On Mon, 31 Jul 2017 18:20:46 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

I have an approximately 10 year old hand-held electric leaf/yard blower that has seen a fair amount of use. Today as I was finishing up blowing the crick-crack and twiglets off my driveway, the motor sputtered and stopped after about 5 seconds. I shook the machine and it started up again fitfully, never getting up to full speed. Depending upon the position I held it in, it would run fitfully or not at all. Banging on the case produced more fitful operation.

I am suspecting the brushes on the motor are worn out, but haven't been able to get the unit opened yet. There are about 11 screws holding the two halves of the case together. About 8 of the screws are deeply set into the case, and of course they are filled with 10+ years of accumulated dirt and debris. I have been using a giant needle to clean out the dirt and debris so I can use an allen wrench to remove the screws and see what gives. Hopefully just brush replacement will be needed.

My question here is: Has anyone else experienced a similar problem and what did they find and how did they fix their machine?

Polite responses appreciated.

Because of the nature of the device (one that operates in a very dusty
environment) over time, it could suck in enough very fine dust, debris
and grit so as to bind up bushings, etc.

If you have an air compressor, try blowing out the motor, with high
pressure air, and see what happens.

I once made a blower for diatomaceous earth out of an old shopvac,
after a while the very fine grit destroyed the motor.