by RichD » Thu May 19, 2016 6:23 am
Traction compound is mostly used with foam tires and spray glue is seldom used on home tracks. Foam tires are almost always used on 1/24th commercial tracks and after a while a mixture of rubber dust and traction compound builds up on the track surface and on the braids where it eventually caused poor electrical contact. When the cars start to slow down the track is stripped with naphtha, however the cars will have very poor grip after it is stripped. Running cars for many laps will eventually restore the grip, but usually the track would be treated with spray glue to quickly restore grip. Spray glue is diluted traction compound, if I recall correctly it is one part Parma Tire Traction or Champion Tire Bite and three parts naphtha. The traction compound might be diluted more than that.
If I strip my HO track it also has to be conditioned. All of my cars have silicone or silicone on sponge tires, except one car with sponge tires that I use to clean and condition the track. I apply a little traction compound to the tires and wipe off any excess. About 25 laps in each lane is enough to condition the track. If the drack is dusty I wipe it down with a treated cloth and then run laps with the car that has sponge tires.