My old craftsman shop vac started to smell "hot", like the motor was burning
out. I removed the top cap over the motor, and verified that the brushes were
fine. On further inspection, I discovered that there were two wires that had
broken loose from their commutator connection. I carefully heated the wire end
with my soldering iron, then scraped the insulation with a knife, and scraped
the connection point on the commutator, and then soldered them back in place. It
now seems to be working fine. FWIW.

On Feb 21, 4:02*pm, "Bob F" wrote:
My old craftsman shop vac started to smell "hot", like the motor was burning
out. I removed the top cap over the motor, and verified that the brushes were
fine. On further inspection, I discovered that there were two wires that had
broken loose from their commutator connection. I carefully heated the wire end
with my soldering iron, then scraped the insulation with a knife, and scraped
the connection point on the commutator, and then soldered them back in place. It
now seems to be working fine. FWIW.

Motor repair shops will also secure sensitive wires like those with a
dab of glyptal cement to help them survive the high centrifugal forces
in vac motors. A small blob of epoxy might work as well. but take it
easy with the amount because at 20,000 RPM it won't take much to get
things unbalanced. Congrats on a nice repair. IMO Sears shop vacs are
some of the best and often the best priced.

Joe

On Feb 21, 4:02*pm, "Bob F" wrote:
My old craftsman shop vac started to smell "hot", like the motor was burning
out. I removed the top cap over the motor, and verified that the brushes were
fine. On further inspection, I discovered that there were two wires that had
broken loose from their commutator connection. I carefully heated the wire end
with my soldering iron, then scraped the insulation with a knife, and scraped
the connection point on the commutator, and then soldered them back in place. It
now seems to be working fine. FWIW.

Motor repair shops will also secure sensitive wires like those with a
dab of glyptal cement to help them survive the high centrifugal forces
in vac motors. A small blob of epoxy might work as well. but take it
easy with the amount because at 20,000 RPM it won't take much to get
things unbalanced. Congrats on a nice repair. IMO Sears shop vacs are
some of the best and often the best priced.

Joe

"Bob F" wrote in message
. ..
My old craftsman shop vac started to smell "hot", like the motor was
burning out. I removed the top cap over the motor, and verified that the
brushes were fine. On further inspection, I discovered that there were two
wires that had broken loose from their commutator connection. I carefully
heated the wire end with my soldering iron, then scraped the insulation
with a knife, and scraped the connection point on the commutator, and then
soldered them back in place. It now seems to be working fine. FWIW.


If you are new to do-it-yourself projects you are off to a great start.
Congrats!

C & E wrote:
"Bob F" wrote in message
. ..
My old craftsman shop vac started to smell "hot", like the motor was
burning out. I removed the top cap over the motor, and verified that the
brushes were fine. On further inspection, I discovered that there were two
wires that had broken loose from their commutator connection. I carefully
heated the wire end with my soldering iron, then scraped the insulation
with a knife, and scraped the connection point on the commutator, and then
soldered them back in place. It now seems to be working fine. FWIW.


If you are new to do-it-yourself projects you are off to a great start.
Congrats!


Wish you coulda posted that like a week ago, when my 5-buck metal-can
garage sale Shop Vac let the magic smoke out, just as I started the
quarterly cobweb harvest. I already blew 40 bucks at Menards buying the
replacement. (which, to my pleasant surprise, is backwards-compatible
for accessories and filters, despite being 20? years newer. Good thing,
because I already had a double-length hose, round brush, semi-hepa
filters, etc, from the old one.)

Maybe before I pitch the carcass of the old one, I'll open up the motor
box and see if it was the same problem with mine. A spare can and motor
could come in handy, if I ever need to suck up anything real horrible.

aem sends...

Bob F wrote:
My old craftsman shop vac started to smell "hot", like the motor was burning
out. I removed the top cap over the motor, and verified that the brushes were
fine. On further inspection, I discovered that there were two wires that had
broken loose from their commutator connection. I carefully heated the wire end
with my soldering iron, then scraped the insulation with a knife, and scraped
the connection point on the commutator, and then soldered them back in place. It
now seems to be working fine. FWIW.




Over the years I've reconnected windings to commutator bars on several
failed power tool motors.

In each case I wound several turns of thin string wet with epoxy around
the armature adjacent to the commutator, to keep all the wires secured.

Worked for me...

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.

On Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:31:55 GMT, aemeijers wrote:

C & E wrote:
"Bob F" wrote in message
. ..
My old craftsman shop vac started to smell "hot", like the motor was
burning out. I removed the top cap over the motor, and verified that the
brushes were fine. On further inspection, I discovered that there were two
wires that had broken loose from their commutator connection. I carefully
heated the wire end with my soldering iron, then scraped the insulation
with a knife, and scraped the connection point on the commutator, and then
soldered them back in place. It now seems to be working fine. FWIW.


If you are new to do-it-yourself projects you are off to a great start.
Congrats!


Wish you coulda posted that like a week ago, when my 5-buck metal-can
garage sale Shop Vac let the magic smoke out, just as I started the
quarterly cobweb harvest. I already blew 40 bucks at Menards buying the
replacement. (which, to my pleasant surprise, is backwards-compatible
for accessories and filters, despite being 20? years newer. Good thing,
because I already had a double-length hose, round brush, semi-hepa
filters, etc, from the old one.)

Shop-Vac, very good product, good customer service, made in the USA,
in Pennsylvania.

Maybe before I pitch the carcass of the old one, I'll open up the motor
box and see if it was the same problem with mine. A spare can and motor
could come in handy, if I ever need to suck up anything real horrible.

aem sends...

"mm" wrote in message
Shop-Vac, very good product, good customer service, made in the USA,
in Pennsylvania.

Made in the USA??? Who ever heard of such a thing?

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
. ..
Bob F wrote:
My old craftsman shop vac started to smell "hot", like the motor was burning
out. I removed the top cap over the motor, and verified that the brushes were
fine. On further inspection, I discovered that there were two wires that had
broken loose from their commutator connection. I carefully heated the wire
end with my soldering iron, then scraped the insulation with a knife, and
scraped the connection point on the commutator, and then soldered them back
in place. It now seems to be working fine. FWIW.




Over the years I've reconnected windings to commutator bars on several failed
power tool motors.

In each case I wound several turns of thin string wet with epoxy around the
armature adjacent to the commutator, to keep all the wires secured.

Worked for me...

Jeff

Good thought. Thanks.