Thread Number: 38469
/ Tag: 50s/60s/70s Vacuum Cleaners
Kirby D50 commutator/brush seating |
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Post# 409322 , Reply# 1   5/10/2019 at 19:26 (1,783 days old) by Superocd (PNW US)   |   | |
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Post# 409323 , Reply# 2   5/10/2019 at 19:27 (1,783 days old) by Superocd (PNW US)   |   | |
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Post# 409331 , Reply# 3   5/10/2019 at 23:34 (1,783 days old) by MadMan (Chicago, IL, USA)   |   | |
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Post# 409350 , Reply# 5   5/11/2019 at 14:56 (1,782 days old) by broomvac (N/A)   |   | |
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Looks good to me! Honestly, I’d just stop doing things to it. As MadMan said, the brushes just need to wear in. Sparks happen.
Each time you run the stone over the commutator, you are abrading away just a little bit of (rather precious) commutator copper, something you can never get back. You are change the geometry of the commutator a hair each time you do this, too, and that means that the brushes have a slightly new shape to conform to. All of this is why I don’t recommend resurfacing commutators. If the motor runs as it should, that’s what counts. Commutators are rarely the point of failure. Frequently, the rest of the vacuum will wear out before the commutator does. As for your uneven sparking: Sparks happen primarily on the trailing edge of a brush. Is there a chance that this is all you are seeing? Good luck with everything! Thanks for sharing! 🙂 |
Post# 409352 , Reply# 6   5/11/2019 at 15:22 (1,782 days old) by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana)   |   | |
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The two lads above are right. Commutator stones should only be used very lightly and sparingly, usually once in the lifetime of the vacuum. You don't want to do it all the time as you are actually grinding away the coils on the armature every time you do. Your goal is also not to get all the carbon off, that will never happen, you just want to get it clean enough to where the motor makes a good contact, because too much carbon buildup can block electrical currents and make the motor not run, or run strangely and inaccurately. You also want to give it a few blasts of electrical contact spray after all the polishing to get carbon dust and whatnot out of the armature.
To me that commutator looks just like it would if it left the factory, its very well polished and you did about as good of a job as you could do on a motor that old. The sparks are not bad, and will go away as the brushes wear to the contoured shape of the armature. The fact that it is arcing on one side just means that the motor is leaning more to one side than the other and is closer to that brush than the other side is. Also older vacuums will make sparks, that's normal. |
Post# 409354 , Reply# 7   5/11/2019 at 16:05 (1,782 days old) by broomvac (N/A)   |   | |
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Yep. The only reason to resurface a commutator would be to remove a carbon patina so thick that it noticeably increases the resistance in the motor's circuit. Such a buildup would simply make the motor run noticeably slower than its nominal speed. If the motor runs fine, that means that there is no excessive buildup and therefore no need for a treatment.
Removing the commutator's normal patina is analogous to removing the fine layer of carbon from the inside of your car's exhaust pipe. It's not hurting anything, it won't grow over time, and if you remove it, it'll just come right back. If an unusual amount of carbon ever arises, that's the sign of a problem whose symptoms you are only treating with the commutator stone. |
Post# 409383 , Reply# 9   5/12/2019 at 21:36 (1,781 days old) by texaskirbyguy (Plano, TX)   |   | |
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Break in the new carbon brushes on low speed for a while. After they are broke in, the sparking should be considerably less on high speed. |
Post# 409505 , Reply# 10   5/15/2019 at 23:27 (1,778 days old) by Lesinutah (Utah)   |   | |
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I would have posted earlier but I had to take a few days off.
Before you install armature grab a drill. Put top of the armature shaft in drill. You now can rotate fan out of housing. I use commuter brush and blow off powder. I seen a pic of arcing. It looked like a green wire was visible. If there are any wires in or around that are it will ruin your vacuum. I hope there is no wire but if there is get it moved. Les |