Alternator brush replacement. Do these need it?

[dpcarson]

Hey guys.  On the recommendation of another member, while I was waiting on other parts to plug the engine back in I decided to pull the alternator apart and clean and check the brushes.  Here is where they are now.  The wear indicator is right at the edge of the housing when disassembled.  Do these brushes need to be replaced?





Thanks for the input and feedback.

[BobB]

You will probably get a year or two out of those brushes.  But as long as you have come this far, I would replace them.  It's cheep and easy. 

[Chrisj CMA]

You wear through the holes before you get to the minimum wear indicators.  I don't like hitting the holes.  I use the hole as the safer wear indicator so Id say you have a 5-8K miles left on them.  But as said, they are so cheap and you are there, why not change them.....

[dpcarson]

OK..  Thanks guys.  New brushes are already ordered but waiting on them delays me putting the engine back in again.     I am fighting impatience.

[98valk]

see my posts,  the wear limit line is 3/8" past the holes, so u have many, many thousands of miles to go. make sure u clear out the rear bearing

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,72470.0.html

[dpcarson]

Thanks CA.  I had already read your post while trying to learn more.  Thanks for posting that.  Great info. 

[Tfrank59]

see my posts,  the wear limit line is 3/8" past the holes, so u have many, many thousands of miles to go. make sure u clear out the rear bearing

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,72470.0.html

My Valk has just under 34K on it, so maybe this isn't an issue yet.  Based on what I'm reading here and in other posts it seems impossible to check the wear on the brushes without taking out/apart the alt?  I know some I've seen have a way (little screw plugs) to pull the brushes without removing the unit.

[Ricky-D]

The best way to check your alternator is with a volt/ohm meter.

If it's producing good voltage, (enough to charge the battery) I

would suggest to leave it alone.

The most common failure of the Valkyrie alternator has been the

windings on the armature losing connectivity. This would be an absolute

failure that you can't mistake for anything else but a failure. Additionally,

you don't need to remove the alternator to blow it out. I remind you of

that oft quoted saying (fix it till it breaks) and of course, the law of

unintended consequences are always in force.

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