Starter Generator Burning Up Brushes

[HookSet]

What would cause a starter generator to burn through a set of brushes really fast? I rebuilt mine this spring with new brushes and rotor, I've been fighting ignition issues so it hasn't been run much at all. I finally got my HEI setup working well and in 3 days of occassional use in the evenings it won't kick in. I checked the solenoid thinking no way the starter is burnt up but sure enough that was fine.

I have a set of brushes for it but don't want to put them on before I understand why it's going through them so fast.

[Lochlin]

Originally Posted by HookSet

What would cause a starter generator to burn through a set of brushes really fast? I rebuilt mine this spring with new brushes and rotor, I've been fighting ignition issues so it hasn't been run much at all. I finally got my HEI setup working well and in 3 days of occassional use in the evenings it won't kick in. I checked the solenoid thinking no way the starter is burnt up but sure enough that was fine.

I have a set of brushes for it but don't want to put them on before I understand why it's going through them so fast.

I would assume that there so too much current in your system somewhere and you may to add some more resistance. You may want to take your starter / gen to an alternator shop to have it looked at. It may need rewound or something.

[HookSet]

So I was jumping to conclusions on this one before tearing into it.

I have some sort of short somewhere because my starter generator bench tests fine. I need to tear into it with a multi-meter to figure it out though.

I turn the key switch on and press the pedal and I can hear the microswitch click, then I believe I hear the circuit breaker pop off. After I lift off the pedal the circuit breaker resets a bit later. This went from running like a dream to dead and I have no idea why.