I have a 1951 vintage elevator in my building. It has a starter generator which is maybe four feet long and nearly two feet in diameter. My elevator repairman told me yesterday the the commutators are getting carboned up and need cleaning between.

Naturally getting this maybe 3000 pound motor off the sixth floor level and out a window is something I would love to avoid doing, not to mention the loss of the use of the elevator for at least a week.

Are there tools available to clean the commutators in place and people with the skill to do this?

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Indeed. Does it have circumferential commutators or the flat disc type?

Generally older motors had Mica separating the Comms,and most connection failures result from "high mica"which can be ground away with a Dremel equipped with a tiny steel circular saw bit.

Please post a pic of the motor in question as I have a vast experience with things of that sort and would welcome the opportunity to assist you with what little I've learned.

Or you could call your local forklift dealership, since the majority ornew forklifts sold are of the electric type. Try a Yale or Hyster dealership

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"Ninja monkeys are meeting as we speak, plotting my demise."

1982 300D "Melba" 332k
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It is the type with the Mica.

I will see about pictures.

Thanks, Carleton.

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

YOu mean try for a guy with the tool to cut my grooves out?

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

TAW

I would strongly recommend bringing these guys in to help out. Another one is GE but I don't have their number/contact info handy. TAW has an office in Atlanta and travel all over the US.

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Jim

Thanks, I will check that out too.

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

On locomotives we use a special stone to dress the comutators on electric motors. Works great. Also sometimes we have to grind down brushes to fit if we dont have the right ones. If finding brushes is difficult I may be able to help we have some pretty large ones for 800hp traction motors and large generators up to 4000 hp

that's why i love this forum...

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

There are tons of comutators here in the Washington area. The roads are absolutely clogged with them.

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Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
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2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

You are 100% correct. When I read Tom's first thread I thought - Good luck with that.........geeze

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BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
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00 E420
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(o\|/o)

I'm still waiting for RLEO to chim in about this topic.

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Thanks.

I had a nice chat with a local father and son team who say they can 'stone' my commutator and pull the ends off and back cut the bars on site for a very reasonable price. (compared to removing it to do the work).

I looked at the plates. My starter/ generator is a 20 KW.

And I had a chat with the service foreman of the elevator service company I currently am contracted with and it looks possible that we may be albe to work out a new agreement which will be satisfactory to both of us.

I have worked through this problem like I have many through the years by talking with folks who do the hands on work. I can usually learn a lot by doing so. The encouragement I got here on the SF was a big help too.

Thanks, everybody!

Oh and I am not a bit surprised I found several folks with very helpful information here. We have a hard core of geeky problem solvers here! We just love to help folks figure things out!

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.