Vac motor died. Can it be rebuilt?

[Sequoia]

Until now, I've never needed to rebuild or repair a vac motor as I put brand new vacs in shortly after buying my wash in 2005. (JE Adams)

One of the motors recently died and I replaced it. I'm curious if its possible to rebuild these, or is it worth doing so?

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I'm curious if its possible to rebuild these, or is it worth doing so?

I can't imagine it would be worth trying to repair them when you can buy a new motor for about 30 bucks. Some operators change brushes at some point, but I'm not one of them. Working on vacs is a dirty job that I don't enjoy. I let a motor run until it dies and replace it. I write the date on it and if I am working on a vac and see that the other motor is quite old I will just change it out while I'm into the job.

 

[Randy]

Geezzz Pat, I can’t believe that you don’t spend 2 or 3 hours rebuilding a $30 Vac motor. I replace the brushes one time, usually after about 2 1/2 years in service than toss the motor the next time they need to be replaced, usually after 4 years.

 

[Waxman]

I replace the brushes more than once. But rebuild a vac motor? Even I'm not that cheap, and I was trained by the biggest cheapskates on this Forum! (you know who you are and thanks!).

 

[PEI]

Can you rebuild a vac motor? Yes, you sure can.
Is it worth it? Nope

 

[cleaning up mud]

Haaaa! You people crack me up!!! Is it cold where you are????

 

[MEP001]

I switched to the Domel motors about four years ago - most of the vacs' original Lambs are still in use, but the GS they discontinued a couple years ago were so crappy I've already replaced all those replacements. I'm changing brushes on the Domels once a year and haven't had any fail yet. It takes me about 3 minutes per vac to do all four brushes, including taking off/replacing the dome.

If the motor "died" because the brushes wore completely down, chances are the motor is ruined. The arcing caused by worn brushes tends to burn up the commutator, and the replacement brushes will fail quickly.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

Come on guys, you you dont throw away your car when the spark plugs need to be replaced, do you?
Replacing brushes is routine maintenance, it is not "rebuilding." Thats part of the design of these motors, they are designed to wear out and be replaced.

 

[Greg Pack]

Some of you SS guys are big money! I can change brushes on a vac and usually get a couple more years out of them.

I can install new motor brushes on two motor Coleman vac in fifteen minutes , but the ****ing Fragramatics vac takes twice that long because of the way they install their motors. I hope the guy that designed those spends time in Purgartory changing brushes on their vacuums.

 

[Wally]

I agree on the Fragramatics. That was a pretty dumb design. They know the top has to come off the motor to replace the brushes so what do they do, fasten all that crap right on top of them.

 

[Earl Weiss]

New Vac Motor $35.00.

Lets say you replace brushes and increase the life 50%. You save $15.00.

Factor your labor including removing and replacing the dome.

Factor added reliability of replacement.

Conditions vary. A friend did maintenance fr the old National Pride Chain. He told me they stopped replacing brushes because by the time it needed brushes so many other parts were well worn and near failure.

My motors tend to show a lot of corrosion with age. I bet in drier climates it is not as big an issue.

The recent blizzard ruined some motors by filling the domes with snow which then melted causing shorts.

 

[MEP001]

A friend did maintenance fr the old National Pride Chain. He told me they stopped replacing brushes because by the time it needed brushes so many other parts were well worn and near failure.

I won't disagree that's the case with some motors. The discontinued GS ones I was using would fail because the top bearing would go out. I never had a chance to change the brushes in them more than once. If the motor is of good quality, why shouldn't it last through 5 or 6 sets of brushes?

 

[Earl Weiss]

If the motor is of good quality, why shouldn't it last through 5 or 6 sets of brushes?

Good point and this may very well be a function of usage vs calender time.

Usage wears brushes. Calender time allows orrosion. So, I guess if you have heavy usage in a short calender time not much corrosion has set in.

After I would guess about 2 years our motors show a lot of corrosion. The appearnace alone would lead me to not want to rebuild them.

