Bouncy track cleaner

pugwash

pugwash

impecunious pirate
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I ran my LGB track cleaning loco today and the cleaning end jumped about and bounced off the track a couple of times no matter how I adjusted the driving speed. I seem to remember it did the same the last time I used it.
Is this normal or do I have a problem? If it is a problem is it just the settings that need to be adjusted or should I put a bit of weight on the front? Maybe even put Massoth discs on, although the original ones still look perfectly ok (I'm thinking they may be out of round)?
Thanks,
Ian
 
Mine does the same the only way I stop it is by adjusting the speed its traveling at.don't add weight to the front or your discs will be gone in no time
 
I don't know if this would cure it but something which has been discussed here before is reversing the direction of the cleaning wheels (by swapping over the leads on the motor) so the wheels turn in direction of travel rather than vice versa.

Rik
 
I reversed the rotation direction and it improved things a lot and it also allowed the cleaner to get up my inclines a lot easier, but the front still bounced a little and the track had 'morse code' clean bits. I replaced the cleaning wheels and hey presto ..perfect running. Sometimes the cleaning wheels can have contanimated or worn spots which cause them to have different friction spots and then they bounce.
 
I've suffered this problem for years. I strongly suspect it is a design fault as the very fact that you're pushing a lightweight cleaning axle is bound to cause it to bounce regardless of the direction of rotation.

I've also posed the same problem before and no one has come up with a solution that works for me. I was beginning to think that I was the only person suffering with this problem. Now I am beginning to suspect that all of you who don't have a problem are suffering from a touch of what we call in our family "Emperor's new clothes". (think about it!)'

Regards
 
TerrySoham said:
Now I am beginning to suspect that all of you who don't have a problem are suffering from a touch of what we call in our family "Emperor's new clothes". (think about it!)'

Regards
Click to expand...
Wow! I'm an emperor...first rule....be off with anyone who disagrees with me....absolute power and all that.......:bigsmile:

The new wheels and the reverse rotation cured it for me...not sure of others though.......
 
Okay so it looks like an inherent fault in the way it works. I'll try new discs (start with the easy bits) and if that doesn't help change the direction of rotation.
Thanks everyone :thumbup:
 
Mine used to do exactly the same. Then I sheared a screw in the axle and had to get a new one with new cleaning discs and wheels, then the bouncing stopped. In fact there is no bouncing at all, very smooth and no zebra strips on the rail head. I think it may be something to do with the cleaning discs not being perfectly round any more or not being fully seated home. I'm unsure if they hold their shape well over time too. I also found changing the direction of rotation helped originally, but didn't cure the bouncing completely.
 
New wheels sounds a good start. Mine bounces a bit, not bad but the new wheels smoothed it alot.
I use mine often - works a treat,
It has been suggested frequently on here NOT to add weight to the front for all sorts of expensive reasons! A bit over the drive wheels seems pretty common though.
 
The drive works fine, even on an incline. When it derailed it was only the cleaning wheels and not the main body of the loco. The bouncing is very serious (well, if it derails I suppose it is) so I will definitely order new abrasive wheels.
 
Hi gents. Had similar problems myself - tried reversing direction of cleaning wheels, new discs etc but on changing over to MTS from analogue the loco ran completely differently - a 100% improvement ! Over night it went from a so-so loco to one I wouldn't be without.
 
Not sure what track you are using, a friend of mine uses his on Gauge 1 (10mm scale) track that he prefers for his RHB line. Bouncing awful on Analogue. But it does clean the track. Mine is DCC and I only use it on the LGB track that I have bounces a bit but not enough to affect the ceaning. So no answers here then.
JonD
 
As others have said a new set of cleaning wheels solves the front end bounce problem. I replace mine about once a year. The front end bounce gets gradually worse as the wheels wear (presumably unevenly).

I'm not convinced by the reversing the direction of the cleaning wheels thing, I can see that might help if you have some severe gradients, but I'd also imagine you'd get 'zebra cleaning'. I know the track cleaner is not good on gradients, luckily my layout is reasonably flat.

I wouldn't be without mine it does a real good job. I've got a computer sequence that cleans all areas of my track for me. If it ever breaks, and I couldn't fix it, I'd go out and get another one.

I think there is a design fault in the track cleaner, but not the issue with the front end bounce. The fault is that it always stalls on R5 points when runing at track cleaning speed. I'm planning on using a following truck with power pick up wheels (but I've been meaning to do that for years and still haven't got round to doing it - for now I have to give it a little push at every point).

I set mine off when I'm doing some other job in the garden such as cutting the grass, three times round and the job is done.
 
kimbrit said:
Remember to run the loco at full speed and alter the cleaning wheel speed, I run my cleaning wheel at about 80% of full speed and it's fine. The radius of any curves/points will have an effect on the cleaning end of the loco as well.
Click to expand...
can you alter the cleaning wheel speed in DCC ????8|8|
 
I run mine on LGB track using Digital power and have never had a problem. Make sure you give it a service every so often and clean behind the cleaning wheels (between the wheels and the axle box's) as the stringy bits of the delamanated cleaning wheels can cause major problems.
 
Cliff George said:
I think there is a design fault in the track cleaner, but not the issue with the front end bounce. The fault is that it always stalls on R5 points when runing at track cleaning speed. I'm planning on using a following truck with power pick up wheels (but I've been meaning to do that for years and still haven't got round to doing it - for now I have to give it a little push at every point).
Click to expand...
Yes Cliff, mine has the problem on R5s and also on one No6 where the powered frog has died. Luckily the larger points are on the down slope so it does usually manage to cross the frog with its own momentum without stalling if it doesn't I put a 'pusher' loco behind with a longer pick-up wheelbase .
I had to reverse the rotation direction as my gradients meant that it would not climb without being changed!
 
To help with current pick up I run a weighted wagon behind that has metal wheels and pickups that is plugged into the socket on the rear of the loco. I also have the track cleaning attachment under the wagon to help with rubbing off the residue behind the cleaner. Works great on all points and filthy track, and looks like a proper maintenance train too :D
 
Cliff George said:
As others have said a new set of cleaning wheels solves the front end bounce problem. I replace mine about once a year. The front end bounce gets gradually worse as the wheels wear (presumably unevenly).
Click to expand...
In theory at least one way of minimising uneven wear is to run the loco round the entire layout once or twice in one direction then physically turn the loco round and run it round the same number of times in the opposite direction.

There is a sort of prototype for this. Pre-preservation the Festiniog railway used to turn their double Fairlies at each end of the line to minimise flange wear.
 
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