Even if the rings really weren't glazed, they certainly weren't bright copper. And the rings are really thick copper so a good sanding didn't hurt anything. Certainly brush contact is not the issue now. I did go through all of the spade connections and look at each under a magnifying glass. I now see bright metal at the points where the blade contacts the receptacle at each connection. All of the wire to terminal connections are soldered. I visually inspected each but did not resolder them. I'll test run the generator tomorrow. If it works, it's likely the brushes/rings had a glaze.
I didn't do the solder thing because of the possibility of creating a cold solder joint in a connection that didn't need rework.
I can't run it without the bell end bearing because the generator does not have an idle circuit in the carb. Cleaning the rings was simple enough, using many small strips of sandpaper so as not to spread whatever contaminant might be on the rings. If I still had the cylinder head off, I'd connect an electric drill to the engine and spin it that way. I do need to ensure the rings are very smooth so I don't grind the brushes to dust in 5 minutes run time. I still believe that this little unit will be a nice power source when it's done. For the new digital equipment it may not be the answer, but for good old fashioned portable power, it's got the plastic housing imports beat.
I didn't do the solder thing because of the possibility of creating a cold solder joint in a connection that didn't need rework.
I can't run it without the bell end bearing because the generator does not have an idle circuit in the carb. Cleaning the rings was simple enough, using many small strips of sandpaper so as not to spread whatever contaminant might be on the rings. If I still had the cylinder head off, I'd connect an electric drill to the engine and spin it that way. I do need to ensure the rings are very smooth so I don't grind the brushes to dust in 5 minutes run time. I still believe that this little unit will be a nice power source when it's done. For the new digital equipment it may not be the answer, but for good old fashioned portable power, it's got the plastic housing imports beat.