JasmineAK Posted March 16, 2019 Report Share Posted March 16, 2019 As stated in the title I have a C model Brent wheel, and it was being stored in a barn for the last two years. It was fully functional when it was put away but now it won't spin. It doesn't make noise, and the fuse appears good. I opened the control box and all of the connections look fine, they aren't corroded or anything. I've checked the peddle and it doesn't appear anything is wrong, and the power source I'm using is hot. I called Brent and they suggested I take it into a local ceramic supply store which services Brent. I'm not against doing that but was hoping someone might have suggestions for what I could first check myself. Someone suggested I check the motor brushes in order to see if they've fused to the commutators - however, I'm unsure how to go about doing this. If anyone has recommendations or advice on what to check, or how to check the motor brushes, I would be very appreciative. Thanks in advance for your time and help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted March 16, 2019 Report Share Posted March 16, 2019 Can you spin the motor by hand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasmineAK Posted March 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2019 5 minutes ago, liambesaw said: Can you spin the motor by hand? I'm not entirely sure what you mean. The wheel head will spin, with some resistance, by hand. I haven't opened anything up, beyond the pedal and control box, and thus haven't attempted to move or adjust anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted March 16, 2019 Report Share Posted March 16, 2019 When you turn it on does the light in switch come on (green or red)?? Does the wiring look rat chewed??Especially the power cord did the wheel get wet? Test the fuze with an ohm meter for polarity-if its good let us know. If you want more instructions let me know about fuze checking . If you spin the wheel head that will turn the motor and you should feel resistance .Have you taken the plastic guard off underneath to look as it spins?If not watch the Brent video on how to do this pasted at top of the page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasmineAK Posted March 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2019 1 minute ago, Mark C. said: When you turn it on does the light in switch come on (green or red)?? Does the wiring look rat chewed??Especially the power cord did the wheel get wet? Test the fuze with an ohm meter for polarity-if its good let us know. If you want more instructions let me know about fuze checking . The light comes on red. The wiring doesn't appear chewed at all but it is a bit rigid. The wheel did not get wet. I'll check the polarity and respond shortly. Thank you so much!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted March 16, 2019 Report Share Posted March 16, 2019 Pull the fuze and ohm meter it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted March 16, 2019 Report Share Posted March 16, 2019 If the fuze is good I suggest watching the foot pedal video on above how to fix a brent wheel. Take the bottom off your foot pedal and adjust the low speed screw. watch the vid on how its done See if this gets it going.Let us know what happens Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasmineAK Posted March 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2019 22 minutes ago, Mark C. said: If the fuze is good I suggest watching the foot pedal video on above how to fix a brent wheel. Take the bottom off your foot pedal and adjust the low speed screw. watch the vid on how its done See if this gets it going.Let us know what happens Mark Would the light on the control box come on if the fuse were bad? I haven't been able to check the polarity yet, however when I pull the fuse it is clear and in tact. I tried the video before posting, and the wheel didn't move at all. I did pull the splash pan to look as I manually turn the wheel but I didn't notice anything concerning. Is there something I should be looking for specifically? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted March 16, 2019 Report Share Posted March 16, 2019 My guess is no so there is power to the control box Since the wheel worked going into Barn I think it could be as simple as the foot pedal adjustment screw to get it moving. try that 1st. Take the bottom off your foot pedal (the 4 screws are a Phillips head and are sometimes a bear to get clean and then out as they are in center of rubber foot pads adjust the low speed screw. watch the vid on how its done-I forget if its the blue or red one-use a small flathead screwdriver and be careful as there will be power (hot )nearby also make sure the pedal adjustment rod is moving when pedal is depressed. See if this gets it going.Let us know what happens I'm going out for a spell so I'll check back later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasmineAK Posted March 17, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 4 hours ago, Mark C. said: My guess is no so there is power to the control box Since the wheel worked going into Barn I think it could be as simple as the foot pedal adjustment screw to get it moving. try that 1st. Take the bottom off your foot pedal (the 4 screws are a Phillips head and are sometimes a bear to get clean and then out as they are in center of rubber foot pads adjust the low speed screw. watch the vid on how its done-I forget if its the blue or red one-use a small flathead screwdriver and be careful as there will be power (hot )nearby also make sure the pedal adjustment rod is moving when pedal is depressed. See if this gets it going.Let us know what happens I'm going out for a spell so I'll check back later As I stated previously, I've tried the pedal adjustment shown in the video to no avail. The wheel doesn't move no matter where I adjust the low or high to within the pedal. There's no sound either, no hum or anything, if that's relevant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 All that is left is the control board ($179)and the motor. You could disconnect the motor (its DC) and take it to a motor shop to test it. If it works then its the control board but it still can be the foot pedal potentiometer. How far from a Brent Dealer who services these are you?