Brushes stuck in holders, TXT series cart runs intermittently

[JoeBleaux]

In the spirit of hopefully giving something back for the information BGW members have given me, here's my story...it's sad but true...about a cart that ran I knew...but it wasn't named Sue:

Anyway, the cart is a mid-2000s TXT with a series motor, what I'd call a "fleet cart," stock as rock when the breakdown occurred. Batteries weren't a suspect nor were the cables (Trojan T105s and I had previously made a complete set of all the high-current cables from 2/0 welding cable with solid marine-grade welding lugs - overkill, but I have access to spool ends and all the lugs I want). The solenoid would click, but it wouldn't run. Jacked up the rear wheels and checked everything I could think of for someone with basic knowledge of carts. Was 75% sure it was the controller. In all the testing, I had blocked the throttle partially down to take some readings with a meter, happened to turn one of the rear wheels by accident, and it gave an erratic, semi-sorta turn. Anyway, to my solution:

I removed the motor, pulled the nose-piece and shaft from the housing. It turned out all four brushes were "corroded" enough to prevent them from traveling freely - none were moving in the holders. From my very limited experience, don't fool with trying to free them up with holder assembly still in the nose-piece of the motor. I tried for a few minutes with no success, but I realized that even if I got them to move a bit, everything needed a good cleaning or possible replacement. I got the nose-piece off the shaft by inserting a couple of 1/4"x 3" Grade 8 bolts in the nose-piece to casing holes, with standard washers on the outward end and fender washers on the casing end (to disperse the load), and then used a 2 arm puller to grip the washers and push the shaft from the nose-piece bearing assembly. Once that was done, I removed the brush assembly, removed the brush springs and used a softwood drift/punch to _carefully_ tap the brushes from the holders, from the center out. I used a fine file to clean the brass holders and a very fine file to clean the sides of the brushes (which were otherwise in good condition and had plenty of life left). Once everything was clean and the brushes were moving freely, I cleaned the commutator and rotor, reassembled the motor, reinstalled it, and the cart seems to be running great. I would add that I marked _everything_ - each brush to its holder, which stud went where, clocking, etc., with various colors of Sharpies. I may not have needed to do so, but better safe than sorry.

I not only welcome but would appreciate any of the much more experienced BGW crew to chime in and correct terms or make suggestions. It's about sharing info, so if I just got lucky but what I did wasn't good practice, or if there is a better way, please don't hesitate to point it out.

I'll try to monitor this thread for a time in case anyone has questions.

[JohnnieB]

Personally, once I had unscrewed the four bolts that holds the end cap on and removed the end cap with armature still attached by the pressed in bearing, and saw the condition of the brush holders, I would have taken it to my local motor shop and had it cleaned and serviced.

Or, if the insides weren't thickly coated with carbon dust and the commutator wasn't worn unevenly, I might've ordered a replacement brush holder and springs: https://www.amazon.com/No-accessorie.../dp/B07RR9BWV1 Plus new brushes and bearing.

[JoeBleaux]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

Personally, once I had unscrewed the four bolts that holds the end cap on and removed the end cap with armature still attached by the pressed in bearing, and saw the condition of the brush holders, I would have taken it to my local motor shop and had it cleaned and serviced.

Or, if the insides weren't thickly coated with carbon dust and the commutator wasn't worn unevenly, I might've ordered a replacement brush holder and springs: https://www.amazon.com/No-accessorie.../dp/B07RR9BWV1 Plus new brushes and bearing.

Thanks for the reply. A weird part (to me) about this is that the brushes and holders. along with the commutator, all looked good, but the brushes wouldn't move in the holders. Even without lots of places closed with the shutdown/open-back-up-kinda-sorta-maybe situation in certain areas, it would have taken longer to get to the shop and back and the return trip to pick up the motor. Part of the reason that I asked for you folks with much more experience to reply is that it was almost too easy. Often when things seem that easy it's because you've done it wrong It took a little less than an hour and a fair part of that was figuring it out. An experienced cart repair person, if they knew the brushes were stuck like these were, could do it in 30-40 minutes, maybe less.

About the only thing that many folks might have is the two-arm puller. The only other tools I used were a dowel and a light hammer. I'm not even sure that you'd need Grade 8 bolts to use to press the shaft out.

Is there any test that could check for this situation? Would disconnecting the cables from A1, A2, S1, & S2, putting a meter on the A1 & A2 brush studs, and spinning the wheels by hand give a reading that would indicate stuck brushes?

And I forgot to put in my original post that I used a 1" socket to drive the end piece back onto the shaft