Windlass Motor

[sailorboy1]

Just got a call from the shop about my SL windlass motor that stopped working. I expected a bearing or a brush problem, but they say that the brushes look good but they have worn all the copper off the armature. Anyone ever hear of such a thing?

[colemj]

Yes, the copper segments do wear down over time, and particularly for a motor under heavy loads like a windlass. However, they can only wear down to the level of the insulator before they stop working. You can get many more years of service from it by carefully filing the insulators back down below the contact segments. Usually, a hacksaw blade fits in there perfectly. If not, then look for some micro-files or coping blade or thinner jigsaw blades.

Mark

[sailorboy1]

Well I got my new motor today. Since I had to change the adapter plate I had to take apart the new motor. The armature on the new one looks exactly like the old worn out one, in other words there wasn't anything wrong with it. But I bet that the magnetic that was broken into many pieces that were all spread around in the old motor might be a likely source of the problem with it not turning.