Typically, if you have a bad armature, the motor will only make a half turn or so, or if it does run will run very roughly and only after manually starting.
Open frame motors draw a lot of power-you're going to get sparking any time they're running. New rollers may help some, but won't eliminate the sparking completely.
Thanks for the info, most appreciated. It sparks enough though that it's a solid bright blue arc. Should it be that much? Jake
Fred,
For older motors the best that you can do is to make sure that the brushes have a flat surface across the top of them(no pit marks or indantations!) or this can lead to excessive sparking, you can file down the tops of the brushes with some sandpaper, also brush spring tension should be looked at too, if the springs are worn out you may get extra sparking. One last thing to mention is dirt or what is called carbon build up, very common on older motors after a few months of use, can be cleaned up with a pencil eraser on the armature's face surface(looks like copper plating) and brushes can be cleaned the same way.
Other people will mention spray cleaners but the spray has to be directed only to the armature area. Personnally I don't like spray cleaners as they get on everything and can eat the insulation on the field coil windings depending upon what kind of spray is used.
Lee F.
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