When ever you use that stuff (it is nearly the same as what is used
when they "blue" a gun)as soon as it stops turning color ALWAYS
immediately soak the parts in oil. Plane old motor oil. That stops
the chemical reaction. Leave them in there 10 min. or more,then you
can take them out and wash them in soapy water too clean them.
Its probably to late for these parts but it will stop them from
getting any worse.
Good luck with the shorting, I am afraid I dont know how too help
with that, sorry.

Murphy Was An Optimist


--- In PRRPro@..., "Bob Lyon" <rbtwlyon@w...> wrote:

With the new list activity of late, I figured it's time for a

brief (VERY brief) update... unfortunately, time away from the hobby
has been long, weekends all too short, so there has been little
progress made to either 4489 or 4616. However, my Soundtraxx
Tsunami (with the Banshee Whistle as one of its choices) arrived
just the other day for #4489. Can't wait for the chance to plug it
in! But it looks like that's going to have to be after the holidays.

As for 4616, well... despite all better judgment and prior

warning, I got a little crazy with a chemical blackener on the valve
gear and drivers. So the former is now staring to corrode, and the
latter all have bridged gaps. I am now looking to replace the valve
gear with Bowser parts (assuming they can be modified to fit) and
either arcing the driver sets to zap whatever is now filling the gap
or replace them all with either Bowser or NWSL. Problem will be
pulling the wheels off to install the axle bearings, then
quartering, etc. Sigh. Once that's done, though, I should be able
to install my Lenz Gold and Soundtraxx DSX combo without shorting
across the drivers.

Another sigh.

Best,

Bob Lyon
Santa Barbara


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Bob speaketh:

As for 4616, well... despite all better judgment and prior warning,
I got a little crazy with a chemical blackener on the valve gear and
drivers. So the former is now staring to corrode, and the latter all
have bridged gaps.

Bob,
Bruce is right-Baking soda is the way to go to neutralise it. When I
use Blacken-it, after I'm satisfied with the blackening I place the
part into a cantainer of water with enough baking soda added as to leave
a small amount on the bottom. You probably can save your valve gear by
burnishing any corroded areas with a plastic wheel brush in the Dremel,
then soaking for a few minutes in baking soda solution, followed by a
distilled water rinse.

Hopefully you can scrape any bridging at the edges-this should take care
of the short if the insulating spacer is plastic. It may be more of a
challenge if the insulator is paper-we'll hope for the best. I recall
once reading somewhere on how to replace driver insulating spacers-it
might have been on the traintools Yahoo group.

When using Blacken-it, after everything is dry I also go over the wheel
treads, flanges, and any area where contact wipers touch with a plastic
wheel brush in the Dremel to remove any loose deposits.

Good Luck,
Rod Schaffter

--
"Science is wonderful at explaining what science is wonderful at
explaining, but beyond that it tends to look for its car keys where the
light is good."
Jonah Goldberg

Thanks for the suggestions, Steve. I have to admit I am a tad embarassed about mucking things up so, to the point where I almost decided not to mention it. But if others can learn from my mistakes... ;)

The chemical blackener is "Blacken-It", obtained from Micro-Mark [as it's not available to California-based LHS's due to carcinogenic concerns?], which I have used to some degree of success on freight car wheels but never tried on brass or driver sets until now. Instruction sheet was tossed long ago. After all is said and done, it didn't even touch the brass, just bridged the gap. I did try running an X-Acto blade around the tire, to no avail. It was Gary at Sunset Models who recommended using the arc technique to zap the gap free, but I've not yet attempted it.

After posting my update, I checked NWSL and did not see any drivers listed. So I guess Greenway is the way to go. But at $18 per set... ouch! I'll have to discuss with him to figure out what exactly I need... two flanged and three blind I know, but from there I'll need to have him sort it out.

Any other suggestions from the list are appreciated.

Regards,

Bob Lyon
Santa Barbara, CA

On Wed, December 14, 2005 9:02 pm, pennsylvania1954 wrote:

Hi Bob--Sorry about your misfortune with 4616. I am pretty sure you
will have great difficulty trying to use Bowser parts for the valve
gear. I recommend you do whatever you can to stop the corrosion. A
chemist can jump in here! Assuming the blackener is an acid, try
giving the valve gear a good soaking in vinegar.

Actually no, vinegar is acid too. Use baking soda. It is a base adn will
neutralize the acid in the blackener (if it is acid).

Regards
Bruce

Bruce Smith
Auburn, AL

Hi Bob--Sorry about your misfortune with 4616. I am pretty sure you
will have great difficulty trying to use Bowser parts for the valve
gear. I recommend you do whatever you can to stop the corrosion. A
chemist can jump in here! Assuming the blackener is an acid, try
giving the valve gear a good soaking in vinegar. For the drivers,
can you scrape around the left side wheels between the tires and hubs
with a sharp object to remove the material bridging across the
insulation? If you must replace the drivers, Bowser parts will most
certainly not be the easiest way to go. I haven't checked NWSL to
see if they have the correct size drivers, but I have had very good
experiences with Greenway at
http://www.greenwayproducts.com/index.shtml
He is very helpful so tell him what you need to do. You might think
of this as a good opportunity to put in a really top notch drive with
a motor from NWSL and an idler gearbox from Precision Scale.

Have fun!

Steve Hoxie
Pensacola FL






--- In PRRPro@..., "Bob Lyon" <rbtwlyon@w...> wrote:

With the new list activity of late, I figured it's time for a brief

(VERY brief) update... unfortunately, time away from the hobby has
been long, weekends all too short, so there has been little progress
made to either 4489 or 4616. However, my Soundtraxx Tsunami (with
the Banshee Whistle as one of its choices) arrived just the other day
for #4489. Can't wait for the chance to plug it in! But it looks
like that's going to have to be after the holidays.

As for 4616, well... despite all better judgment and prior warning,

I got a little crazy with a chemical blackener on the valve gear and
drivers. So the former is now staring to corrode, and the latter all
have bridged gaps. I am now looking to replace the valve gear with
Bowser parts (assuming they can be modified to fit) and either arcing
the driver sets to zap whatever is now filling the gap or replace
them all with either Bowser or NWSL. Problem will be pulling the
wheels off to install the axle bearings, then quartering, etc.
Sigh. Once that's done, though, I should be able to install my Lenz
Gold and Soundtraxx DSX combo without shorting across the drivers.

Another sigh.

Best,

Bob Lyon
Santa Barbara


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

With the new list activity of late, I figured it's time for a brief (VERY brief) update... unfortunately, time away from the hobby has been long, weekends all too short, so there has been little progress made to either 4489 or 4616. However, my Soundtraxx Tsunami (with the Banshee Whistle as one of its choices) arrived just the other day for #4489. Can't wait for the chance to plug it in! But it looks like that's going to have to be after the holidays.

As for 4616, well... despite all better judgment and prior warning, I got a little crazy with a chemical blackener on the valve gear and drivers. So the former is now staring to corrode, and the latter all have bridged gaps. I am now looking to replace the valve gear with Bowser parts (assuming they can be modified to fit) and either arcing the driver sets to zap whatever is now filling the gap or replace them all with either Bowser or NWSL. Problem will be pulling the wheels off to install the axle bearings, then quartering, etc. Sigh. Once that's done, though, I should be able to install my Lenz Gold and Soundtraxx DSX combo without shorting across the drivers.

Another sigh.

Best,

Bob Lyon
Santa Barbara