Brush Material

[Anonymous]

I have a Sakai loco that needs new brushes. Obtaining proper replacement brushes would be difficult I guess.
So I will cut some old brush material to suit. What I want to know is it ok to use brush material that has come from some electrical appliance or other. What I have is a large coppery looking block bru***hat I can easily cut (with a jeweller`s saw) to the appropriate size for the loco. Any comments? Any harm in using such material?
Colin Duthie

[daan]

As long as the material you're going to use is not much harder then the original brushes it's not a problem. You should beware of hard brush material since it will eat the collector disk in your motor, which is a lot more difficult to replace. Isn't there a lionel or other brand type of brushes you can use? Normal brushmaterial is blackish and made of carbonparticles compressed into a block. Carbon is soft and the surface will adapt to the disk within a few minutes of running.
A coppary looking block is almost certain of another type of material and, just my 2 cents, probably a lot harder. It will not adapt to the surface of your collectordisk quickly enough and make deep scars on it while running.
You could use brushes from a vacuumcleaner or electric drill though, that's the same carbontype of brush material.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Daan. Maybe I should look for some black brush material instead of the copper colour I have. Obtaining brushes for toy trains is not a straightforward matter here in New Zealand, hence a degree of `do it yourself` attitude is required! Nice to get a message from Holland, I already have a couple of good toy train friends there.
Colin Duthie http://www.geocities.com/ tintracks

[lionelsoni]

Here is a link to some tutorial stuff about brushes:
http://www.repcoinc.com/carbon_brushes_fld/reference.asp