Do you always clean the commutator?

[vacuumlover]

Well, just as the title says.

I usually do, I'm just curious if other people always do.

 

[jeschbac]

always

If I have a Kirby disassembled to that point, there's no reason not to give it a taste of the "stick."

 

[3rdgenvacguy]

By giving it the stick, I assume you mean a commutator stone. I've used them for over 30 years. I am astounded at the price they charge for them today. The only ones that I like are the rust colored ones, not too soft, not to abrasive. Back in the day guys would use lead pencils, really didn't work though. I've saved many motors by using a stone, without taking them to the lathe for a reface. Lux super j's always seemed to get the commutator out of round and would arc all the time. Hard to settle down the arc with a stone on those.

 

[mchmike]

I find e- Luke's usually calm down after a week of use . They really don't like being cleaned.

 

[vacuumlover]

I use either wet and dry sand paper (If a bit pitted, only happened once though) or most of the time fine steel wool. And yes, I do make sure all the wire is gone.

I love seeing a nice clean commy

 

[chicagomike]

What I do

Hand sanding really cleans the part and makes it look pretty. But unless you watch the vacuum running to observe if the carbon brushes are sparking excessively or not, you really do not know if the cleaning of the part did anything more then just cleaning it. The goal of cleaning the commutator is to reduce the excessive arching between the carbon and the copper.

Try using a product like the attached photo. But before using it start the vacuum and look at both brushes to see if they are arching excessively, if they are or just one is, apply the stone to it while running and you will know it worked when the arching almost disappears. Be sure to do it to both brushes if they are both arching excessively....

I successfully clean the G series on every machine I rebuild using the stone. And from the advice of another collector they told me to do the process on all the machines. So I can now say as of yesterday I also successfully cleaned the commutator using the stone on a D80, Classic, Omega, Classic III and a Tradition -- and the before and after arching was drastically reduced...

http://www.martindaleco.com/abrasives.htm

 

[3rdgenvacguy]

Sanding a commutator out of the machine may dress it up. But as many have chimed in, a commutator stone is used while the motor is running. If a motor locks up after a clog and left buzzing, sometimes the armature will heat up and have two high spots 180 degrees apart where the carbons have heated the commutator and raised the individual segments. Armatures can also get out of round. If you can imagine, if the commutator is not on the same axis as the shaft and bearings. The carbons will move in and out when the motor runs and will cause the carbons to arc. Using a stone while the motor is running will true it to the axis of rotation. When the arc will not calm down, spin the motor by hand. The dark spots will be the high spots and the copper segments will be the low spots. Sometimes you have to put a lot of pressure on the stone to get it back in round. On convertibles and Eureka (sanitaires) I have used a die grinder to make a hole in the upper housing just below the cooling fan, and have stoned an armature that way. If a motor is left to arc for awhile, the carbon brush will get very hot. When carbons get hot the carbon material can expand and the brush can get stuck in the tube. You can use a jewelers file to clean the tube. You can also file the carbon, again because it swells, usually at the tip, so that it slides in the tube freely. Sometimes the spring on the brush gets so hot that it looses its tension, all of the coils of the spring remain compressed and will not spring back. When that happens, you have no choice but to replace the carbon brush. The only way I know of to check an armature for a short is to use a growler. You can test two ways with a growler, a direct short, and for spark between segments (dead segment), but that is a whole topic in itself. I don't want to come off as a know it all, but I have been in the repair side for over 30 years, from everything from convertibles to propane to autoscrubbers. Was just trying to give some insight to the general collector, not to experienced vac shops.

 

[chicagomike]

Armature Test on Growler

Armature Test on Growler see link to video

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXQ0heuV6VE