With regard solely to quality, this is an unknown. The point was that their are other moving parts. These parts wear along wih the brushes.

Only some detailed experimentation would tell you that the brushes have X hours of life expectancy and the other parts Have X+ hours of life expectancy under ideal conditions.

 

[mjc3333]

I had 22 G-2 vacs from Monorail that had three motors each (replaced them with JE Adams 2 yrs ago). Out of the 22 vacs or 66 motors, I replaced a total of 30 to 35 motors over 20 years, about half.

Replace the brushes when needed. You should get years out of the motors before they need replacing.

If the brushes need replacing and you wait too long to do it, the commutator will get glazed over and have to be turned down (throw it away).

If you replace the brushes on a regular basis as I did for 20 years, some of the original motors still ran strong depending on how much usage the particular vac would see every week.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

$172 or $14

New Vac Motor $35.00.

Lets say you replace brushes and increase the life 50%. You save $15.00.

Factor your labor including removing and replacing the dome.

I strongly agree with your main point that sometimes its cheaper to just replace an item, I do it too. Including vac motors - when I see one that "doesnt look right" (including corrosion) I just replace it.

However,

• Brushes are $3.50 for a pair, not $15. I use "quiet lamb motors" which are $43 each.
• It takes me longer to replace a motor than brushes, so no savings on labor. (I have to take off the dome to replace the motor OR the brushes.)
• I change vac motor brushes an average of 4 times before the motor needs to be replaced.

So the way the savings pencil out for me is more like 4*$43= $172 to replace motors VS 4*$3.50= $14 to replace brushes. Multiplied by the 14 vac motors I have at my wash, that is a big enough number for me to care about.

 

[Earl Weiss]

QUOTE=PaulLovesJamie;51145]

• Brushes are $3.50 for a pair, not $15. I use "quiet lamb motors" which are $43 each.
• It takes me longer to replace a motor than brushes, so no savings on labor. (I have to take off the dome to replace the motor OR the brushes.)
• I change vac motor brushes an average of 4 times before the motor needs to be replaced.

So the way the savings pencil out for me is more like 4*$43= $172 to replace motors VS 4*$3.50= $14 to replace brushes. Multiplied by the 14 vac motors I have at my wash, that is a big enough number for me to care about.[/QUOTE]

Sorry for the miscommunication. the $15.00 savings was a rough example. Exr=tending the life of a $35.00 item 50% is worth 417.50 less a $2.50 cost for brushes. If it save you 1 out of 3 changeouts i guess it's a wash on labor.

My motors (over 100 at 4 locations) ususaly look so bad when they die i couldn't see ever trying to extend theri life.

 

[Ghetto Wash]

Exr=tending the life of a $35.00 item 50% is worth 417.50 less a $2.50 cost for brushes.

I think you forgot to push "shift" when you typed that 4.

If I can make a $35 part worth $417.50 by adding $2.50 worth of parts to it, I'll start my new business tonight doing just that. I'll bet I could even talk my wife into it, been trying to convince her to get a job.

 

[mjwalsh]

Brushes broken in with half voltage?

It seems like I read somewhere that new brushes are supposed to run at 1/2 voltage for 30 minutes to break them in properly. I have wired 2 in series to get the 1/2 voltage to each & sometimes do 2 at a time. If I am not sure if I gained anything or not. Anybody try it both ways & notice any difference in gained life?

MJ

 

[I.B. Washincars]

If I am not sure if I gained anything or not. MJ

What I'm sure of is that you lost an extra 1/2 hour on a job that is questionably practical to begin with.

 

[MEP001]

It seems like I read somewhere that new brushes are supposed to run at 1/2 voltage for 30 minutes to break them in properly.

Ametek motor brushes from Grainger come with those instructions on the shrinkwrapped card.

Anybody try it both ways & notice any difference in gained life?

The issues I've had with motors failing isn't from brush wear.