jim beam wrote:
> Tegger wrote:
>
>> Matt Ion > wrote in
>> news:_DzMh.49891$DN.15066@pd7urf2no:
>>
>>> Tegger wrote:
>>>
>>>> I finally got around to trying to find out why the crappy aftermarket
>>>> alternator I recently removed went bad.
>>>>
>>>> First thing I did was pull the rear cover and the brush holder.
>>>> Well, guess what I found?
>>>>
>>>> Check out these slip rings:
>>>> <http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/misc/...ad_alt_slip-ri
>>>> ngs.jpg> See the inner ring? It was rough like sandpaper.
>>>>
>>>> And now the brushes:
>>>> <http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/misc/...ad_alt_brushes
>>>> .jpg> Look at the short one. That's the one that was riding on
>>>> the inner slip ring. It wore down below spec just five months after
>>>> installation.
>>>>
>>>> I wonder what else was bad on that alt.
>>>>
>>>> Don't ever buy aftermarket ****.
>>>
>>> That's just brutal.
>>>
>>> I'd take it back to where you got it and drop it on someone's foot.
>>>
>>
>>
>> What puzzles me more than anything is what (if anything) was going
>> through the mind of the hillbilly that let that one past a basic
>> quality check.
>>
>> There is NO way that assembly should have been reused, and the fact
>> that it did is a condemnation of aftermarket parts in general. Keep in
>> mind this was my SECOND aftermarket alternator. The first one also
>> failed early, but I didn't get a chance to find out why.
>>
> i wonder about that too. my thought is cynical. i know that life
> limitation is front and center in most domestic component manufacture.
> "rough" rings like that are going to produce the results you have. you
> have therefore to suspect the remanufacturer's design choice. a solid
> electrical copper ring is not going to have a wear face like that
> naturally. certainly not when abraded by a graphite brush. and even if
> the brush had grit in it, wear would be streaked, not pitted. offhand,
> unless there was severe arcing [which would cause extensive collateral
> heat damage to the brush holder housing], i just can't think of a way it
> could end up pitted like that without life limitation coming into design.
>
> if you "clean" the ring with emery, does it go smooth or does it stay
> rough? maybe the rings are "loose" sinter cores with a thin solid skin
> - and the skin's worn through. that would make brush replacement futile
> and keep a purchaser of this remanufactured alternator keep returning
> for new ones, hopefully outside of the warranty period. what's the
> warranty and what's your mileage?

Warranty or no, I still think he needs to just take it back and drop it on
someone's toe...