Re: Powerstat Type 10B Repair Help

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Barton B. Anderson" <bartb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi Mark,

I would recommend getting the carbon brush the variac is designed for 
(the carbon brush is not the same material as a motor brush). It's 
designed to handle the current for the variac by the composition of 
metal and carbon. I once took a couple motor brushes and ganged them 
to make up for the variac brush width (took 2) on one of my 1256D 
variacs. It worked for a while but fried last Independence Day. 
You'll feel better with the right brush in there. I also need to 
replace my own. Variac brushes are something that we should all do a 
visual inspection on from time to time.

Here's a source (known as variac.com):
http://www.variac.com/staco_Variable_Transformer_Map.htm

Once there, click on "store" then type "variac brush" into their 
search field. You'll get several listings of variacs. Use the sort 
function and sort on "description". You'll then see all the variac 
brushes. The brush repair kits will run you between $40 to $60 (spendy, eh?).

Take care,
Bart

Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: Mark Fergerson <mfergerson1@xxxxxxx>
>
>   I recently acquired a type 10B Powerstat for US$1.00 which is a 
> steal, but when I got it home I noticed that the wiper button is 
> missing. Can I just whittle a new one from say a D-cell center 
> carbon, or would that be too resistive? Any better suggestions 
> before I go ahead and burn the house down?
>
>   TIA
>
>
>   Mark L. Fergerson