Roof Motor Strip Down Service - Update and Tips DON'T DELETE

[Bluespanner]

Here are a few words on my experience of stripping down some very sluggish roof motors.
The thought of having to fork out £300 for pair new motors was inspiration for this.

The way the motors are removed are covered in previous posts so I won't go into that. I couldn't find the link while writing this but if anyone has them feel free to post them as a reply.
I've put this out as a experience for Bongonauts to comment and improve on as necessary.
Sorry for any technical faux pas and spelling etc. !!! Sorry camera buggered so no Photos.

Tools etc Required: Good and long cross head screwdriver, tweezers, 2 thin Elastic bands, Suitable Grease, WD40 etc, Copper grease, Fine sandpaper, solvent cleaner. Torch

Once I had the motor removed I got a clear plastic under bed storage box. Holding the motor in the box I carefully removed the 2 cross head screws that hold the 2 sections of the casing together. This has to been done slowly and carefully as there are springs and a ball bearing that can be easily be lost.
It may be necessary to soak the screws with wd40 etc first.

Slowly ease the 2 halves of the motor casing apart. The long end maybe easiest to pull away first, they'll will be some resistance due to the powerful magnets in the casing. When the long end of the casing is removed the ball bearing should hopefully fall into the box. It's more likely it will be stuck on the magnets inside the long casing. Use a torch if necessary to locate the bearing and remove it with a suitable implement. It may take a few attempts.Clean the bearing and store safely.

The plates on the exposed end of the rotor can now be seen. Mine had rust and dirt on them and inside the long casing was rusty and generally gunged up.

Now slowly remove the other end of the rotor from the other side of the casing. There is a threaded spindle on the end so it may need to twisted around a bit etc. You will see 2 springs either side, which hold the brushes against the rotor. Note the position/angle of the brushes. The brushes are slightly concave were they're held against the body of the rotor. This is the way they need to go back in. The wiring that connects them goes through the little slot at the top of the housing were the brushes are located. Its possible to put these back in 180 degrees out, so make a note of positions at this point.

When the threaded spindle end of the rotor arm is removed cleaning can begin.
I used a very fine wet/dry paper to rub down the rusty plates on the rotor arm. They came up quite nicely. Also the area were the brushes make contact on the rotor arm.
I got some wire wool and stuffed it into the long casing end and used some solvent to wash away the crud. I did treat the rust as well with rust treatment from the local auto shop.
I cleaned out the other end with some brake cleaner, filling it to the top, shaking a couple of times and repeating. I did wonder whether the brake cleaner might be a bit over the top (comments?), but there's little access to this part and the motor and it was near knackered anyhow. In for a penny...
I let the brake cleaner fully drain out upside down on a rag. Then re-greased inside, for this I used a small plastic syringe, these can be purchased cheaply from chemists. Filled the syringe with grease then into the cavity of the casing. I didn't and don't think it's advisable to grease inside the long ended casing were the magnets are located, except for a small amount of copper grease right at the very end were the ball bearing is located.

Now comes the tricky bit, reassembly. Without this little tip it could have taken me many hours, possibly days to get the springs and brushes located correctly. Instead it took minutes. Get 2 thinnish elastic bands and pair of tweezers. place the first spring back in its housing and hold in with a finger or a small lolly stick etc if you fingers are like sausages. Use the tweezers to hold the brush, or use fingers if you're nimble to locate the brush back into the housing. Push the spring in as far as possible. Make sure the brush has the wiring located at the slot in the top of the housing and the curved face is located correctly as mentioned earlier.
When the brush and spring are in position use the elastic band to hold the brush in position by stretching it across the face of the brush and then wrapping it around the bottom body of the casing. Its important that the rubber band is not too thick, thinner the better without breaking too easy. The first brush will now stay in position and you can repeat the process for the other side.

