Here it is, kids, the new Motenergy brush holder. I pulled it out, took it apart, then put it side-by-side with my older holder to see what has changed. First, lets get the technical details out of the way. It’s a new design that is used on all new Motenergy ME0708, ME0709 motors, and a similar version with double brushes is used on the ME1003, ME1004, ME1007, and ME1008 motors. It’s available from Motenergy direct, or from any Motenergy dealer for $99. They are in stock at this time.
According to John Fiorenza at Motenergy, they have “welded connections (fewer bolts and nuts), larger buss bars (4 mm x 7 mm instead of 4 mm copper wire), and a new spring system that helps in the proper assembly of the brushes.” Besides being a cleaner design and easier to assemble, the design will decrease the heat generated by the motor.
Here’s the backside of the holder showing the difference in the new welded design. You can pretty clearly see the post travelling through the base, right out to the brush on the other side.
…compared to the old nuts-and-bolts design. Not only is it cleaner, but the copper is bigger:
As seen above, the, well, posts or”poles” for lack of a better term, insert through the base right to the individual brush holders. Here’s what that looks like from the top.
Here’s the old style, note how the connections are mounted on the copper L-bracket, held in place by the brush mounting bolt.
They also now cover the back-side of the holder with some insulation:
It doesn’t look quite so cool with my half-moon open motor cover, since all the exposed wires are now covered up, but it’s probably a wee bit safer.
The swap was a piece of cake. You pull the cover off, 4 screws, then pull the brush holder off with 4 allen screws. Replace with new holder, replace screws, game over. I did it with the motor in the bike, on the trailer, in about 2 minutes.
One little tip, though. If you’ve ever tried to put a brush assembly back onto a motor, you know what a handful it can be. You’ve got to compress all those brush springs, fit it over the armature, and slide it on without breaking the fairly delicate graphite brushes, or, for that matter, even chipping them.
Now. Take a look at this little rascal:
This is a rather extreme close-up of the back side of the individual brush slides. What you’re seeing is the brush spring, that hooks in with that little hook thing. The spring itself is a rolled-up piece of spring steel, sort of like a clock spring, or a part of one. Grab the end of it, push it in, and you can unhook the spring and remove it in a second.
Rather than wrestle with all the brushes in place with springs, I just took a minute to remove all of the brush springs. I pushed the brushes back up into their slides, slipped the whole assembly over the armature into place, and bolted it back in. Then, I just replaced the springs. Even the ones on the bottom of the motor were a piece of cake. It went together all nicely straight and true, with not a nick.
Here, again, is the Motenergy contact information:
John Fiorenza
Motenergy, Inc.
3580 Slinger Road
Slinger, WI 53086 USA
Phone: 262-644-7525
Fax: 262-644-7527
Website: www.Motenergy.com
Skype: john.fiorenzaii
The Electric Chronicles: Power in Flux 