remove caked on gunk, but not abrasive enough to scratch the wheels.
I picked up the "N" scale Tidy Track Roto Wheel Cleaner two months ago and have mixed feelings with the product. It does come with two types of cleaning pads, the scrubbing pad looks like velcro and the cleaning pads are some type of a soft cloth material. In my opinion the scrubbing pads were not very helpful. What works best for me, is to put a drop of cleaning fluid on each locomotive wheel, then run the engine at full speed on the cleaning pads for 15 seconds. Then move the locomotive to a dry section of the Roto Wheel Cleaner to remove the remainder of the cleaning fluid. One last comment, I use Atlas code 80 flex track that has been ballasted with Smith & Sons ballast and I'm not able to use the wheel cleaner as demonstrated in Fig 5 in the instructions. All in all this is a good product, but in my opinion it works better when you use some type of cleaning solution. On a side note I also recommend picking up a package of the cleaning pads.
I've had mixed results with this product. I find that I can take an engine off the tracks, and see a different before and after kind of picture having used both the scrubbing and the cleaning pads, so it does work, but then I can take that same engine and give it a cleaning the old fashioned way (rubbing alcohol doused paper towel on track) and it will pull yet more grime off. So in short, I don't use mine anymore. Glad that other people have had better results though
I have had one for a while and it works fairly well. The only issue I had was a broken wire inside because of careless assembly and super glue. I took it apart and fixed, so back in business. And yes, alcohol work well with it.
I haven't seen that, but I can't imagine such a device, that is one using abrasion in the process, that wouldn't have some degree of deleterious effect on traction tires. I don't contemplate using them so it's of no importance to me.
