This video shows the proper procedure for seating carbon brushes in a DC machine.

When working with DC machines, it’s not uncommon to find a customer who runs different products requiring a range of armature current. Unlike other conductors, where lower current is a good thing, carbon brushes are designed for a narrow range of current density. A unique aspect of carbon brush life is that brushes operating at a much lower current density than they are designed for do not last nearly as long as expected.

Al trabajar con máquinas de CC, no es raro encontrar un cliente que fabrica diferentes productos que requieren un rango de corriente de armadura. A diferencia de otros conductores, donde una corriente más baja es algo bueno, las escobillas de carbón están diseñadas con poco margen de densidad de corriente.

General guidance for performing brush seating or comutator reprofiling in the field.

Orientación general para realizar el ajuste del asiento de las escobillas o del conmutador en el campo.

This video shows how to adjust the brush neutral position of a DC machine to prevent sparking at the brushes at full load.

The worn carbon brush face indicates the operating conditions. Therefore, it can be utilized by brush experts as a highly effective diagnostic tool for troubleshooting and determination of root causes. If these warning signs shown at the brush face can be identified and proactively addressed in a timely manner, then major unexpected expensive catastrophic failures like flashover or repair of the contact surface can be avoided.

The lowly brush is underrated and misunderstood. The brush grade, brush pressure and spring tension, as well as the effect of load and humidity are each important to brush performance in DC machines, wound rotor motors, and synchronous machines.

Ground faults, short circuits and bad connections in interpole coils, series coils and compensating windings cause performance problems in DC machines, including brush sparking, flashover, stalling and catastrophic failure. Shunt coils have many turns of relatively small wire and are usually excited by a DC source independent of the armature. Series, interpole and compensating coils in the armature circuit usually are wound with a few turns of heavy wire as these coils carry armature current. For accurate test results, make sure windings are clean and dry. Verify connections of low resistance fields by visual inspection. Apply DC voltage to an assembled field frame and perform a thermography scan to detect problems including uneven heating and loose or corroded connections. Verify that the terminal lead markings are correct. Lead marking should conform to the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) nameplate, NEMA MG1 or IEC 60034-8, whichever is applicable.