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Thread Number: 41259
/ Tag: Pre-1950 Vacuum Cleaners
Brushes and switch question |
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| Post# 437587 , Reply# 1 1/22/2021 at 09:48 (1,183 days old) by Zenith12 (Canfield Ohio ) | ||
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You can You can buy blocks of grafite off of Amazon cheep and make your own brushes with a hack saw and a file. | ||
| Post# 437589 , Reply# 2 1/22/2021 at 10:02 (1,183 days old) by Kirboover (Watertown, South Dakota) | ||
Switch | ||
| Post# 437594 , Reply# 3 1/22/2021 at 12:15 (1,183 days old) by OhioVacuums (Ohio) | ||
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Kirboover Thank both of you for the replies...when you say put one end on input and other on output, do you mean on the switch wires ? I didn't want to cut those wires and have to put them back together if I could avoid it. | ||
| Post# 437596 , Reply# 4 1/22/2021 at 13:13 (1,182 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
No, you would just need to put the leads where there is bare metal on both of the switch contacts. You want to keep the circuit small so you know you're testing only the switch. I prefer to use an old fashioned analog volt-ohm-milliammeter (VOM) because I'm just an old fashioned, analog kind of guy. Fortunately, that switch looks like pretty much of a commodity, hardware store part so it should be easy to replace
Just an observation. What I can see of the cord in that photo looks pretty sketchy. You probably should replace it. | ||
| Post# 437599 , Reply# 5 1/22/2021 at 13:47 (1,182 days old) by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana) | ||
When testing why a motor doesn't work, always resort to probing last.
First and most common is the power cord has rotted or shorted together (you would know if it makes a dead short). Next thing to check is the switch, the terminal plates in the switch can oxidize with wear and the passage of time and make a poor connection. The switch can be worked with electrical contact cleaner and manually flicking the switch about a dozen times back and worth and seeing if that gets it. If the switch does not operate, disassemble and inspect the switch.If possible, use a piercing alligator clip lead on each wire and and bypass the switch and see if the motor turns on. Failing all that, then open up the motor housing and inspect and probe if need be. A motor will never be completely dead and refuse to turn on unless it is the switch or the power cord. It will always make some kind of noise or something will happen. Most always you can directly see why a motor has not turned on, in your case the broken carbon brush. Those little ball switches are common to get dust and lint packed in them, so I would not atall be surprised if the switch is dirty too. Good luck! Antique vacuum motors are not at all complicated to diagnose, pretty simple in how they operate. I've never really had to use a multimeter except on vacuums with circuit boards and other electronic faff in them. One little capacitor the size of a bean fails and knocks the entire vacuum out. | ||
| Post# 437629 , Reply# 7 1/23/2021 at 02:18 (1,182 days old) by MadMan (Chicago, IL, USA) | ||
There is no need to make your own brushes. They are commonly available. Measure the height x width x length. Get yourself some cheap digital calipers from Harbor Freight. It looks like 1/4" x 1/4" from the picture. Sellers may list in fractional or decimal. You probably could just measure with a tape or ruler. Length is not super critical, long ones can be filed down. Though I'd recommend finding a round object about the same diameter of the commutator, wrapping that in 150 grit, and sanding off any excess length so you keep the curvature. Also a criterion for the right brush is the connection type, in your case, a spring only, with no lead. Though if it had a lead and a spring it wouldn't matter much. Keep your old brushes, you may need to reuse the springs.
Go to mcmaster.com, search motor brushes. Find the appropriate ones there. They're not the cheapest, but I bet you they have them. Once you know the available sizes and pick one that matches yours best, you can look on ebay or amazon. You likely won't find it by part number as McMaster's are proprietary, but the common measurement will help. Then again, if you buy from McMaster, it probably won't be more than $15 or so. $7 if you're lucky on ebay. | ||
| Post# 437774 , Reply# 9 1/26/2021 at 09:38 (1,179 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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| Post# 437797 , Reply# 10 1/26/2021 at 21:43 (1,178 days old) by MadMan (Chicago, IL, USA) | ||
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| Post# 437799 , Reply# 11 1/26/2021 at 21:56 (1,178 days old) by Hoover300 (Kentucky) | ||
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