# Brake Clean Info Please



## schmidt694 (Jun 7, 2015)

Trying to get a Marklin 8875 back to life I over oiled the trucks & now have oil on the contacts.

In my automotive experience I've cleaned all kinds of parts with Brake Clean.
Am I safe with this procedure?
I really don't want to take these apart to clean them by hand.

A shot of brake clean followed by a shot of compressed air should get everything off of the contacts & I'll can then re-oil the wheels more carefully.

Will I do any damage to anything using brake clean?
Thanks
Steve.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

Not sure what the brake cleaner will do to plastic parts...I would't trust it. There are cans of aerosol electrical parts cleaners on the market. I'd consider one of those before brake cleaner. Check at an electric store or may be available at auto parts stores.


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## Viperjim1 (Mar 19, 2015)

Don't use brake clean or contact cleaner as this wi melt the plastic take this from experience. Use 99 % isopropyl alcohol after taking off your body and I use an airbrush and spray everything heavy until I feel it is running clean and then take the jar off and use the air brush with just air to dry it out and if need be do this a couple times and then relive your gears and drivers and armature and that should do it. And if your trucks are painted be careful as alcohol will if used a lot will remove paint and lettering so beware, but it works very nice. Hope this helps


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Actually, I'd be careful with Isopropyl Alcohol as well, it will attack many paints. Naphtha is actually a better choice, though I would go with Fire21's suggestion of contact cleaner, most of those are quite save on plastics and paint.


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## 400E Blue Comet (Jul 11, 2014)

I'm not sure. But one possibility: Congealed oil. Marklin Z trains tend to have a problem where the oil hardens and it won't run. They say you should use Labelle 108 (107 works good enough for me) because Marklin's oil hardens.


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## schmidt694 (Jun 7, 2015)

Thanks everyone for your input......I'm more tentative now than ever.

I tried the 9 volt battery test & the motor ran but now it doesn't....I may have fried it?

This is what I want to accomplish....
In this video all of the parts get submerged into a liquid in what looks like a slow cooker?
It's at 1:47 but the whole thing is worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1LIIy3wy6Y

Since I don't read French I can't ask the author what he uses.
Can anyone help ?
I'm willing to invest in a cleaning system if I can only find what works best.......this looks like the ticket.

Everything I have from my Father- in- law's layout is old & dirty......some engines don't run at all.....I took some of them apart & get the general concept now.
I'm a mechanic not an electrician.....


After giving this a lot of thought I've decided not to convert to new 5 pole motors but to rebuild all of the existing engines including rewinding the motors........as needed.

There must be a tutorial somewhere?

I need to know please;
1/ what solution this guy submerged the parts into?
2/ what is the cleaning vessel?
3/what/were do I get wire to do the rewinding?
4/ any other info I can find to start the process.......

Thanks in advance.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

schmidt694 said:


> Thanks everyone for your input......I'm more tentative now than ever.
> 
> I tried the 9 volt battery test & the motor ran but now it doesn't....I may have fried it?
> 
> ...



Under the video it says, (sort of)

Marklin engine on a mini-club machine off. rewinding of two coils on the rotor.
restart of the reference Loco 8801


The first time you see the parts in the liquid it says,
Each picture of the parts in the liquid says,
passage ultrasonic tank/current cleaning/then rinse/current drying/Nothing is missing

I went through the rest, I don't think he tells you what the liquid is.

That is an ultrasonic cleaner he is using, they are not that expensive.
I never had one or used one yet.
Not hard to use sometimes, all you need is water to clean the parts.

Read this wiki, 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrasonic_cleaning


Here is something that might come in handy for future translations,
https://translate.google.com/#fr/en/remise en mains propres a paris


Got to love the internet.


Look at this link of an ultrasonic cleaner, under the link they show some cleaner liquids for sale.
http://www.amazon.com/Kendal-Commercial-liters-ULTRASONIC-CLEANER/dp/B008ET4PPU


I am not recommending that ultrasonic cleaner as I never had one. Just wanted to show you that you can buy the liquid.
But I think you can use common stuff you may have in your kitchen under the sink also.


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## schmidt694 (Jun 7, 2015)

Thanks for that.
I bought one this morning.

Does anyone know where to buy new wire?
Wire gauge?


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## mikek (Dec 29, 2013)

I get my varnished wire from Radio Shack. I would recommend using a micrometer to measure your wire, and take it with you to measure the store wire.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Wire source*

Schmitd694;

A good source for wire and many other electronics parts is allelectronics.com. You probably want very small gauge coil winding wire (28-32ga.) I admire your ambition in rewinding the coils in that small motor! The three pole,(as opposed to five pole in most N scale locos) design surprised me as did the high speed of the repaired loco. The Z scale trains I've seen at shows run slower and a lot smother.
After watching the video, I confirm that the loco parts were cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner.
I have used one successfully for many years. My cleaner is filled with 70 percent alcohol.This will clean any grease or oil off the parts. It will also remove all the paint from most models. Put only the mechanism(still assembled but minus the body shell) in the cleaner. 
Model locos require very, very little oil. A single drop is usually all it takes. Over oiling is a common source of poor/no running. You may have gotten oil into the commutator, and or brushes of the motor, causing it to stop running. Try the assembled mechanism ultrasonic cleaner with alcohol method first. Then let it dry.Spray compressed air through the motor if you can.
If that fails, you will need to disassemble, or replace the motor.

Good Luck;

Traction Fan


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## 400E Blue Comet (Jul 11, 2014)

schmidt694 said:


> Thanks everyone for your input......I'm more tentative now than ever.
> 
> I tried the 9 volt battery test & the motor ran but now it doesn't....I may have fried it?
> 
> ...


Keep in mind if you want to rewind the motors you'll need a special wire that has a coating on it. Motor wire looks like bare wire, but if you try using bare wire the electricity will skip over the coils because it goes through the path of least resistance. Are you sure you want to rewind the motors though? Replacing them with a 5 pole motor will be easier and will let you run them at super slow speeds.

However, I'm not sure if you fried the motor. How long did you have it on? 9 volts is only 1 volt over normal Marklin Z voltage, I don't think that's gonna burn it up. Try manually spinning the motor and see if it continues running. You'll know it's fried if the motor smokes.


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