Hello there. I need some advice regarding a washing machine. So bought it around 5 years ago,had no problems whatsoever until recently where it couldn't spin anymore. After some troubleshooting turned out carbon dust has built up on the commutator(see the black residue in the picture). I carefully removed it. After about a month or so the same problem appeared and carbon dust has built up again.
My worry is that it needed this little time compared to previous years and since i obviously don't want to do this every month,every other month i would like some tips on what to do.
Is there a spray of some sort that would help against the build-up for longer period? Should i buy new carbon brushes,are they the issue?My thought is that the carbon brushes deteriorated over time and as the spring pushes them to the commutator more material is grated and perhaps there is more moisture which helps the grated particles to stick on the surface?
Probably needs the commutator to be polished.
May also need new brushes.
Commutator would have to be machined.
And then new brushes, that need to be also machined to match the commutator.
Maybe with sandpaper, but I've never done it.
I know that if you just buy new brushes and don't sand them to match the commutator, it won't work
>I know that if you just buy new brushes and don't sand them to match the commutator, it won't work
first time i hear that bullshit
the commutator grinds the brushes itself
in matter of fact, new brushed motors come with flat brushes, and if you spin them (not by hand, but by powering the motor) you can't return it to the shop because it considered as "used"
t.got told multiple times by sellers, for vacuum cleaner motors that i wasn't 100% sure will fit
rip the entire armature out, put the entire thing in a drill press (or a secured electric drill, whatever) and use extremely high grit sandpaper. it will not take you long--literally less than a minute of actual contact--be careful to not remove too much material. your goal is to take as little off as possible and make sure to be consistent across the entire commutator, you want no variations or else it's going to eat your brushes.
after you've achieved a nice smooth finish, clean it up, take time to do some preventative maintenance like lube bearings, check for any problems, then throw that b***h back in and set it for a couple spin cycles with the skin off then check for carbon dust.
if your problem persists, you could always try to add a small shitty ac fan to keep fresh air flowing through the machine to keep humidity down.
i used high grit sandpaper to remove the carbon dust perhaps i removed from the commutator itself along with it when it was clean enough already. That could be an issue. I'll buy new brushes and see if it helps.
Thanks for the tips so far.
I rebuilt a fair amount of hand tool motors, so maybe I can help. I alsways use very fine sandpaper, like 1000 grit, to clean the commutator. You want a smooth surface to not grind down the brushes. Also, I take a sandpaper strip narrower than the commutator is wide. I turn the commutator using a drill press or a second person using a cordless drill, sling the sandpaper around it un a "U" shape, pull lightly and move it slowly up and down the commutator in axial direction. This way, I avoid scratch marks. Then I use a needleort the tip of a pointy knife to clean dirt and grinding residue from the caps between the individual copper segments. I finish cleaning with a blow of compressed air. Then I do the sandpaper thing again, but this time with a strip of thick paper. Paper is just a tiny bit abrasive, so it will "polish" the commutator and smooth out the edges of the segments which might have gotten compromised by the knife edge gleaning the gaps between them. Compressed air again, and finished. If the brushes are worn more than halfway through, I replaced them. All my tools run excellent and with hardly any electrical fire at the brushes.
>If the brushes are worn more than halfway through, I replaced them
Is this necessary or preference? Because the current ones are about 1/3 of the original size.
I don't know, honestly. But I think that if the force is too low, this might leat to a higher resistance in the current path, this again leading to higher heat and wear.
Replacing them is a safe bet.
Good catch.
It should be checked if the windings all have the same resistance. Burned windings lead to higher current consumption, less efficiency and more heat buildup, which wears everything around out faster, if it still works at all.
Relevant instructions:
https://modernpumpingtoday.com/how-to-check-a-motor-armature-for-damaged-windings/
those insulations looks pretty frazzled. are you sure it's just dust or is the insulation burned
you probably just need to change the carbon brushes, if they are worn out the spring has very little to push against the commutator, so you'd get arcing and more carbon build up. The springs should be pushing the brushes tight to the commutator, not holding them loosely against it.
This. If they're worn they're not pressing firmly enough even if the springs aren't sacked which they likely are.
I consider it impressive the thing still runs with that much wear. I've rebrushed many motors and cleaned man commutators. Easy work.
New brushes, yours are short and therfore the springs aren't pushing them as hard.
Thanks for the tips so far. I've been looking for spare part but i can't figure out what kind of brush i need for the welling motor. Can't deduct anything from the numbers,no manual or anything to explain what the numbers mean so i'm stucked.
Indesit IWSC51051 washing machine, Welling HXGP2L.62 electric motor. The plastic casing of the brushes has 54S5009-05-10 printed into them.
Unfortunately i don't know how universal the brushes are which is another problem in itself;it seems the dimensions of the carbon itself and the connector's size are what determine if it's compatible or not.
So yeah,i need a little bit more help regarding this.