Super J motor cleaning or maybe more...

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Blue sparks are normal...and even on both sides. What has happened is you put a worn brush in 180 degrees from how it had worn in originally. And since it ran that way for awhile, it was trying to re-break in the other way.....so that's why the spark is not perfectly even, although you have reversed it back to its original postion. You even have to return the brush to the same side it came out of.....if you want to reuse it.


 


In that era, few if any manufacturers where very conscious and alert to things like alergins and fibromyalgia. So.....nobody thought much about brush dust either. You can't really blame Elux or anyone else for that matter. Now there would be no excuse not to consider these things in the design.


 


Kevin
 
I had a few orange sparks on both sides, from time to time.

The black dust isn't good for health nor it is aesthetic when it sticks to every part of the vacuum body, they apparently didn't think about that either.
 
"Arcing is still a bit more obvious on the same side as before (bottom side on picture) , but a lot less than this afternoon."

I helped! :3

I bet the brush was the wrong way around, that's all. It should wear back in after a bit of running.
 
It takes a long time for vacs like the Elux to shed that much carbon brush dust. Of the dozen or so Diamond J 's I've restored for example, I don't ever remember seeing much in the way of carbon dust. 'course I have no way of knowing how much escaped into the air......as they learned with the Diamond J motor, arid/desert climates had a bad effect on the commutator and brushes. 


 


This could be a design thing with the Super J's.....big motor, big brushes, big mess.....I haven't put yrs of use on any Super J yet.


 


Kevin
 
"This could be a design thing with the Super J's.....big motor, big brushes, big mess"

I like that!

I did measured the current this SuperJ draws again, after a few minutes of use, and the reading was 8.1 amps. COnsidering the cord has two repairs that become a bit hot during use (current loss) , I suppose that the reading could be below 8 amps (not so off compared to specs) with a good cord , does it make sense ?
 
Yes, that makes sense....a motor trying to draw through bad cord repairs will fractionally draw more amperage. Most high power vacs have cords that are one size too small anyway.....they do that for suppleness and cord winders. I tried putting a decent cord on a 1205 winder once and it never was satisfactory. I could have shortened it to work, but then I lost my length.


 


Kevin
 
last update: I used this SuperJ yesterday and pulled the cord gently out but apparently too much, because I heard the same noise, the noise the spring makes when it slips off of the spool inside...

I'm a bit upset with this...I think I will source a good cord, install it in the spool without the spring and simply wind it around the can...
 
The biggest trick to Elux cord winders is to leave about three spring wraps on the spool with the cord pulled ALL the way out. Your problem is common to a newbie and Elux cord winders.


 


Kevin
 
You should probably address the cord issue. It's kind of... not good if a repaired part of a wire is getting hotter than the rest of the wire. It'll melt and let the pixies out eventually.

Bummer about the cord winder. Realshep's probably right, winding any kind of clockspring is a huge pain because you pretty much need to know exactly how many turns it needs at a certain point.
 
I just pulled the spring out for the third time. Most of it has slipped off of the small spool and was rolled tight to itself, so it wasn't as scary as the other times.

I did it tonight because I bought a 20-foot long used cord that looks like new for 10 bucks this afternoon and thought it was another good reason to take the spool off again.

I knew the spool was cracked but when I removed the metal bottom spool to expose the cord connections I found a broken post (see picture). I'll have to fix that with my RapidFix glue.

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Depending how much room is available around that broken boss, I would use your Rapid fix glue, then later, build up a wall of epoxy glue around it for extra strength.
 
You want about three wraps minimum around the small spring spool when the cord is completely pulled out if I recall correctly. Whichever the spool is that has the least amount of spring wraps when the cord is completely pulled out (my memory is not the best anymore unless I'm working on something). Of course, you have to repair anything that's broken too, like those posts.  


 


A lot of Elux's were thrown in closets when the recoils quit working. If the local dealer wasn't on top of checking on past customers, the tanks had dim fates. I don't even want to think how many Elux tanks went to the landfill for minor problems.


 


Kevin
 
Doug,

The only written reference I have to reinstall the spring is for the ZB89 model, it says 3.5 turns around the spool drum (big spool) when 18 foot of cord is out.

Could it apply to the SUperJ as well?
 
Today I had to go see my electronic tech for a turntable and a phone so I brought my new-to-me vac cord and asked him to crimp new connectors at the spool end.

Then I went back home and started to reel the spring back to the spools. I found out that the easiest way to deal with the spring is to wind it completely on the big spool and then put the free end on the small spool and wind it back on it until I had roughly 3.5 turns left on the big spool (I previously put a tape on the spring at that specific point), then carefully install (this is a critical moment, not an easy task with protective gloves) both spools back on their axles with the cord fully out.

I shortly realized that the spring wasn't tight enough, after a few trials and errors of oh-well-still-some-cord-left, I found that all I had to do was to wind up the slack on the cord completely on the spool, and it worked perfectly.

I put a section of a cork cap at the end of the cord to prevent it from going in the vac case. It also slows the cord a bit when it winds back in.

So I think I'm done with this one !

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