neon
Hi Nick,
I can answer the neon question for you definitely, if nothing else. No, they are not all the same.
There are two common types in use. But first (just) a bit of tech-talk.
Neon "bulbs" consist of two parts. The part which glows and a second part, called a resistor. Usually, the resistor is soldered or crimped right onto a leg of the bulb (and today this is mostly enclosed in plastic and clearly labled 240V).
Some neon bulbs, however, come without the resistor. They are never labled 240V. If you hook up one of these directly, it will blow.
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Is a link if you absolutely have to mail order. There are lots of mail-order suppliers in the UK. But any half-way decent electric shop should be able to help you. The correct resistor would be 270kohm; 1/4 W, wired in series for a NE2 bulb.(I assume you are running 240VAC).
One thing to be careful of. Even if neon bulbs are very low current, they still carry enough voltage to kill you or do serious damage (fire). So make sure you wire this in properly. Oh, it doesn't matter which lead you attach where...both ways work just fine.
As to the sparking in the motor, I am no Hotpoint expert, but from the way you describe it, it sounds normal. If you do replace the brushes, the new ones will spark for a little while until they "wear in".
Can you take some pictures and post them? Maybe if we see things we can say more - and I love to look at all the pretty pictures.
Keven