Fuel Pump Rebuild

[getsmart]

Hi All,

Just posting a few pics of my fuel pump rebuild and just wondering if anyone else undertaking a rebuild has seen weird grooves in the commuter sections ? Note the loads of carbon dust from the brush wear (but could possibly be from the commuter grooves disintegration).

Also the link to my blog

www.getsmartpagoda.tumblr.com

Best Regards all from Joe in Melbourne Aus !!

[w113dude]

Hey Joe,

Good to see you back.
This usually happens when the bearings are shot, the space in between commuter is very tight so with the least amount of wear in your bearings it'll rub against the main body.
You may want to consider to newer shorter pumps, lot more reliable, simpler and lots on the market new and used.

[George Des]

Joe,

The grooves are completely normal wear and should be no real cause for concern. What you need to do is make sure that there is enough "meat" left on the commutator so that the brushes aren't contacting down to the insulation. You can clean up the comm a bit by chucking it in a lathe and very carefully holding some fine sandpaper to it--like 1000 grit or so. This will ensure the comm does not groove your new brushes excessively. If the comm is too far worn, the best solution is to either find a better armature assembly from another pump or have yours rewound with a new comm put on. Eurton Electric here in the US had done a few rewinds/with new comm for me at about $75.00 US each.
Hope this helps.
George

[getsmart]

Thanks George and Shaun !!!

I'll stick to the original pump Shaun, afterall it lasted 50 years and was still going. I already have Geroge's kit too so onwards with the rebuild. I may add a modification to it just so that I can easily clean out the carbon from time to time by drilling a hole in the side between the commutor and main winding and leaving a plug in it. This is what happens to dc motors in that if the carbon is not removed a short can occur. The grooves on closer inspection look like they were man made perhaps for balancing ? Since there is one bigger groove with 2 smaller ones adjacent either side, don't you think George ?

Cheers all, Joe