Advice needed regarding motor carbon brushes

[volvoguy87]

I have a 1 horsepower Waste King L-8000 garbage disposal made by Anaheim that is unused. It was given to me by someone who took it apart to swap the electric cord for a hard-wire connection, didn't know what they were doing, and lost the carbon brushes and springs. Part numbers do exist, but the manufacturer no longer sells these parts, despite still making and selling the garbage disposal. (I called them and checked.)

Note: I have a VERY low opinion of this manufacturer, their products, etc. but I'm also cheap and don't want to throw away a good appliance for want of some very inexpensive parts.

The carbon brushes look like slip ring brushes and I took the picture from the Repair Clinic website. The grid lines are 1 inch. I'm trying to find some brushes that will work, but I barely even know the right terminology (but I doubt Anaheim Manufacturing designed proprietary brushes).

The silver cylindrical things in the picture are the springs. They hook onto the front of the brush holder and the brush pushes the rolled up spring behind the brush. The spring tries to roll itself back into a barrel shape, and pushes the brush against the rotor. I have some springs that I think will work, but I mainly need brushes. How do I describe these brushes and where might I buy some? The brushes themselves have no springs or wires directly attached to them.

Thank you,
Dave

https://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Motor-Brush/027C029S02/1028929

 

[gizmo]

If they are just carbon brushes with no embedded wire or spring assembly, then matching the carbon brushes is easy, not sure how to replace the weird cylindrical springs, though.

 

You can find a similar looking, but slightly larger, brush set from a power tool (preferably a similar wattage motor, but not critical) and file it down to match. If the brushes you can find have an embedded copper wire (called a pigtail) then just snip it off, but make sure that the end with the pigtail remnant embedded  in it faces AWAY from the motor commutator (the wearing face of the brush.)

 

I have done this a number of times for power tool and vacuum cleaner repairs, always works fine. I have just done it with a power planer, the tool didn't work due to worn out brushes, the manufacturer no longer stocks the part but I thought I had a spare set that came in the box when the tool was new... the set of brushes I eventually found were not the correct ones, but very very similar, a few strokes of a flat file and the brushes fitted perfectly, I used the planer last night and it works 100%. The planer brushes have embedded pigtail with attached coil spring and brass connector, so it could have been complicated, but these fittings were the same so it all went easy.

 

If you have any remnant brushes then you can take them to a power tool repairer to see what they have. Or take the motor assembly and see if anything they have fits. It may be possible to fit more conventional coil springs and copper pigtails, you have to work this out yourself or ask the power tool repairer for advice. I have never seen anything like those cylindrical "springs" before.

 

 

 

[combo52]

Brushes for an Anaheim type disposer

Hi Dave, how soon do you need these brushes? I just threw one of these disposers away last week. I can try to steal the brushes from a cast off disposer next time. I throw one away.

They’re not great units but I agree with you if you can fix it for next to nothing, it might be worth using for a rental or something.

If you know a plumber, they’ll probably give you an old one. They’re probably taking these out every week. It’s a pretty popular unit and they don’t last very long in some situations.

John

 

[gizmo]

well, my power planer has died.

It ate the new brushes in about half an hour of use.

I opened it up and had a good look - one  bar on the commutator (the sequence of copper bars around the armature, where the brushes rub) is slightly raised, a sign that the commutator is coming apart. The raised commutator bar is slightly loose, so not worth trying to sand or file it down.

I have a much better planer which is mounted in a frame to make a edge planer on a saw table - I will remove it and use it hand-held.

 

The reason for mentioning it here - carefully check the commutator is OK before putting much effort into finding new brushes. If any segments look even slightly raised or burned up then it's time to replace the whole unit.

 

The link below shows images of commutators, so you know what you are trying to see.

Commutator Images – Browse 4,782 Stock Photos, Vectors, and Video

Search from thousands of royalty-free Commutator stock images and video for your next project. Download royalty-free stock photos, vectors, HD footage and more on Adobe Stock.

stock.adobe.com

 

[volvoguy87]

Thank you John

I could use brushes and springs as soon as you encounter some. I'l gladly pay for them & shipping. There are 2 sizes and I'll need the larger size. I'm guessing the larger size is used on the 3/4 & 1 HP versions.

Unfortunately I don't know any plumbers.

Thank you!!!
Dave