ryan roopnarine
04-12-2005, 11:34 AM
i finally got mine out. thanks to don gale's suggestion, i was able to fashion a "hooking" screwdriver by "mounting" my blow torch in my garbage disposal, and going over a .50 cent screwdriver with a pair of water pump pliers until they were suitable. there was no way that strap was coming off by hand (as i think bimmerdood was able to) or by sticking a punch in the little hole as winfred suggested. i seriously owe don gale money :D
anyway, about the brushes. don says that he was able to use hitachi alternator brushes, doubled up, to replicate the blower ones. i went to this place in orlando
http://www.skycraftsurplus.com/
they carry all the tinfoil hat/ham radio/homebrew building stuff. including brushes. while searching thru the bin for an original sized set of brushes, which i couldn't find, i decided to put the micrometer on some smallish looking ones. sure enough, they were perfect matches for the hitachi set, and there were several hundred of them. another place i went to also "magically" happened to have the same dimension brushes. it would appear that the hitachi are the standard for some very popular electronic device. what kind of device/devices, im not sure of, but it would appear that you can get them anywhere. thumbs up to don gale for mic'ing everything and giving everyone the opportunity to find cheap replacements if they want or need em.
they were 1$ each, so i picked up 6. enough to get the job done, replace one if i broke the wire off, and one in case anyone nearby ever needs to eyeball match a set. no sideways play on my motor, so i'm hoping its OK. im still going to try to lube the bearings, though.
anyway, about the brushes. don says that he was able to use hitachi alternator brushes, doubled up, to replicate the blower ones. i went to this place in orlando
http://www.skycraftsurplus.com/
they carry all the tinfoil hat/ham radio/homebrew building stuff. including brushes. while searching thru the bin for an original sized set of brushes, which i couldn't find, i decided to put the micrometer on some smallish looking ones. sure enough, they were perfect matches for the hitachi set, and there were several hundred of them. another place i went to also "magically" happened to have the same dimension brushes. it would appear that the hitachi are the standard for some very popular electronic device. what kind of device/devices, im not sure of, but it would appear that you can get them anywhere. thumbs up to don gale for mic'ing everything and giving everyone the opportunity to find cheap replacements if they want or need em.
they were 1$ each, so i picked up 6. enough to get the job done, replace one if i broke the wire off, and one in case anyone nearby ever needs to eyeball match a set. no sideways play on my motor, so i'm hoping its OK. im still going to try to lube the bearings, though.