Cleaning small electric motors.

[DorothyMacaw]

Hi

In cleaning up the basement I found some Marklin HO trains from I think the 1950's. There are 4 engines and they all look good, but their wheels are hard to turn. I want to put them up on E-Bay but don't want to put them up for sale in that condition. I assume that 55 year old oil has turned into molasses.

Can you suggest something that I can use to clean the motors without harming them?

 - Thanks - Dorothy

[stayouttadabunker]

I have a set of HO trains and found that it takes a bit of patience restoring them.
I use a lighted/magnifying fluorescent lamp and tiny micro screwdrivers.
They must be fully-disassembled ,cleaned, re-oiled, and then re-assembled to work properly.
Depending on the humidity they were stored will determine how much rust has destroyed them.
If they are rusted to hell, you may to take them apart and remove all the rust with
 small dremel bits with very fine grit bits and buff the metal parts up.

[DorothyMacaw]

Thanks for the advice Bunker. The engines are in pretty good condition, no rust - it is just the motors have gotten hard gunk on them from the oil getting old. I thought about WD40 or maybe something that cleans electronic components might un-gunk ..?? De-gunk?? .. Uhhh... clean up the engines.

 - Dorothy

[stayouttadabunker]

Yes and no...un-controlled spraying will get into the electrical contacts.
When you power up the train - 

[StatFreak]

Yes and no...un-controlled spraying will get into the electrical contacts.
When you power up the train - 

...unless you use electrical contact cleaner that is specifically safe to use on energized circuits. I bought a can recently from MCM. It was about $21.

[brichter]

...unless you use electrical contact cleaner that is specifically safe to use on energized circuits. I bought a can recently from MCM. It was about $21.

Watch out for the cleaner eating the artwork on the engines... That would reduce the value of them to $0 very quickly.

[StatFreak]

...unless you use electrical contact cleaner that is specifically safe to use on energized circuits. I bought a can recently from MCM. It was about $21.

Watch out for the cleaner eating the artwork on the engines... That would reduce the value of them to $0 very quickly.

Excellent point. 

[Joel]

A can of Brake Clean from an Auto Parts Store such as Auto Zone is an excellent grease cutter.  The cans usually have a plastic spray extension that allows you to spray in limited areas.  Under $5

Joel

[brichter]

As someone who wrenched for a living for a couple decades plus, make sure you wear safety glasses! Those little straws aim the initial stream very well but do nothing for directionality once the fluid leaves the straw. Same caveat for finishes as I posted above, also.

[Buzz]

Bill You might want to add another WARNING about Brake Clean. I might as well tell the whole story, I was changing a crank shaft seal on one of my Cat Loaders, sprayed Brake Clean on the shaft to remove the oil.  lit a cutting torch to remove the ware ring on the shaft. Brake Clean is FLAMABLE and the crank case was full of it, damn loader turned into a dragon if you know what I mean. Boy does burned hair really stink. Only time in my life I was glad I wore glasses.   

[brichter]

I use it to power my potato gun, works much better than hairspray.

I watched an idiot blow the valve covers and oil pan off a smallblock Ford (302) after cleaning the sludge off of the rocker side of the heads. He never thought to drain the oil and brake cleaner out and add fresh oil before he started it...

That was really loud. We had customers in the waiting room that absolutely freaked out, and one lady wet her pants.   

[Brianzz]

.....and one lady wet her pants.

You don't happen to have a photo of that, do you?  

[brichter]

NO!


Pervert... 

[StatFreak]

.....and one lady wet her pants.

You don't happen to have a photo of that, do you?   

NO!


Pervert... 

And I was all set to ask for a photo of your potato gun... 

[CaptainHappy]

I watched an idiot blow the valve covers and oil pan off a smallblock Ford (302) after cleaning the sludge off of the rocker side of the heads. He never thought to drain the oil and brake cleaner out and add fresh oil before he started it...

Warranty repair after that I assume?????

.....and one lady wet her pants.

You don't happen to have a photo of that, do you?   

NO!


Pervert... 

And I was all set to ask for a photo of your potato gun... 

NUF SAID!

CH

[brichter]

I watched an idiot blow the valve covers and oil pan off a smallblock Ford (302) after cleaning the sludge off of the rocker side of the heads. He never thought to drain the oil and brake cleaner out and add fresh oil before he started it...

Warranty repair after that I assume?????

Yup, and the customer that owned the old Mustang it was in was MAD! That was the last in a string of miscues that led me to relieve that person from any further duties in my shop... And for several years after that, when somebody would come up with a creative way to address an issue, we'd say "Just don't Jim it".  


(no offense to anyone named Jim on this forum...)

[stayouttadabunker]

You're gonna sh- -!
My father-in-law lives next door and he was a mechanic with his own shop for 40 odd years.
His name is Jim - he has a monkey wrench for ya...