I had an arrival with my Elan over the week-end and the connections to both sides of the pump where ripped off flush with the casing, is it possible to get replacement brushes or a back plate?

Mike

The motor is a Mabuchi RK-370-xx something (basically a Speed 300) that's pretty cheap. The 370 comes in a lot of different voltage/rpm ranges and I don't know what the exact replacement is. You could experiment by buying an inexpensive motor of similar type and try the swap.

I have successfully drilled a 3/32" (or 1/16") hole in the plastic next to the broken off tab and gotten wires soldered in. You only need to drill down about 3/32", no more than 1/8". I'd try that first.

Funny you should say that, its exactly what I have just done except I took off the back plate and drilled all the way through and attached the wires direct to the brush arm, I drilled 3mm all the way through and managed to get the insulation of the wire into the hole made, I am now thinking of putting Hysol around the wire to give it some support, but that is probably overkill seeing as the wire is supported in the hole drilled, thanks for confirming its been done before and works.

Mike

For the pump it is difficult to replace the motor, I have only seen a couple of guys have success, it is easy enough (with a special tool)to get the gears off the motor but not easy to get them back on the new motor reliably.

Good luck with the repair I would be interested to know how it works out.

Matt

It worked out so well I did my spare pump as well, I will post pics tomorrow when I get back to my Desktop PC.

Mike

Pics as promissed.

Mike

Just a little follow up, after re-attaching the back plate the motor had a higher resistance then previously, so I took the back plate off again and cleaned the stator and the brushes, my start up voltage is now 0.125 and maximum voltage is back at 3.4 at 123,900 rpm on my P120SX, all in all I am quite pleased with the results.

Mike

Bump

Mike

Gentelmen

Considering the cost of a pump vs the cost of a jet would you trust your skills/inexperience to repairing a $200 pump compared to the potential loss of a $7,000 or more jet? I'll leave mine to the experts.

K.O.

I understand what your saying KO......but. The thin tab that the wire is mounted too is a bit of a joke in the first place.

Not trying to start an argument. Just stating my opinion too.

The repair was carried out in June 2010, since then, possibly! 200 flights on it if not more, I think its reliable enough.

Mike

Yep... I agree with the guys above.

If I can make the repair... then why not use it? But then again... I rip my engines apart, and replace my own bearings, and clean my own fuel needles.