# Turnout cleaning - any advice?



## chrisallen21 (Sep 1, 2016)

Starting to give some thought to adding a turnout to my test track. I remember seeing a previous post where someone actually removed the rails from the turnout to do a full clean and thought wow, that is really doing the job fully! I did a quick search but was unable to locate it (maybe had the wrong search terms). 

Any tips/tricks/pictures/etc that anyone can share would be most appreciated.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Other than 'neatness', the reason for cleaning a
turnout is to ensure good electrical conductivity.
You mainly want to make sure the rail heads are
free of rust, or accumulated grime. The same
with the pins to connect to your tracks. Make
sure the points have free movement and make
good electrical contact.

Don


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Q tip cotton buds used dry or soaked in alcohol work well for me.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Go to page 8.. I did a comprehensive re-build on a coupler of turn-outs last year or so. I was the one who removed the rails and did a thorough clean-up and re-build. Hope it helps.. If you need any help, just post it here, or send me a PM... Also I did a thread on page 16.


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## chrisallen21 (Sep 1, 2016)

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. The post of page 16 is most definitely an excellent guide :appl::appl::appl:http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=20700

I have been thinking of adding eyelet wire connectors to the ends of all my track connectors (and eventually after I clean it up, the turnout connectors) as I seem to want to pull them off the connector posts on my old 4B transformers all the time. I have been looking at buying a heat shrink wire connector kit and was wondering what size hole the connector post is (I prefer the fully eyelet instead of the u-shaped connectors). I don't know too much about electrical matters but suspect the colour is supposed to match wire gauge or some sort of system like that. Any recommendations on what to look for when buying the kit? I am guessing the wire gauge most used for this hobby is somewhere between 16 and 26 but am not sure


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

The 4B transformer knurled nuts (binding posts) are on the small side. The newer transformers like the 19B had much larger posts. I just put one wire on the binding post, run it under the layout, strip off a couple inches of insulation and splice on all the other connector wires. For a permanent layout these can be soldered but for a temporary layout at the holidays I just tape them or use liquid tape, very quick and easy.
If you put spade connectors or ring tongue terminals on the ends of the rainbow wire much larger holes need to be drilled in the layout to feed them up to the 4 binding posts on the turnouts. Since the wire turns down at a 90 deg angle coming off the turnout there is no pulling force on the binding post so a ring tongue terminal offers no advantage over a spade lug in that application. Even on a small holiday layout with 6 pairs of turnouts, 48 connections, that is a lot of work to crimp on the lugs, completely remove the knurled nuts, slip the RTT over the post and put the nut back on. Too much work for me to cure a problem I never experienced in 50 years of layout building. Another improvement that can be done more quickly is to tin the ends of the rainbow wire. Then the strands are bound together and make a more firm connection. This can be done really quick.
Just my 2 cents.


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## Old feller (Mar 30, 2012)

Is page 16 the same as the link given: http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=20700? If not, how do I find page 16?
I don't want to miss any of the class.
Thanks


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

oldfeller said:


> Is page 16 the same as the link given: http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=20700? If not, how do I find page 16?
> I don't want to miss any of the class.
> Thanks


I think it is.. Go to the s thread, and click on it. At the bottom of the page you'll see page #'s


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## chrisallen21 (Sep 1, 2016)

Yes. The link I posted takes you to the same place you would get to if you went to the original thread and then navigated to page 16.


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