MTFCA Forum

When I originally designed the carbon brush timer, I had looked at a lot of various designs and wanted to make one that would required less maintenance including no lubrication.

Fast forward to today… I was sorting through a trailer load of parts I picked up and found these in the bottom of a box. Anyone ever seen this style before? What type of commutater housing was used?

Never seen it before but looks like it would work well on a normal roller timer. Similar to the infamous TW timer in a way, which I swear by. Give it a try!

Tim, it looks like it would work on a roller timer but not sure how it would wear. I’ve got to determine what the brush is made of. It’s not carbon, brass or copper on 1st inspection.

Kenny Edmondson wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 19, 2024 6:11 pm

Tim, it looks like it would work on a roller timer but not sure how it would wear. I’ve got to determine what the brush is made of. It’s not carbon, brass or copper on 1st inspection.

I got a hunch the inner black ring of the roller timer will wear faster than the brush(es) you're holding. The ring seems to be of a bit softer material than that of which was used in "Tony's timer", which I believe to be Micarta. I have a sheet of Micarta that I bought last year in hopes or in case it's needed to have new rings made. So far getting someone with a CNC machine to carve them out at a reasonable cost is the hold up. My sheet is big enough to make 9 rings. I wonder if those brushes are just some sort of steel.

Tim, the “brush” is a ferrous metal. Can’t imagine the timer commutator lasting long but might try one just to see what happens. And as usual, I’ll carry a spare.

Kind of like these. They run good in a regular Ford style timer.

Dan, that one is interesting as well.

I kind of like this version. There was a guy selling them new from the classifieds section. Works on a standard roller timer and scrapes over like a wiping brush. I have not tried it yet as I have an Anderson and an I timer on both the cars I drive regularly and so far both have functioned maintenance free and reliable operation for many miles.

Warwick, I thought about one like that when I was 1st thinking of the carbon brush timer designs. That one is interesting also.