Carbon removal

[Tankdude]

I noticed my aug was starting to bog down. So I checked the motor and tried it out of the mechbox. Ran really really bad.

Took out the brushes and cleaned them with a wet paper towel and a toothbrush.

Next I washed the motor with soap and water and dried it off.
Then I used the tooth brush on the commutator and took alot of the black carbon off. I stuck the tooth brush in and then rotated the armature.

Now the motor works 400% better. Can turn the gears no problem.

Any easy/more efficient ways to remove carbon?
Ways to prevent it?

[MadMax]

I think you should be able to unspring the brushes and pull them back a bit. Don't remove them from the housings or you'll forget which way they went in. A brand new motor breaks in the brushes a bit so the profile isn't symmetrical any more because the motor only turns one way.

A blast of electrical contact cleaner: http://www.polywater.com/typefd.html

should dissolve/blow away most goo buildups and does not contain water which might get into the magnets and corrode them. Even worse, some aftermarket motors have ball bearings which would probably retain water and rust.

You should be able to get electrical contact cleaner at RadioSchlock.

Do not poke hard or sharp tools into the commutator area as scratching the comm can affect motor performance and brush wear. The plastic straw on an aerosol contact cleaner should be fine.

[Tankdude]

I'll send the motor through the toaster tonight at supper....... just kidding.

Thanks for the info and tips.

[mcguyver]

electrical wholesale suppliers usually will sell cleaner just for motor contacts. probably would be pricey though, but we use that stuff for huge motors, too.

[MadMax]

Originally Posted by Tankdude

I'll send the motor through the toaster tonight at supper....... just kidding.

Thanks for the info and tips.

I do use a similar trick to dry out ASGs.

I preheat my oven to about 60C by turning it on for a few minutes.

I touch the racks to make sure that they're not hot enough to leave grille marks in plastic.

I also pull off the knobs and put up a sign on the controls "NOOOOO!" so someone doesn't try to preheat the oven for cookies or something.

Make sure mags are empty so you don't accidentally shoot your gun with 45C propane and shoot a broken slide into your face.

Spoot a bit of WD 40 into the bushings on your motor afterwards. If you shoot the lube before, you may stink your oven up of WD 40 and your next turkey may taste like something out of monster garage.