Generator Preventative Maintenance
Here is something I haven't seen before. Looking at the first picture, I thought someone didn't know how to oil the front bearing, so they wrapped a bunch of string between the pulley and bearing and then soaked it with oil. After seeing the heavy cord my thoughts changed to it being the remains of a V belt that shredded and wrapped itself around the pulley. Also notice the pulley has a crack, which I'm not sure if it was from the shipper dropping the box, or someone dropping the generator before it was shipped. The box didn't really show any shipping damage.
BTW, expanding foam spray is the best way to pack a generator against shipping damage. Just be sure to put at least two plastic bags over the generator first. If not foam spray at least pack a lot of cardboard all around the generator. The pulley and output stud are usually the first thing to get damaged. Or, with a powerhouse, the rear cover often winds up getting bent. Another good thing to do is cut a strip of corrugated cardboard and tape around the pulley to protect it.
Now, for the preventative maintenance. This generator should have been cleaned and had it's brushes replaced before things got this bad. Luckily the brush holders have stops which keep the brush holders from doing severe damage to the commutator. This one shows that the holder just started to scrape on the commutator, and it should easily come clean with a good polish, or at most a few strokes of a fine file and polish.
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