Hobart A-200 Project (and motor question)
Hello, new member here. My wife and I recently purchased a Hobart A-200. The identification tag was removed at some point, so I can't tell what specific model it is, but it has the brush motor so I know it's pretty old. Now, I'm very mechanically inclined, and I knew going into this thing that it could potentially take quite a bit of work to fix any issues it may have. The price we paid was reasonable enough that I was willing to take the risk.
So, after doing quite a bit of research I decided my course of action would be to go ahead and replace all the bearings and seals, while cleaning the gearbox and planetary and replacing their respective grease. It is currently disassembled in the garage, totally spotless (thanks to 2.5 gallons of degreaser and about eight cans of brake parts cleaner). The other reason I went ahead and completely disassembled it is I'm having it painted before I reassemble. Note - anyone looking for places that can do some really unique colors, and maybe not so expensive as traditional painting businesses, check out your local gun store that does Cerakote-type finishes. Many of them, including the one I am using, will paint/coat just about anything, if no other reason than the challenge of it. I've found many of them are very reasonably priced as well. Here's the link to the color we are going with; I think it will be very cool! https://www.guncandy.com/collections/guncandy-chameleon/products/mako [1]
Anyway, on to my question.
As for the condition of this thing, it ran when my wife picked it up. After going through the transmission and planetary I did find that it appears to have been leaking a small amount of grease. Also, there was a small amount of new grease on the top, where I can tell someone just 'topped it off' as preventative maintenance, but the grease down on the gears was in pretty poor shape. So, I'm glad I decided to go through it after all. Other than that, everything transmission / planetary / bowl lift looks to be in good shape.
I removed the motor, so that I can replace the bearings and so it will be easier to paint. Note - I was unable to find a good write-up on the removal so I just sort of went for it; it was a little sketchy but it ended up okay. One thing I did notice is (forgive me if I call something by the wrong name; I'm an amateur mechanic, not an electrician) the stator windings were covered in grease, which appeared to have come from the gearbox. I don't think there is a seal at the front motor bearing, so I guess it just worked its way into the motor housing. Have any of you seen this?
My other cause for concern is the insulation on the four wires that come from the stator winding was brittle, and when I had to manipulate it while removing the winding there was a lot of cracking noise. I'll need to check the resistance with an ohmmeter before I reinstall; hopefully it tests okay. If it doesn't, it seems I'm limited to a few options. I could find an identical stator winding for this specific mixer on ebay or other sites, or I could try to retrofit a similar motor. Does anyone know of a success story related to that endeavor? The brushes were fairly worn, so I'm replacing those as well. If it all checks out with the ohmmeter I imagine I will heat-shrink some new insulation on those wires and put it back together. However, I know the stator is the likely weak point here so I want to have a plan, in the event I have to replace it.
Thanks for reading!