Bought an old but very nice, heavy-duty American-made grinder - 9'' disc yesterday. I'm working with some metal so I was happy when I found it and paid $30 for it. Worked great for about 4 hrs, then the switch started acting up and wouldn't shut off. Upon disassembly and cleaning it started working again. Two hours into a job it started sparking and smoking like crazy... Not sure yet if it's shorting out in the ON/OFF switch, or if it's the motor brushes...

Are the motor brushes something that one can hope to replace?!

Sorry, not sure of the brand as the label is very worn, I can just make out that it's heavy duty. Think the manufacturer is from South Dakota.

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1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

It's worth looking for, the brushes that is, as I'm not sure what other maintenance available to the average guy would solve those problems. I've found that some tools are much harder to access the brushes on than others.

The smoking part could be trouble.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Most new power tools come with a spare set of brushes.
I dont like the sound of the sparks etc though.

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

I opened it up today and saw this:


... I suppose that means that it's toast, eh?

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1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

The cost of re-building the armature would exceed the grinder's value.

.

...thought this was going to be about some kind of sandwich.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

He'd've gotten more for his money if it was.

Hey! MercFan! Didn't you know that ALL ELECTRICAL DEVICES run on smoke?

When you see smoke escaping from an electrical item, that idicates that something inside the device broke and the smoke escaped...thereby rendering the item unusable. Without the smoke in each component inside the device, the "bridge" is broken for the flow of electrons and the whole thing suddenly transforms itself from a usefull item to a boat anchor. Or a shot-put/frizbee for the yard.

BTW: That armature sure looks nasty...

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M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
.
“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

Yeah, it's not good. I've got a little 4.5 inch DeWalt grinder that works pretty well - might not be big enough for you. They're about $70-$80 I think.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Are the newer power tools rebuildable?

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For the Saved, this world is the worst it will ever get.
For the unSaved, this world is the best it will ever get.

Clk's Ebay Stuff BUY SOMETHING NOW!!!

Most of them are.
I recently replaced some parts of my Elu (now De Walt) cordless drill.
Even for a 15 years old model they had all the parts in stock.

Rob

De Walt makes a good product.

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For the Saved, this world is the worst it will ever get.
For the unSaved, this world is the best it will ever get.

Clk's Ebay Stuff BUY SOMETHING NOW!!!

Find a used Black & Decker Wildcat.

Serious power for serious jobs.
http://www.bonanza.com/listings/Black-Decker-7-HD-Angle-Sander-Grinder-MADE-IN-USA/38940798

I've got a $15 Harbor Freight.

Used it half-a-dozen times. Works fine. Comes with a replacement set of brushes. If/when it breaks I'll get a new one.

I don't use it much.

.

If you're looking for a new one, Dad has a lynx brand. Works really good...

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All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to stand by and do nothing.

Too many people tip toe through life, never attempting or doing anything great, hoping to make it safely to death... Bob Proctor

'95 S320 LWB
'87 300SDL
'04 E500 wagon 4matic