Cleaning the tracks on my Hornby layout

ekellyie

Over the past few weeks, I have noticed that one of the tracks of my hornby set has been having frequent power cuts. I decided to clean the track with methylated spirits. As I have been doing this, I've noticed that the train (Virgin 125) that runs along that line has been having problems. As the Virgin passes the point just before the footbridge and its heading around the curve towards the station, it has been struggling to gain speed as I give it full power. Could this be because I've used the methylated spirits or is it just because its a four car train and its coming through the point?
I've never had this problem before using the methylated spirits. I've attached a photo of my layout. Anyone help would much appreciated

coolwings

It's probably just voltage brownout.
The steel rails have a significant resistance and are not the best electrical conducting material, and therefore power is lost with the length of track the electricity must travel.

Measure your track, to find what is the farthest places from your power connection.
If the place where your loss of power occurs, is more than 3.5 - 4 metres from the power connection (as measured along the track rails the power flows through) you should consider adding a secondary power connection.
This will put power in directly and boost the more distant parts of your layout.

ekellyie

coolwings wrote: »

It's probably just voltage brownout.
The steel rails have a significant resistance and are not the best electrical conducting material, and therefore power is lost with the length of track the electricity must travel.

Measure your track, to find what is the farthest places from your power connection.
If the place where your loss of power occurs, is more than 3.5 - 4 metres from the power connection (as measured along the track rails the power flows through) you should consider adding a secondary power connection.
This will put power in directly and boost the more distant parts of your layout.

Thanks for the advice, but how would I connect a second power supply to my controller

Cookie_Monster

ekellyie wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, but how would I connect a second power supply to my controller

you don't need to. You can solder additional wires to the wires from the controller and then solder them directly to the track.

Also if cleaning track automatic transmission fluid is a great cleaner.

crosstownk

I use an abrasive cleaner. It's very much like the 'ink rubber' that I had in school (way back). Grey with flecks of abrasive material. It cleans well and allows the trains to pass without the stutter but because of it's abrasive nature it's prone to getting dirty soon after.

I also use a multimeter to check for voltage drops across the layout and use solder joints to ensure better continuity.

With points you have to be sure to clean the inside of the rail where the tracks make contact.

Great layout!

Sounds to me like oxidation of the rails. An abrasive rubber like the one crosstownk mentioned would sort it out.

There is a guide here.