Cleaning / disassembling points

[idris]

Any tips on cleaning these sorts of points? They're not moving reliably, though the motors seem ok. Can the points mechanisms be disassembled at all?

 

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

How to say this? Even with the pictures small on the screen I can see the rust on the running surface of the tinned steel rail. That's death for reliable low maintenance running, never mind however poorly the point mech may be working. My best advice would be to consider these as life expired.

 

Those points were never designed with thoughts of disassembly. The horrible plastic parts in the switch box are where I recollect most of the draggy stiction coming from: these things didn't work that well when new as I recall it, so I would suggest trying to get that free moving first if determined to go ahead with this. (We didn't have hefty CDU's to operate out point bangers back then, just a nominal 16V AC output from a Triang controller which hummed horribly every time a point motor was actuated.)

[idris]

I know the rails aren't in a great state, but if I can get them moving properly, they suit my purpose and for the moment I'm in a better position to spend time than money.

[Il Grifone]

Careful dismantling and cleaning should help and rubbing contact surfaces with a pencil will work wonders as regards lubrication.

 

They appear to be held together with clips which is always bad news - they are always designed to assemble easily and then not come apart - extreme care is necessary to not break them.

 

I find that a brass brush in a mini power drill will shift most rust or an ink eraser (not easy to find these days).

 

Try to avoid abrasive materials as these will scratch the rail surface and from then on will require cleaning frequently.