Jack
How old is your Turncrafter?
A while back, my Turncrafter developed a problem that turned out to require that I replace the speed control box. I talked with PSI Tech Support who mentioned brushes, but quickly concluded that the symptoms I had pointed to a defective speed control.
So I ordered a new controller (that has to be done by phone since there isn't a catalog number for controllers), but while I was on the phone, I also ordered a set of brushes. Later, as I was replacing the speed controller, I also dropped the motor to take a look at the brushes - and I was amazed at how little wear they appear to show even through the lathe was around 8 years old at the time.
Which triggered a thought - I've bought several tools at Harbor Freight that came with a set of replacement brushes. Now the fact that I bought those tools at HF suggests that they are tools that I don't use nearly as much as my Turncrafter - so I find it curious that they came with replacement brushes but the Turncrafter did not. And the actual wear on the Turncrafter brushes is so insignificant after hundreds of hours of operation. So what should be the interpretation of the fact that HF supplies a set of brushes with their tools?
Incidentally, after replacing the speed control on my Turncrafter, I opened the defective box and found that the problem was that a lug on the back of the output jack that feeds the motor cable had broken. Close inspection revealed what looked like corrosion on the remains of the lug, and also a stain on the bottom of the box underneath that lug. My suspicion is that dust/shavings worked their way inside the box, and over time, released some trapped moisture that found its way to the lug, but there is no way that I could ever prove what actually caused the failure.
For what its worth, the replacement speed controller was a little different from the original that came with my 2012-era lathe - notably, the heat sink for the thyrister had been moved outside the box where there is better air circulation to remove heat,. In my opinion, that's an improvement. Also, the new controller has a separate outlet to supply power to the work light.
