Century Trim Servo Motor Repair

[231MJ]

Anyone know who repairs the TRW/Globe motor on a Century trim servo?  The clutch solenoid works but the motor does not spin. 

Thanks-

[KSMooniac]

Bevan Aviation might... I know they work on King servos and have great bench repair capabilities.

[Jake@BevanAviation]

Depending on the state of the armature wear specifically the commutator I might be able to fix it.  If the commutator has excessive wear down to the insulator, the motor will need to be removed and sent to Globe for overhaul.  I have new brushes and bearings but no new armatures.

[231MJ]

I talked to Jake and the units will be shipped to Bevan on Thursday.  Thanks for the help, guys.

August

[Skyland]

Similar problem on a 77 J trim motor a while back.  Removed the cover and discovered the brush ring had come loose.  After reinstalling the brush ring the trim motor functioned normally again.  Sometimes you get lucky.

I like the electrical engineer's mantra in that most electrical problems are really mechanical problems - a broken wire, bad connection, cold solder joint, etc.  The components themselves on a properly designed circuit are usually quite robust.

[whiskytango]

1 hour ago, Skyland said:

I like the electrical engineer's mantra in that most electrical problems are really mechanical problems - a broken wire, bad connection, cold solder joint, etc.  The components themselves on a properly designed circuit are usually quite robust.

An electrical engineer buddy once told me that electrical systems are like oil burners: You adjust them for minimum smoke.

[N201MKTurbo]

Globe will rebuild them for a ridiculously cheap amount. A friend sent one out about two years ago and they rebuilt it for like $100 and turned it in a couple of days.

We tested the motor and it was drawing about 2A to barely turn. It was obviously a bad armature. When it came back it would start at about 2V and draw a few milliamps.

[Fly Boomer]

5 minutes ago, whiskytango said:

An electrical engineer buddy once told me that electrical systems are like oil burners: You adjust them for minimum smoke.

Good one.  I have heard that once all the smoke comes out, you are done.

[N201MKTurbo]

2 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

Good one.  I have heard that once all the smoke comes out, you are done.

There are people who know how to put the smoke back in....

[Fly Boomer]

4 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

There are people who know how to put the smoke back in....

I'm counting on those people.

[EricJ]

1 hour ago, Fly Boomer said:

Good one.  I have heard that once all the smoke comes out, you are done.

That's the because the smoke is what makes it work.   If you let the smoke out, it stops working.

[KSMooniac]

I'm glad we don't need this on our planes!

[Shadrach]

2 hours ago, KSMooniac said:

I'm glad we don't need this on our planes!

I love the louvred bonnet of the e-type. Thread hijack true story. I put a new battery in my dad’s 71 E-type V12 after It had been sitting under a tarp in a musty garage for 25 years. ALL of the electrics worked. All of them…including the clock and cigarette lighter. Perhaps it’s past due for some replacement harness smoke.

[EricJ]

15 hours ago, KSMooniac said:

I'm glad we don't need this on our planes!

And it's genuine Lucas brand smoke!

[whiskytango]

22 hours ago, Shadrach said:

I put a new battery in my dad’s 71 E-type V12 after It had been sitting under a tarp in a musty garage for 25 years. ALL of the electrics worked. All of them…including the clock and cigarette lighter.

Your experience with Lucas Electrics was different from my Austin-Healy.  Like many others, I referred to Lucas as the Prince of Darkness.

[EricJ]

5 minutes ago, whiskytango said:

Your experience with Lucas Electrics was different from my Austin-Healy.  Like many others, I referred to Lucas as the Prince of Darkness.

(Old, outdated, but pertinent joke:)  Why do the British drink their beer warm?    Because Lucas makes their refrigerators.

[Shadrach]

1 minute ago, whiskytango said:

Your experience with Lucas Electrics was different from my Austin-Healy.  Like many others, I referred to Lucas as the Prince of Darkness.

Oh I’ve been there. I have a 1973 Triumph Twin. Years ago the harness shorted into one big melted mass spewing electrical smoke from between my legs. At the time I was riding through “pig town”, a not so great neighborhood in Baltimore. It was about 11:30 in the morning. There was a women nearby sitting on her stoop. She looked at me, smiled (she had more fingers than teeth) and said “Honey, you picked a fine f*[%!ng neighborhood to break down in.”  She then took swig of beer from a glass cowboy boot shaped mug.  
And that’s the story of how Lucas, “Prince of darkness” introduced me to my first wife…

Just kidding. She was frightening but she did keep my bike safe (for a small fee)  until I could arrange a truck.

 

[Skyland]

As long as we're waiting to hear back from the trim motor resolution...

Lucas - "Inventor of the intermittent wiper"

[LANCECASPER]

4 minutes ago, Skyland said:

Lucas - "Inventor of the intermittent wiper"

And the intermittent headlights . . . and the intermittent __________ . . . 

[231MJ]

I have a Jaguar XKR, don't get me started...but it's a great driving car.

 

[AndreiC]

For a Century IIB I had in my Piper Cherokee I used Autopilots Central in Tulsa OK and they were very helpful. Rebuilt my aileron servo to better than new for about 1.3 AMU.

[LANCECASPER]

On 12/13/2023 at 7:21 PM, Shadrach said:

Oh I’ve been there. I have a 1973 Triumph Twin. Years ago the harness shorted into one big melted mass spewing electrical smoke from between my legs. At the time I was riding through “pig town”, a not so great neighborhood in Baltimore. It was about 11:30 in the morning. There was a women nearby sitting on her stoop. She looked at me, smiled (she had more fingers than teeth) and said “Honey, you picked a fine f*[%!ng neighborhood to break down in.”  She then took swig of beer from a glass cowboy boot shaped mug.  
And that’s the story of how Lucas, “Prince of darkness” introduced me to my first wife…

Just kidding. She was frightening but she did keep my bike safe (for a small fee)  until I could arrange a truck.

 

That's actually the town where the toothbrush was invented . . .  had it been anywhere else it would have been called the teethbrush . . . lol