Lockdown photo.

[JohnP]

I'm just about to fit a new pair of carbon brushes in my 20 year old Henry vacuum cleaner, I've got a canister of air to blow the dust out of the motor at the same time.

Panasonic DMC-FZ2000.

[Clicker]

Good to see you're not disheartened by the lockdown John   ...   erm  maybe  not eh  .. 

[CMunzel]

So, um, they are carbon brushes?

[JohnP]

11 minutes ago, CMunzel said:

So, um, they are carbon brushes?

Cheryl ... most small electric motors have two carbon brushes inside them, they gradually wear down over time and have to be replaced. When they are really well worn the motor will stop running which is what happened to my vacuum cleaner.

[CMunzel]

I admire your resourcefulness, John

[JohnP]

1 hour ago, CMunzel said:

I admire your resourcefulness, John

One of the well worn ones I took out.

[Denis]

I did the same with three capacitors on my computer motherboard John...make do and mend modern style, trouble is a lot of things made now you cannot get into to swap out

[JohnP]

6 minutes ago, Denis said:

I did the same with three capacitors on my computer motherboard John...make do and mend modern style, trouble is a lot of things made now you cannot get into to swap out

Denis... I'm a real trier when it comes to fixing things... especially old stuff. It's often better built and lasts longer than new. As my cleaner is over 20 years old I couldn't find the exact replacement carbon brushes, I carefully measured the old brushes and then scoured eBay until I found some the nearest size. I then had to make them fit, as they were only a tiny bit oversized I had to reduce them a little. To do this was fairly easy, I put a flat metal plate on my work bench with some very fine abrasive paper on it, I then carefully stroked each side of the brushes across the paper until the brushes would fit the brush holders on the motor. I then checked the motor would run which it did, all that remained to do was give the motor a good blast from an air canister to blow away all the carbon dust from the old brushes and reassemble the cleaner.. It's as good as new now and might out last me!