Ok, so today i recieved a motor i was planning on using in a little testboat i would make. its from about the 1950s as far as I can tell. anyway, I was running it earlier today, when suddenly it stopped. I tried to spin it, but it was securly stuck. I spun it very slowly anyway, testing it, when it came free. The shaft had much less resistance than it used to have, which freaked me out. I then tried to start it again and it failed to do so. Does anyone have an idea of what might be wrong and how to fix it?
Two things: 1) Does it spin under power now? 2) As cheap as motors are these days, there's no good reason for recycling a 1950's-vintage motor unless you're doing a museum restoration
No it doesnt spin under power right now. Im not replacing it, as it goes with something and I dont want to ruin its history buy sticking some cheap china motor in, no offense. :blush:
Like I said, unless you're doing a restoration. So no offense taken So, can you take some pics of the motor? That'll help in troubleshooting and diagnosis! You likely will have to take it apart and see what's broken. Could be that the brush rigging got jammed and then broken. That's what it sounds like at this point, although I'm speculating based only on what you've said so far I hope we can get the motor fixed
Thanks! I thought it was the brushes too, but wasnt sure. I will go ahead and take some pics right now and post them once done.
the images have to be publicly available, I have found that picasa works quite well and is free. then you have to click add reply to get to the advanced editing features. then click the insert picture icon and paste the link to the pictures. resize as necessary
when you are in the "add reply" post preview, after you insert the picture, if you click on it, you can drag the boundary just like word to resize. you can also edit the picture (or while inserting) and select the width/height or link them and select one and the other will be calculated. try by editing your post above, you should be able to resize by any of those methods.
You're definately missing one of the brushes, and bed news is it doesn't look like anything that I've seen recently; i.e. it's a wierd size that'll be hard to replace. Was the melamine plate (the reddish thing between the brushes with the shaft stick out thru a hole in the middle) cocked at an angle like that before it quit working? Doesn't look right, might've gotten forced up on one side by the damaged brush rigging (which is inside the housing). Also looks like the shaft got cut off, there should be more of it sticking out of the motor than that. EDIT: Upon further review, it is my professional opinion that the brush rigging is broken. The motor needs a thorough going-over by a competent DC motor repainman (which are hard to come by these days). It may be possible to repair, but I'm not sure without seeing the damage inside. Old DC motors are pretty tough, so don't lose hope. What did the motor come from originally? Suggestion: Unless the test boat that you want to build is what this motor came from originally, don't use this motor for it. It'll be exposed to water, and it doesn't look like a motor design that would enjoy such things. Even if it was working right now, it would get very rusty very quickly and suffer further damage. If it's of any value to you, this is not an application you want to use it for. And at this point, the amount of effort that it'll take to repair it far outweighs the convenience of not having to wait for a cheap chinese motor to come in the mail. Even if you're experienced in DC motor repair. Go to allelectronics.com and buy the first motor that looks acceptable for your application so you can be boating while this motor gets fixed.
I noticed the brush part last night. I think it might have come out when i took it apart. I will continue looking, but considering my messy room i doubt I will find it the plate was like that before it broke. I think its so that it keeps the left brush peice from touching the cover on the motor. I noticed the shaft was cut. I was unsure if that was original or not. It also left me with another problem that the piece linking it to the prop was glued on or something.The springs for holding the brush blocks are kinda weak too. It orginaly came from a small aprox 3-4 inch tall outboard motor you clamp to boats.it is placed inside where the engine would go in a real one. it was working until i messed it up I appreciate your suggjestion, but i think it should be fine when fully covered,it should be fine and I hope you agree. I will do my best to repair it. with help of course, if possible
Hard part of fixing it will be finding brushes. If you can get the other one out (hopefully it's as easy as moving the spring up a little and pulling it out), that's a start. Another thing to consider is that we need to find a source for new springs (as well as new brushes). Worst case, we are talking making new brushes from current stock, although the difficulty of THAT depends on what material the brushes are.
well I am SOOOO lucky. this morning on my way out from school, i was looking for the brush i am missing in my room but couldnt find anything,luckily as I was leaving my house I found it in the carpet at the top of the stairs. I moved the spring out of the way and popped it in, now i just need to resecure the little piece that connects motor to prop shaft.
can you take a picture of both brushes for me? Especially the end of the brush that comes in contact with the commutator (the part of the rotor where the brushes ride).
Sure! They are very small and It is hard to get any pics that are not fuzzy blobs, but these are the best i got: The motor works now, but only occasionally. otherwise it will just hangup on this one spot, and should I turn it further it just speeds around until it reaches that spot again. do you have any idea why? I also pulled out the stuff keeping the plate ontop crooked. It looks as if it was put there by someone other than the manufacturer.
I can tell you exactly why; the spot where it hung up and then was forced is a damaged point on the cummutator. I don't want this to sound like I'm beating on you, but when you forced it, it shorted the electricity through one of the brushes and damaged that section. On the bright side, it should be repairable, although you're going to need to pull the rotor out of the motor to do so. Exactly what you need to do to repair the commutator damage, I can't say without seeing the damaged area. Side note: If possible, I'd take the brushes to an electrical motor repair shop and ask them how hard replacements would be to get. We could be lucky, or they could be rare as hen's teeth. Anyone needing hen's teeth, I have an excellent deal for the right buyer
