VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Radios, Tools, Accessories '38 Defroster Fan Motor

I bought a nice original Chevy heater that only appears to need new wires on the heater and defroster motors. I thought I would start with the defroster motor first but before I did, I tried it to see if it worked. It did. Unfortunately, the wire was a total loss including being bare coming out of the housing. I pulled the front cover off exposing the brushes and was able to pull the armature out a little ways but that was it. The coils in the housing refused to budge. Since the main wire is fastened to the coiles down in the housing, how do you get the coils out of the housing? It will be very tricky if I have to unsolder the brush wires to remove the fiber board they are on as those wires are not much larger than a hair. I have seen these motors advertised as having been rewired so I think it can be done - I just don't know how to go about it I guess. Any help would be appreciated. If these were throw-away motors and can not be fixed, I will be looking for a new one. Thanks. Beamer

Have you thought about taking your defroster motor to your local electric motor shop and having them help you?

That was going to be my next step if I couldn't find any help here. I am hesitant to do that at 50 or 60 bucks, or more, an hour as I could probably find a new motor cheaper. Beamer

Beamer,
I had the same problem several years ago. I cut the wire terminal off and slid a piece of shrink tubing over the wire and up into the motor housing. I then crimped on a new terminal and shrunk the tubing to the wire. I used the motor for several years with no ill effect until I came across a replacement motor.

Hi Bowtie Bob, In retrospect, that's what I should have done. I did get the winding out of the case and soldered a new lead on but after I put everything back together and tested it I discovered there is a short somewhere. I just did that yesterday and haven't had time to check it out with a meter yet. I have worked on electric motors quite a bit and thought I could just replace the lead but I should have just cut the old lead off a couple of inches from the case, put a piece of heat shrink on it and soldered a new lead on from there. Oh well, an expensive lesson I guess. If I can't find the short or if I find it and can't fix it I guess I will have to start the long search for a new motor. Beamer

It's fixed!!! If interested in reading about it, I posted the fix in the 37 to 42 Forum. Beamer