Motor Brushes

[YYCHM]

Hey All.

What are the symptoms of needing new motor brushes?

Lately my mill motor has been (for lack of a better term) surging. By surging, I mean, from a cold start, it speeds up, then slows down, then speeds up again eventually reaching a steady state, usually within 40 sec or less. Feels like it's lacking power as well.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Craig

 

[Tom O]

That’s what my Craftex mill did. I have a spare set around here.

 

[YYCHM]

That’s what my Craftex mill did. I have a spare set around here.

Mine is a CX605. So it's the brushes that cause this behavior?

Craig

 

[Tom O]

I think that’s your best bet another thing to check is the fuse holder I had to replace mine they are really low grade. On mine it was brushes though I could spin the spindle sometimes to start it! I also have a spare motor for my mill.

 

[Janger]

My neighbor's microwave oven and some lights were doing that. It turned out to be loose set screws for the neutral and grounds in the circuit breaker panel. Perhaps you have loose power connections somewhere in the outlet, in the machine, in the panel... does it do the same thing plugged into a different circuit?

 

[Janger]

Another odd electrical thing to check - is the house ground firmly attached to the water pipe coming in? In my neighbors place another problem was the ground was upstream of the water meter and that was installed with plastic fittings. So no decent ground was possible. Really dangerous I believe and the utility installed it like that - or it was messed with somewhere along the line. anyway... let us know what you learn Craig.

 

[Janger]

I think that’s your best bet another thing to check is the fuse holder I had to replace mine they are really low grade. On mine it was brushes though I could spin the spindle sometimes to start it! I also have a spare motor for my mill.

Somebody else on here had trouble with their craftex lathe and that also turned out to be a bad fuse holder.

 

[DPittman]

Somebody else on here had trouble with their craftex lathe and that also turned out to be a bad fuse holder.

Yup I had a terrible time diagnosing a problem on my lathe that turned out to be the fuse holder however my motor wasn't erractic as you describe it just quit all together.
I also replaced the brushes on my lathe motor. They appeared to have very little wear but new ones seemed to fix my problem. They are cheap and easy to replace ( at least they were on my craftex lathe)

 

[Tom O]

The spare brushes I have are 14mm X 13mm I believe $12.50 at bb but they may have to order them in.

 

[DPittman]

The spare brushes I have are 14mm X 13mm I believe $12.50 at bb but they may have to order them in.

When I needed brushes from BB they actually had them on hand in Calgary! I was surprised (even though they are probably used on many different machines they handle).

 

[Tom Kitta]

There is (shock) or used to be a large supplier of all sorts of brushes in Calgary. The guy was about to retire but not sure whatever he did or did not already. For few CAD he would even deliver it to your home.

Much cheaper then say BB or eBay or anyone else - we are talking $6 for a set of good brushes that normally cost double that.

dan@carbonbrushes.ca

He can get you any size - even ones as large as a laptop.

 

[thriller007]

So it was not the wiring in Craig’s place since it does the same at mine. I don’t Think Dan will make the 3 hour trip down to deliver some $6 brushes though.

 

[YYCHM]

So it was not the wiring in Craig’s place since it does the same at mine. I don’t Think Dan will make the 3 hour trip down to deliver some $6 brushes though.

Contact him. He will probably mail them to you. The ones you need are pretty small.