Post by berth44 on Apr 29, 2013 1:35:19 GMT
OK, now that the 'Rail Cleaner' is built and installed in a 30 plus year old 'LMS' guards van, does it do the job??, "yes" ..............."but Huston, we have a problem!!"
Right then, obviously I have a couple of 'issues' with it, I really should'nt have as this 'kit' is dead easy to build , bend and solder!! Written instructions are also provided, but in reality, all you've got to do is go by the illustration on the box....I did.
Anyhoo, as I said, 'issues?' the main one (I had) was the big 'brass roller' it did'nt rotate in it's 'box' as it's supposed to do when the 'cleaning cloth' was attached (you get 10 pre-cut cloths to fit by the way,you attach these with masking tape, I used insulating tape, it works as well)
As it went round the track, it did infact collect a fair bit of 'dirt', it (the cloth) became dirty very quickly and that meant, it 'worked', but it was not hard to see that the roller was not rotating as it should be, plus it caused the van to derail a lot...not good!
I tried 'several' things to fix this, the main 2 were reducing the length of the cloth so that it went round the roller, only once with no overlap, therefor (in theory)reducing the 'drag' on the roller, I thought a wee bit of filing my help as well, unfortunately, neither seemed to work!!
Movin' on, reading the instructions again it says that the bit of wire supplied goes through the frames and the 'centre' hole (through the roller) "but on the other hand, this is best left off for ease of fitting and replacing the cleaning cloth"
This I did, and left it off , but I'm thinking.. this is causing my problem (have I misunderstood the instructions??)by omitting this pin, the roller does not have anything to 'spin on', so 'hanging loose' obviously is not the way to go! (sometimes 'catapulting' the van off the track!! )
Obviously folks I didn't think I was going to have these problems,what I thought was a 'simple' straight forward job is now driving me bonkers, but as I'm 'Dave' I soon worked it out.
By adding 'sections' of Plasticard to move the box down to nearer track level by 2mm and drilling 'new' holes 2mm down (from the original holes) in both of the 'frames' and tossing out the wire,( this was proving so hard to try and fit through the frames and the roller as it was now cut to a 'perfect fit') I simply replaced this with two track pins, and when in place parts of the vans brake gear hold the track pins in place and allow the roller to spin freely without falling out!..that modification worked out well for an 'accident' I thought!
So, I reckon I've 'fixed' it, (thankfully) I've run it round my 'layout' several times in freight formations and passenger trains 'flat out' (the van does look out of place on passenger work!) and it's easy to see the big brass wheel firmly on the track and spinning freely doing it's job, keeping the track 'clean', that's me happy!
I will at some stage get another 'cleaner' and fit it into a 'vehicle' more fitting for a passenger train!!....Dave
Right then, obviously I have a couple of 'issues' with it, I really should'nt have as this 'kit' is dead easy to build , bend and solder!! Written instructions are also provided, but in reality, all you've got to do is go by the illustration on the box....I did.
Anyhoo, as I said, 'issues?' the main one (I had) was the big 'brass roller' it did'nt rotate in it's 'box' as it's supposed to do when the 'cleaning cloth' was attached (you get 10 pre-cut cloths to fit by the way,you attach these with masking tape, I used insulating tape, it works as well)
As it went round the track, it did infact collect a fair bit of 'dirt', it (the cloth) became dirty very quickly and that meant, it 'worked', but it was not hard to see that the roller was not rotating as it should be, plus it caused the van to derail a lot...not good!
I tried 'several' things to fix this, the main 2 were reducing the length of the cloth so that it went round the roller, only once with no overlap, therefor (in theory)reducing the 'drag' on the roller, I thought a wee bit of filing my help as well, unfortunately, neither seemed to work!!
Movin' on, reading the instructions again it says that the bit of wire supplied goes through the frames and the 'centre' hole (through the roller) "but on the other hand, this is best left off for ease of fitting and replacing the cleaning cloth"
This I did, and left it off , but I'm thinking.. this is causing my problem (have I misunderstood the instructions??)by omitting this pin, the roller does not have anything to 'spin on', so 'hanging loose' obviously is not the way to go! (sometimes 'catapulting' the van off the track!! )
Obviously folks I didn't think I was going to have these problems,what I thought was a 'simple' straight forward job is now driving me bonkers, but as I'm 'Dave' I soon worked it out.
By adding 'sections' of Plasticard to move the box down to nearer track level by 2mm and drilling 'new' holes 2mm down (from the original holes) in both of the 'frames' and tossing out the wire,( this was proving so hard to try and fit through the frames and the roller as it was now cut to a 'perfect fit') I simply replaced this with two track pins, and when in place parts of the vans brake gear hold the track pins in place and allow the roller to spin freely without falling out!..that modification worked out well for an 'accident' I thought!
So, I reckon I've 'fixed' it, (thankfully) I've run it round my 'layout' several times in freight formations and passenger trains 'flat out' (the van does look out of place on passenger work!) and it's easy to see the big brass wheel firmly on the track and spinning freely doing it's job, keeping the track 'clean', that's me happy!
I will at some stage get another 'cleaner' and fit it into a 'vehicle' more fitting for a passenger train!!....Dave
