Super J motor cleaning or maybe more...

[quebecois]

I'm at the beginning of the process of cleaning the motor of one of my Super J's, actually the one that smells weird when I run it.

As can be seen on the first picture, the motor was very dirty, I mean, real dirty, and this was probably enough to make it smell weird when running.

I'm planning of cleaning it thouroughly though, and to achieve this, I have to take it apart. I followed the instructions on another thread (thanks to Nathan Thomas), now I'M at the stage of removing the fans.

I unscrewed the 3/4 inch nut that holds them, but the fans don't want to come off. Should I just put a bit a WD40 on the shaft and pull stronger?

Also, I'm a bit concerned about what the inside of the fans housing look like (2nd picture). All these spiral scratches mean that the tabs of the bottom fan touch the housing, is this caused by a worn bearing?

Brushes still 1 inch-long are still good or should I change them?

 

[madman]

Brushes look fine, I would leave them alone, as long as they're not oily.

The spiral 'scratches' look VERY weird. The thing is, when a rotating part touches something, it'll make a circular scratch. I'm willing to bet those are either just dirt marks, or corrosion/rust/pitting marks... Unless you have end play on the motor shaft, I wouldn't worry about it. Likely, that spiral is how the air moves in that chamber, leaving deposits in that shape, or causing micro-scratches in that shape that take off the plating and allow the cover to rust in that pattern over the years. You might actually find they'll wipe off. Try it.

I don't have a picture of your fan blade, so I don't know. If the blade is metal (rather, the part of the blade that surrounds the shaft), and you're patient, soak around shaft on both sides of the blade with WD or PB blaster, repeatedly over a couple days. That should soak in well enough to unfreeze them, but it won't necessarily make it much easier, only possible. If you've done that, or if it's plastic, have an assistant firmly hold the blade with both hands, like they're choking somebody, and you take a medium-small hammer and tap on the motor shaft firmly, but not hard enough to damage the end of the shaft. If the shaft takes a nut on the end, a good idea is to get another - sacrificial - nut and screw it on, leaving it a good turn loose past the end of the shaft, and hammer that as hard as you like (providing that force won't bend or break the blade while it's being held). It'll destroy the nut, but the nut should protect the shaft.

 

[quebecois]

Aluminium bottom fan came off after a WD40 shot on the shaft, but the plastic top fan didn't move at all, and i'm not sure where it is supposed to separate. Can you show on the picture?

 

[electrolux-dude]

Super J

The plastic part is stationary. The whole fan housing comes off. The bottom fan will pull off after the housing comes off. My email address is: [email protected]
Nathan
Electrolux Dude

 

[madman]

I'm... a little lost tbh. Not entirely sure.

 

[blknblu]

you need to place the motor with the shaft down, and spray some penetrating fluid on the seams. I have attached a pic of the disassembled motor.
Patience is required. Use a sharpie to mark parts for easier assembly.

 

[quebecois]

Thanks for the picture, blknblu. The seams are so tight it looks like it's a single part. Will they separate at the point shown by red arrow?

Is there a bearing under the small cap on top of the motor? Will it be possible to pack it with bearing grease if I remove this cap?

 

[quebecois]

Ok i tapped on the 2nd housing with a screwdriver handle and it came out by itself, with gravity help.

I went as far in the motor as I can, I even removed the two screws and metal tabs (or whatever they're called) that hold the fields, should I pull them out for a really good clean or not?

The shaft is a bit gouged and marred where is runs in the bottom bearing, the bearing itself seems a bit loose, is it easy to find a replacement?

 

[quebecois]

I found a new bearing at a local vacuum store for 7$, the guy was amazed when I arrived with the SuperJ top cover ! Part number isn't exactly the same(608LU instead of 608Z) but they seem identical.

I finally removed the small cap on top of the motor and found a thick felt pad in there, is it intended to be oiled periodically, or to be oiled at all? On the other side of the top bushing is another cap with a washer made of a weird material, is it to catch extra oil dripping along the shaft from the felt pad?