Now after greasing the spindle I carefully lowered it into the casing. it will need to be wiggled and twisted carefully to get it to sit down fully. At this point the contacts on the rotor will press against the rubber bands (this is why they need to be thin). The bands can now be cut one at a time close to the rotor. Then with a half turn of the rotor the rubber band will come out completely and can be pulled clear. Repeat for other side.
The next bit I found tricky as well. The ball bearing needs to be located in the recess on the end of the spindle of the rotor arm. However the magnets will pull it straight out when putting on the casing. I got round this by putting a dab of copper grease on the end and then putting the casing on. It took a couple of attempts, but less than 5 minutes. Without something to keep the ball bearing in position its near on impossible.
I closed the 2 casings together. If you find there's a gap, then the end which drives the cog is probably not seated properly and will need to be twisted around a bit until you feel it sit down fully.
Replace the screws and tighten fully. At this point I tested the motor on 12v and it worked a treat. Then I put some sealant around the join in the 2 casings to help prevent future ingress of moisture as these seems to be the main weak spot.
Result my roof now goes up fully first time. That hasn't happened from about 6 months after I bought it back in 2005. Rock on!!!

[Ian]

Excellent! If it's OK with you I will add this info to the AFT factsheet.

[mikeonb4c]

One of the best and most valuable tech advice posts I've read in a long time.

Sadly I've already forked out and got 2 new motors BUT I've kept my old ones as I fancied restoring them at some point. Now I know how

[Bluespanner]

Yes of course use the info for a fact sheet and tweak and edit as required.. Hope it helps others

[Gasy]

Well done
Excellent info

[Bluespanner]

I didn't make it clear in the original post that there's a ball bearing at either end of the rotor arm on the very end of the spindles in a recess. I mentioned the larger one which will give problems and the ways to get round this. The end that goes into the cog mechanism that operates the worm drive also has a small bearing on the end. Its very small make sure its in position when you re-assemble. I cleaned and re-greased mine. When storing the bearings during cleaning the rotor, I attached them to some sticky tape and gave them a little clean before putting back together.

I did this as a separate post as its an important point and should be included in the service.

I'm trying to arrange some photos of the process

[Bluespanner]

Having a vice (not smoking or drinking) or some kind of a jig, to hold the motor steady would be a big advantage when putting the motor back together. Its an awkward shape and you need both hands free to work on it, rather than using one to hold it upright.

[Bluespanner]

I have managed to do a revised edition of the service with photos, its as a wordpad rich text doc at the moment but its 101Mb.. I dont have a lot of time to resize and play around with right now. Any advice on sites or ways to upload it to a suitable location for members to benefit from it?
Thanks

[Simon Jones]

Dropbox is good (& free) for sharing large files. You may find if you can get it to Ian, he'll be able to chop it down & get it into a pdf for adding to the other factsheets.

[Bluespanner]

Thanks Simon.... I have created a drop box account and transferred the new file to it. It says you can invite friends to use it. So maybe Ian could download it that way?? Does Ian have an email ?

[Simon Jones]

This should work: [email protected]

[Bluespanner]

Thanks again Simon... I will send Ian a email. I think I've managed to turn it into a much smaller pdf (3Mb) and transferred it to the drop box program.... after two very cold bottles of Hobgoblin.. Just need to figure how to share it now.. Perhaps a third bottle is needed.. !

[Bluespanner]

Updated version with photos is now a fact sheet in the members area. look for Roof Motor Repair.
Thanks to Ian for editing and generally squeezing into a sensible size.... link below





http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/member ... repair.pdf

[Tom.GT]

Can someone help me with the link to the post that described how to remove the motors from the roof please? I've searched and searched ans cannot find it... Does it definitely exist? as I note no-one ever replied as per the OP's request.

I've seen the very short youtube vid of the chap which removed the headlining but it's not all that helpful as he has already removed the motor!..

TIA,
Tom

[Ian]

It's a pdf in the members area of the main website. You have to be a paid-up member of the club to access it. But I can email you a copy if required. Send me an email [email protected]