Sullivan starters, do they lose their torque due to use?

[frank mccune]

     Hello All:

     I have noticed a great loss of torque in my Sullivan Starter since it was new.  Can and will these starters lose their torque from use?


                                                                                                                                    Tia,

                                                                                                                                    Frank

[kenneth cook]

           The brushes are probably worn. How old is it and how much use have you given it?

[FLOYD CARTER]

You would have to run the starter a lot more than an occasional engine-start to wear the brushes.  Monitor your battery voltage under load.

[kenneth cook]

              Well, I have two sitting here on the shelf with worn out brushes. I have taken them apart and sure enough they're worn out. Both are Sullivan Hi- Torque starters.

[phil c]

Normally this kind of motor has windings on the rotor and  magnets inside the case around the rotor.  The magnets can loose their strength if they get overheated repeatedly or just from long use.

[Target]

Lead acid rechargeable batteries lose their load capacity after years of use or one shot of abuse.
My vote would be to hook it up to your car battery and see if it improves things.
Could be the battery, wires, brushes, switch, almost anything. Start with the easiest to prove/disprove or the most suspect item first.
Best of luck for an easy and cheap fix.

[GERALD WIMMER]

Hello
My Sullivan starter was purchased when I was still at school and has worked most weekends for me for over 40 years without loosing power. Did have to replace the switch and its consumed many rubber and silicone cones and of course many batteries but it still works well. I use a pair of 6amp SLA or gel cells. Did buy another as a spare but haven't needed it yet.
Regards Gerald

[FLOYD CARTER]

Unless brushes are worn down to almost nothing, you can verify brush wear by examining the commutator and the area around the brush holders for carbon dust.  Brush material has to go somewhere!

[Vincent Judd]

I powered my Sullivan with a 4S 2200 mah lipo. Velcro straps held it on the bottom, no wires, just carry it out and start the motor.

It would start my 40cc gas engine with no problems and the charged battery would last forever.

[Steve Helmick]

The Sullivan starter I use was bought at a swap meet for $10, I think. I had already had to replace the switch, which stuck in "on" during an official at NW Regionals some years ago. I then put an adapter on it to power it with a Makita 18v. battery pack, and it's friggin' awesome. Also had some trouble getting the adapter mounted up per the instructions, and contacted the guy in AZ who makes the adapters. His assertion was that my starter was an early production model, which explains the difficulty. And I believe him. It's "DA BOMB", and starts my Randy Aero AAC OS .46VF with mucho reserve power.

I've posted pictures and contact information for the AZ guy in previous threads, so a bit of a search should find those. Use Google or "DuckDuckGo" and search "Stunthanger Sullivan Starter Makita Adapter" or something like that should work! The AZ guy said that he really preferred the other brand he makes adapters for, which IIRC was Hobbico. But with Tower's bankruptcy problems, I don't know if you can get those now, but would give it a try if I wanted to buy a new starter. The pictures and links are on the other computer, which appears to need a new power supply. Arrrrgh!    Steve

Edit: I just Ducked and found "A Finer Edge Mfg." website. http://www.afineredgemfg.com/

[Fredvon4]

I have a 9 year old el cheapo Tower Hobby low end starter that I immediately converted to on board NiMH 8.4 batts in series...16.8 volts DC
Once a year I discharge and recharge the bats....Trigger good, cone good, instant start good if I prime properly...Run time in last nine years assuming a less than 15 second use is still under 5 hours.... Hell I have several makita, deWalt, Black n decker, Cobalt and porter cable batt powered tools some over 10 years old with no appreciable commutator or brush wear....

I  am a tool nut and a electrical genius.... My flying club has 50 members with Sullivan starters...for some big honking gas engines.... every one I diagnosed had LOW bat power, or Bad contact switch, OR broken wires in the Bat to starter line.....


Frank...explore the contact switch first for corrosion...then connections for bad solder or broken conductor...AFTER assuring a full 12 VDC or higher source...if all good open and look at the brushes....but in my experience the compounds used now in Carbon brushes and polished commutators show very little wear

[FLOYD CARTER]

Just what does an "electrical genius" look like?  I check in my mirror and I don't see the telltale signs.

[Fredvon4]

I did touch (years ago) a 110 AC power source and decided that it hurts...any time you learn an important lesson and apply it to the rest of your life...YOU are a Genius....grin

[frank mccune]

        Hi All:


       I disassembled the starter and found that the starter strip had turned blue, heat, nd the rivets had popped.  I opted to junk this 1973 model and look for a replacement on E Bay or a swap meet. The rotor and brushes looked like new.  I did use it hooked to my car's battery and it still appeared to be very weak.  Perhaps the faulty starter strip was inducing high resistance to the circuit thus the sign of being overheated or the poor contacts at the rivets were causing a high resistance  thus dropping the current flow.  Or was it the voltage flow or both? Does a voltage drop due to resistance cause an increase in current/heat increase? 

      I found a Sullivan knockoff in my "junk drawer" that was sold by Hobbico?  It to does not have power that I need for larger engines but until a better on comes along, I will make do.

      I prefer finger flipping but my old joints say no the next day. Lol

                                                                                                                    Be well,


                                                                                                                   Frank McCune

[WR Crane aka MrClean]

When using 3 or 4 cell lipoly batteries, consider putting the battery inside a piece of bicycle innertube.  My buddy races quads and claims he hasn't lost a cell due to impact once he started protecting them like that. 

And remember when packing, when punctured those little bricks turn into pretty impressive fireballs, so pack wisely.

[Target]

        Hi All:
Does a voltage drop due to resistance cause an increase in current/heat increase? 

Be well,
Frank McCune

Absolutely. Resistance is used to make heat in electric appliances like toasters. Work is "wasted" as heat in your starter motor application. That's why you don't want to use wires between the battery and motor that are longer or smaller gauge than necessary. That resistance causes heat.

Vr,
Target