Main Picture
The in-house commutator
production facility at
Sulzer’s Birmingham Service
Centre is able to refurbish
almost any commutator or
slip ring assembly
The angle is very
carefully calculated
so that when all
the segments are
assembled they form
a perfect circle
created for a 3.5 metre commutator
which contained 2,400 copper bars.
Once all the measurements have been
recorded, the original copper is stripped
out and the steel frame is cleaned and
primed ready for the new copper bars
that are manufactured in house.
This involves starting with a flat
rectangular piece of copper and milling
an angle onto one surface so that the
plate is very slightly wedge-shaped.
The angle is very carefully calculated
so that when all the segments are
assembled they form a perfect circle.
Therefore, the larger the diameter of
the commutator, the smaller the angle
on the plate.
The copper plates are then assembled,
with the mica sheets between each
plate for insulation, into the pre &V@