Swapped out the brushes in an electric lawnmower today

[Torn Mind]

The results were "obvious". The Black and Decker ran like it should.

Now, I got creative with the brushes. Rather than just buy original brushes, I decided to use a digital caliper(from Harbor Freight) and measure the brush's dimensions. Went to Ebay, and paid $3.60 for ten 3/4 in long, 1/2 wide, 1/4 thick brushes instead of the $7-$9 for just two brushes. http://www.ebay.com/itm/152204126151?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

The wires were shorter than the OEM brushes, but since I left most of the old brush's wire behind, I tied a little "knot" to preserve the wire length.

Really, I wonder just how many electric mowers have been and are trashed because the brushes reached the end of the line but the owners just buy a new one instead of repairing the one they have out of ignorance. Or call it disposable and cheap. Brushes are wear items and you cannot stop physics.

 

[NutBucket]

Most people just have no inclination to fix things. We've been having some work done at the house. So far I replaced the cord on one guy's skilsaw and the brushes on another guy's angle grinder.

Always good to keep the contractors happy.

 

[Paperdoc]

You are right. I repaired a couple of older Craftsman electric mowers several times of many years until the last one's reduction gear unit failed completely. By then it was impossible to get any parts, so I had to replace. But at least once I found I could not buy the "correct" brushes. So I measured what they were and got some from a motor repair shop that were a little too long and wide. Then I use a bench grinder to reduce the width to "close enough", and a hacksaw to cut to the right initial max length. Those brushes lasted for many more years.

I don't know how many times I have disassembled an electric drill so I could clean out all the old dust (especially after using it with sandpaper disks to smooth plaster, etc.), clean the bearing surfaces and replace oil and grease so it could run better and last longer. Have done similar cleanings of kitchen mixers that get clogged with flour and icing sugar.