This week I wanted to do a little educational blog about traction motors and generator rebuilding. When you are in the market searching for your locomotive parts to purchase and you need a replacement traction motor, generator, auxiliary generator, or fan. One of the most important factors to consider is the work scope of your rebuilt rotating electrical equipment that you are purchasing. We at S&S Sales and Leasing pride ourselves on the fact that no corners are cut when overhauling any rotating equipment, especially traction motors and generators. With the high cost of downtime and the expense to changeout equipment in your locomotive you can rest assured that our rebuilds are top quality and more importantly will have a long life under normal conditions. Our basic overhaul rebuilds include epoxy varnish submerging of the armatures and stators. Some electrical shops use polyester varnish to dip motors and generators. This is done because polyester varnish is half the cost of epoxy varnish. But polyester softens under heat conditions normal to traction motors and generators. Epoxy varnish just cures harder under heated condition. This prevents premature vibration wear on your coils to pole piece fits. The softer the varnish is while in operation, the more vibration wear your insulation around your coils will suffer. In addition, the manufactures of electrical insulation varnish strongly recommend using epoxy varnish for DC traction motors and generators. They do not recommend polyester since its' purpose was designed for industrial stationary AC motors (where vibration is a minimum at best). Next week I will get into the fact surrounding VPI verses submerge dipping armatures and stators. In the meantime when you are searching for your locomotive parts, be it rebuilt, RTO, and or new keep us in mind. We also have a good inventory of locomotives for sale or lease as well. Please don't hesitate to contact me or any of our staff for help.