With the armature together with worm dorsum inwards place, we’re straightaway laid upward to install the lastly items: The brushes together with grease wicks, together with and then we'll re-fill the grease tubes, equally seen above.
We’ll start amongst the brushes.
Old Brushes or New Brushes?
If your brushes are clean--meaning you’ve wiped them downward amongst a napkin to take away loose grit together with no previous possessor has mucked them upward amongst oil or grease--and 3/8” or longer inwards length, it should live fine. Once a brush gets downward to 1/4" or less inwards length, it needs to live replaced.
With brushes that receive got been ruined past times oil, I’ve read that unopen to people exercise a flaming to burn downward the oil off of them or otherwise construct clean them, but I create non receive got whatever experience inwards this surface area together with cannot offering guidance equally to whether it’s appropriate. I only play it rubber together with supercede them.
On that note, a motor skillful whom I met inwards Ray White’s flat told me he ever replaces the brushes, no thing what.
Where to Get New Brushes
I lodge my replacement brushes from Jenny at Sew-Classic (here's a link). You may also live able to bring out replacements inwards your local hardware store; the dimensions you’re looking for are 3/16” past times 3/16” square, together with 3/8” or 1/2” long. You tin also convey your onetime brushes downward at that spot to tally them up.
Installing the Brushes
I’ve oft read that people grade the orientation of their brushes when removing them from the motor, inwards lodge to live certain they teach dorsum inwards the same way. I don’t shout out back this is necessary; straightaway that you lot know what a commutator looks similar together with where it is within the machine, it’s slow to tell, at a glance, how your brush should teach into the machine.
First off detect that the halt of your brushes (unless they’re brand-new, I’ll teach to that inwards a sec) receive got curves worn into them.
That curvature is worn into house past times the brush riding on the commutator’s curved surface.
And fifty-fifty when the commutator's tucked out of sight within the motor, the really sort of the potted motor housing echoes that curve.
So, it’s pretty slow to figure out which agency the brush goes in; exactly construct certain the curves tally up.
As you’re inserting your brush into the brush tube, which nosotros cleaned out earlier, live certain that the brush slides freely inwards the tube. If you lot experience it stick, don’t forcefulness it in--stop what you’re doing together with take away the brush. You’ll demand to create a amend project cleaning out that brush tube.
Once your brush is inside, screw the brush metro cap on, ensuring that the bound is centered inwards the cap.
I tighten these caps really gently, since they are made of Bakelite together with slow to break.
If your brushes are new, they may live completely apartment on the ends. In that instance you lot exactly insert them, together with afterwards you’ll run the motor for a few minutes to habiliment the brushes into the appropriate shape.
Once you’ve installed the brushes on both sides, nosotros motion on to the grease wicks.
Grease
Obviously you’ll demand unopen to grease. Be aware that all grease is non the same, they receive got unlike viscosities. What you lot desire is specifically Singer-brand grease. If that is non available, you lot tin truly exercise Vaseline or fossil oil jelly, equally that is the proper viscosity equally well. (I would non recommend using Tri-Flow grease, which is impregnated amongst Teflon, together with there’s fence equally to whether the Teflon clogs upward the wicks, preventing the grease from getting into them properly.)
In the photograph above, below the Singer metro is a syringe from Jenny at Sew-Classic that I’ve loaded upward amongst grease. The syringe is non strictly necessary, but I bring out it much to a greater extent than convenient to use, together with straightaway I’d rather non teach dorsum to non using one.
Installing the Grease Wicks
Now nosotros plow to the grease wicks themselves. Here you lot tin encounter I’ve “screwed” novel wicks into the springs, together with you lot tin encounter the topmost 1 features the bound I mangled out of sort when removing it.
I receive got tried--and failed--to restore that bound to its master copy condition, which is okay hither because the exact tension of the grease wick springs is non crucial. What you lot desire to create is cutting the novel grease wicks to live nearly 3/4" inwards length, together with screw it into the bound far plenty that the overall length is nearly 1 1/8”.
Once that's done, I dab exactly a few droplets of grease on the trace concern halt of the wick, equally it volition receive got unopen to fourth dimension for them to properly absorb the grease we’ll fill upward the grease tubes with, together with I’d similar a niggling lubrication on the shaft from the get-go.
Next I insert the grease wicks into the tubes. Be certain to hold off within the tubes get-go to locate the holes inwards which to house the wicks.
Following that I house the retaining clips on overstep of each spring, oriented equally inwards the photos. (Left together with correct are mirror images of each other.) Be certain the tab on the clip completely covers the spring.
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| Note that the tab completely covers the spring. |
Then, using my forceps, I really gently crush the purpose of the clip encircling the spring. This temporarily bends the clip into itself, exactly slightly, thus that you lot tin slide it downward into the tube.
Push the clip downward thus it’s at to the lowest degree past times the get-go few screw threads carved into the side of the tube. You don’t receive got to shove the clip downward all the way; afterwards when nosotros screw the caps in, the caps volition force the clip downward to the appropriate place.
Next I exercise the syringe to charge the tubes upward amongst grease.
You don’t receive got to teach nuts here, exactly fill upward the empty spaces amongst grease, equally shown inwards the photo. If you lot lay inwards also much, it’s going to squirt out onto the caps when nosotros screw them on, together with nosotros don’t desire to create that.
Now nosotros screw the caps in. If you lot can’t teach a goodness suitcase amongst your fingers, don’t forget you lot tin ever exercise a penny to tighten them.
Next nosotros popular the motor comprehend dorsum on, together with tighten the screws.
They don’t receive got to live terribly tight, thus don’t knock yourself out; the chances of the motor comprehend vibrating off of the machine are slim.
We’re almost laid upward to go!
Go on to Part 20: Hooking It All Back Up
