Can you paint the inside of a winch motor?

[David_S]

Just pulled apart my winch motor. Quite a bit of corrosion, especially on the field winding cores and terminals, and what smells like mould - ugh!

Is there any reason why we should not paint

a) The inside surfaces of the case
b) The end cap and through bolts
c) The mounting plate for the brushes
d) The field winding cores
e) any other parts

to deter future corrosion?

The field winding insulation looks in good order except one place where the outer tape is slightly scratched. How should I touch up this? An older motor of mine which was repaired many years ago had the field windings painted with a thick red substance - is that still done and what was it likely to have been? And is there any substance I can put over the inside terminals once it is reassembled?

Also the pieces of thin insulation strips between the field windings and the case need replacing. What should I use for this?

David

[macca81]

spray it with lanolin instead of painting it...


i dont know a specific reason not to paint, but gut instinct says no...

[David_S]

Surely some of you auto-sparkies must have some comments?

[want33s]

On boats the electric motors used to lift anchor chains are painted inside and out. Some are even powdercoated.
If you use 'extreme-duty' paint like the stuff used inside industrial gearboxes (maroon in colour) you should be right.
Lots of race cars use the same stuff inside the engine block to help oil get back to the sump quicker.
Glyptal should do nicely. http://www.glyptal.com/1201tech001.pdf

[David_S]

Thanks want33s.

That glyptal stuff looks like it is the same stuff a reconditioner used in an old motor of mine. Coated nearly everything in sight. Now to track some down.

David

[snatch]

I'll save you some time and money. Winches are designed to allow water to pass through them and still function. The problem is being able to keep the condensation out or evict it. Once it is in the main body of water will drain out. Due to the huge ammount of current that the winch motor sucks the motors heat up quickly. The idea is to run your winch motor every week and after any water crossings for about five minutes - run the winch out for about 15 metres of cable and then run it back on. This will heat the motor up to dry any condensation out. I understand this sounds a little harder than painting the inside of the motor but the corosion will still be present on the stator plates and section of the rotor. The main problem caused by corosion is actually the springs on the bushes, they seze and cause the bush to break contact with the rotor and trust me you cant paint the bush springs - not properly anyway.

Remember these winches have been designed by engineers that understand the situations that we put them in and problems like corosion. As long as you spend time maintaining your winch, the slight corosion on the inside of the motor will not affect the performance.

sorry to write such a long winded answer.

[David_S]

Thanks snatch for the time you took over your reply. Makes sense and is pretty much what I try to do but sometimes forget and the damage is soon done.

David