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 I've had two wheels recently where the pedal cord has worn where it goes through the pedal body. You move the pedal and nothing happens. In both cases, if you wiggled the cord you could get it to work intermittently. Even if that's not what happening here, my point is that nothing happening could definitely be a pedal issue. Sometimes the fuse holder is the problem, not the fuse itself, but if the power light is coming on then that's not the issue. There is a way to se if the motor is okay. I can't remember exactly which wires to move, but basically you connect the motor directly to the power on the control board, bypassing the pedal. It makes the motor turn on 100%, which confirms if it and the controller are working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 My only thought is if you have thoroughly tried wiggling ALL the strain relief connections to the pedal and have a power light and the drive belt is confirmed intact, during the time the wheel was stored in the barn environment, corrosion may have formed on the motor commutator and has oxidized to the point where the brushes are no longer electrically connected. This often results in a dead spot in the motor where it will not start unless rotated towards a cleaner connection. We see this often with small tools which have similar motors. I would make sure (unplugged) to rotate the motor many times by hand by simply turning the platter just to excercise it, and see if it will start. If not, you can carefully do this with the wheel upright, power on, pedal slightly engaged and with the palm of your hand on top of the wheel head. Try rotating it to find a point where the motor starts. Obviously all care needs to be excercised when doing this to not catch anything, including body parts and clothing in the wheel head when and if it starts rotating. Aside from that you likely would benefit from someone servicing this. If you know someone technically qualified they could measure a few voltages and diagnose this fairly easy. It is a very simple dc motor speed control circuit. best of luck ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasmineAK Posted March 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 Mark, Neil, and Bill I cannot thank you enough for your input and advice. I checked that the potentiometer was actually functioning and getting power (it is), and I endlessly wiggled to no avail. Turning manually didn't achieve anything, unfortunately, but it does seem to be catching slightly as I turn it (like stuttered resistance). I attempted to remove one of the brushes to check for corrosion but couldn't successfully remove either of them - is there a trick to this or does this mean I found my problem? I'm going to look into bypassing the pedal next but haven't found anything reliable from anyone having done it previously so I'm cautiously going forward with some assistance. I'll post again if this resolves. I cannot thank you all enough for helping me. This place is an amazing community, and I'm rather sad it took a problem for me to find it haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted March 18, 2019 Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 Lets talk about the motor and brushes-is it a motor that has the two brushes sticking out a bit opposite each other(I thick Brent has a video on this above) You unscrew the cap with straight bleed screwdriver and carefully pull the brush out keeping the orientation the same when it goes back.You may need some needle nose pliers for this. Make sure the power is off when doing this with brushes. Also be careful not to short out the control board if bypassing foot pedal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted March 18, 2019 Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 @JasmineAK Interesting, if you remove the brush covers, the brushes are spring loaded so they should come right out. the video below from Brent shows their removal and how to clean the commutator shaft at the end of the video. If all that fails I have a circuit diagram that might be relevant and allow you to check for the presence of voltage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted March 18, 2019 Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 Bill, I have 6 Brent wheels right now and most do not have this brush setup.A few do but none of the older ones. This is only for the newer ones Brent has gone thru many motor changes over the decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted March 18, 2019 Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 @Mark C. Got it! The last Brent I worked on was interesting to say the least and much of the work was done by hand soldering etc.... no wave soldering in that thing! Thanks! I only have seen one circuit diagram on these things ( just recently here somewhere actually) but believe it has always been a DC motor (by full wave bridge) driven by a single triac. At least each Brent I have opened seems consistently simple. Is that a fair assumption or have they evolved more over the years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted March 26, 2019 Report Share Posted March 26, 2019 I have not seen the controller guts on any Brent’s made in the last 20 years only older ones and I have put only the older parts needed i have 6 Brent’s now none reverse so they are all pre 2000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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