Also, I put a picture of very light pitting on the armature.

I'm a the stage of cleaning the motor itself before I put it back together.

 

[madman]

Is the front bearing a ball bearing and the back one a bronze bearing? I'm not sure why there would be a felt pad there unless it was NOT a ball bearing. Does it seem like there's a spot to oil it from the outside?

Oftentimes in part numbers you'll find one portion is the same, and another different, especially when it's just a couple numbers 608 and a couple letters LU. Likely the bearing number is just 608 and the letters after signify some particular detail that's different, a design change perhaps, likely one number supersedes the previous.

That little spot on the field coil looks almost like it's burned. That could be... bad. In the future, anyway, because it was working before you disassembled, right? I'd recommend a good cleaning with soapy water and a tooth brush. Be sure to 'rinse' with clean water, but you don't want the whole thing soaked, just a tiny bit of water to clean it only. Once it's good and dry, examine it, if it looks like the varnish is peeling or burnt off, you might want to pick up a can of insulating varnish and spray down that spot with a couple coats.

That being said, it's not the end of the world if you just left it like that.

Can has pics of the other bearing, the one that he felt cap went over?

 

[quebecois]

Yes the top bearing is a bronze bearing, and it feels very tight, so I'll leave it alone.

Yes, the motor was working before I started tearing it apart, and pretty strong, just a bit noisy due to the worn fan bearing, probably.

The felt pad cap doesn't have any hole in it to add oil, but it is a bit oily in there, so I needed to clarify that point. THe cap is still off, waiting for an answer.

Also, I'll have to cut some thin foam to replace the one that fell apart when I took the plastic motor cover off, and then it'll be a job done, I guess.

 

[madman]

Well then. That felt in the cap needs to be saturated in oil. But not so much that it tries to drip out. I would fill the cap with oil, then leave it on its side overnight for the excess to drain off. When you assemble, add a couple drops of oil right on the end of the shaft at the bronze bushing, in fact, you may want to do that right away, to let it soak in. Hopefully that bearing is not completely dry.

As there's no oiler, I would assume that's meant to be 'lifetime' lubricated. As in, the oil they put in there in the factory should last the life of the unit (how long was the warranty?). Pretty sure you're well past that point.

 

[brewsky]

The letters after the bearing number indicate the type of shield....z for metal, lu for rubber. (one side)
Metal being better for higher temperatures and rpm, and rubber better for sealing out dirt.
The bronze bushing is likely oilite (oil impregnated). You can tell by looking with a magnifying glass and seeing it looks dirty, black spotted, or porous.
I've heard of soaking the oilite bushings in hot oil and letting them cool before removing to replenish the oil lost over time, but I'm not sure it is necessary,....but couldn't hurt.

 

[quebecois]

Lifetime lubricated, that's exactly what I thought when I saw how it's made !

 

[quebecois]

Brewsky, thanks for the info.

I'll get some oil and some foam today to finish the project.

The guy at the vacuum store said he wouldn't put any oil in this felt, because he's afraid it would retain dirt!

I'm not, because even if the motor was dirty like he&& outside , it was pretty clean inside that cap. I simply should avoid to put too much oil, like madman suggested.

 

[brewsky]

Would be interested in how the foam is placed?
Is it sandwiched between two motor parts, or surrounding the motor mount?

 

[quebecois]

it was between the plastic cover and the motor.

 

[quebecois]

I put everything back together, no part left except the used bearing !

I replaced the original foam with autoadhesive weather strips cut to dimensions.

For the records, I use a piece of scotch tape to hold the nuts in the socket while positioning on the motor mounting bolts down inside the can.

Machine works fine, there is still a bit of this weird smell but it is not as disturbing as it was before.

 

[quebecois]

My two babies side by side ! The one on the left is the one I took apart for cleaning. I still having to fix (glue) the cord spool and the cord itself (plug), but they both work well.

The one on the right is a bit better, the motor runs a bit stronger and it turns longer when I shut it down. It has probably been better taken care of and used with more respect.