I have a Sakai loco that needs new brushes. Obtaining proper replacement brushes would be difficult I guess.
So I will cut some old brush material to suit. What I want to know is it ok to use brush material that has come from some electrical appliance or other. What I have is a large coppery looking block bru***hat I can easily cut (with a jeweller`s saw) to the appropriate size for the loco. Any comments? Any harm in using such material?
Colin Duthie
As long as the material you’re going to use is not much harder then the original brushes it’s not a problem. You should beware of hard brush material since it will eat the collector disk in your motor, which is a lot more difficult to replace. Isn’t there a lionel or other brand type of brushes you can use? Normal brushmaterial is blackish and made of carbonparticles compressed into a block. Carbon is soft and the surface will adapt to the disk within a few minutes of running.
A coppary looking block is almost certain of another type of material and, just my 2 cents, probably a lot harder. It will not adapt to the surface of your collectordisk quickly enough and make deep scars on it while running.
You could use brushes from a vacuumcleaner or electric drill though, that’s the same carbontype of brush material.
Thanks Daan. Maybe I should look for some black brush material instead of the copper colour I have. Obtaining brushes for toy trains is not a straightforward matter here in New Zealand, hence a degree of do it yourself attitude is required! Nice to get a message from Holland, I already have a couple of good toy train friends there.
Colin Duthie http://www.geocities.com/ tintracks
Here is a link to some tutorial stuff about brushes:
http://www.repcoinc.com/carbon_brushes_fld/reference.asp