# Clean Bachmann wiper pickups for sound?



## rmcintir (Apr 24, 2009)

What is the best way folks have found to clean the wiper sound pickups on Bachmann locos? I've tried isopropyl alcohol but they still have problems. Is a conductive grease better? Any ideas welcome.

thanks,

russ


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## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

I used a small amount of Wahl oil on mine. It collects some dirt, but its a good quick fix. 

I belive Wahl oil has some conductive properties, I use it on the track for HO as well. 

Alan


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Not conductive, but does not gum up, keeps a thin layer to keep air from oxidizing the contacts. Used by many people on rails... has light solvent capabilities. 

Greg


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## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

Thanks for that Greg.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

It's often used in the smaller scales, was quite the thing in Z scale for some time, but running DCC and improving wipers made it unnecessary. There's a little extra maintenance using it. Have never used it on anything larger than N scale myself, but there's a lot of people having success with it. 

I believe it's just as good as some of the much more expensive "conductive lubes" you buy. I would not use it on motor commutators though. 

Regards, Greg


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## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

Greg, I have used Wahl oil for many years in HO. Works well. Only need a very small amount. 

Used it once on someone else's outdoor G scale layout run on DCC. The LGB Stainz would go, than stop every couple of metres, even after a good clean. A bit of Wahl oil and it worked perfectly. Not to sure what the root cause was of the strange behaviour, but at a guess maybe the DCC signal was getting 'scrambled'. 

Alan


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Early DCC decoders would "reset" if there was even a brief power interruption. Modern decoders are much more resilient. The Stainz, of course, has very few power pickups, even with the sliders. It's possible something else was not exactly right, like a DCC conversion that only used the sliders, or only used the wheels... I've seen this. 

Yes, indeed the film only needs to be a few molecules thick to keep air from oxidizing the rail. It helps wheels also, but since most wheels are plated with something that resists oxidation, the impact there is not as great in the overall circuit. 

Regards, Greg


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