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Silverline Polisher Fail

Commutator
Commutator

Since I seem to be the local go-to for any dead electrical equipment, this brand-new Silverline polisher has landed on my desk. Purchased cheap from an auction this was dead on arrival. Checking the fuse revealed nothing suspect, so a quick teardown to find the fault was required.
Above is a photo of the commutator with the brush holder removed, and the source of the issue. The connection onto the field winding of the universal motor has been left unsecured, as a result it’s managed to move into contact with the commutator.
This has done a pretty good job of chewing it’s way through the wire entirely. There is some minor damage to the commutator segments, but it’s still smooth, and shouldn’t damage the brushes.

Chewed Wire
Chewed Wire

A quick pull on what’s left of the wire reveals the extent of the problem. It’s entirely burned through! Unfortunately the stator assembly with the field windings is pressed into the plastic housing, so it’s not removable. An in-place solder joint was required to the very short remains of the wire inside the housing. Once this was done the polisher sprang to life immediately, with no other damage.
This unit probably ended up at an auction as a factory reject, or a customer return to a retail outlet. If the latter, I would seriously question the quality control procedures of Silverline tools. 😉

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Pancake Vibration Motor Teardown

For a while I’ve wondered how these pancake type (AKA “Shaftless”) vibration motors operate, so I figured I’d mutilate one to find out.

Pancake Vibration Motor
Pancake Vibration Motor

These vibrators are found in all kinds of mobile devices as a haptic feedback device, unlike older versions, which were just micro-sized DC motors with an offset weight attached to the shaft, these don’t have any visible moving parts.

Cover Removed
Cover Removed

These devices are crimped together, so some gentle attack with a pair of snips was required to get the top cover off.
It turns out these are still a standard rotary DC motor, in this case specifically designed for the purpose. The rotor itself is the offset weight, just visible under the steel half-moon shaped section are the armature coils.

Weighted Rotor
Weighted Rotor

The armature lifts off the centre shaft, the coils can clearly be seen peeking out from under the counterweight.

Commutator
Commutator

The underside of the armature reveals the commutator, which in this device is just etched onto the PCB substrate, the connections to the pair of coils can be seen either side of the commutator segments.

Brushes
Brushes

The base of the motor holds the brushes in the centre, the outer ring is the stationary permanent magnet. These brushes are absolutely tiny, the whole motor is no more than 6mm in diameter.

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Dremel MultiPro

Front
Front

Here we have a Dremel MultiPro rotary tool, a main powered 125W 33,000RPM bit of kit.

Motor Assembly
Motor Assembly

Here the field & controller assembly is removed from the casing.

Armature
Armature

Here is the armature, which rotates at up to 33,000RPM. The brushes rise against the commutator on the left, next to the bearing, the cooling fan is on the right hand side on the power output shaft, the chuck attaches at the far right end of the shaft.

Speed Controller & Brush Box
Speed Controller & Brush Box

Here is the speed controller unit, inside is an SCR phase angle speed controller, to vary the speed of the motor from 10,000RPM to the full rated speed of 33,000RPM.

Mains Filter
Mains Filter

This is the mains filter on the input to the unit, stops stray RF from the motor being radiated down the mains cable.